Greg LeNoir watched in horror as the shark's mouth opened wide, chomping a large set of teeth on his beloved 14-pound dog, Jake.

'Noooooo,' LeNoir shrieked, fearing the worst.

But the case of the rat terrier vs. the shark has a happy ending.

'Jake's doing great,' LeNoir's brother, Phillip, said Monday. ``And I still can't believe my brother jumped in the water and punched a shark.'

The saga began Friday afternoon when Greg LeNoir took Jake to the Worldwide Sportsman's Bayside Marina pier in Islamorada for the dog's daily swim. LeNoir said Jake is a fast and fearless swimmer, often retrieving jellyfish and soaked coconuts.

But this time, Jake, a 28-month-old dog adopted from an animal shelter, unexpectedly encountered the shark, which was about five feet long. As Jake disappeared under the water, LeNoir conquered his own fear and sprang to action.

'I clenched my fists and dove straight in with all my strength, like a battering ram,' LeNoir, 53, said Sunday, reliving the frightening ordeal. ``I hit the back of the shark's neck. It was like hitting concrete.'

Sharks are not uncommon in the marina, which is near the Islamorada Fish Co.'s open saltwater pool that attracts large tarpon.

LeNoir, a finish carpenter who lives in Islamorada, said he concluded the creature was either a bull shark or lemon shark after describing it to local fishermen and another brother, Louie, a shark-tooth collector in Orlando.

LeNoir's wife of 17 years, Tessalee, said she wasn't shocked by her husband's heroics. 'People know him as Dr. Doolittle,' she said. ``He's the one who climbs up a tree to save a possum.'

Lenoir added: 'We have no children. Jake became our child. When I saw the shark engulf him, I thought, `This can't be the end.' '

The shark let go of Jake, and the dog popped to the surface, frantically swimming the few yards to shore. LeNoir followed, paddling through a red trail of blood from the dog.

At VCA Upper Keys Animal Hospital in Islamorada, veterinarian Suzanne Sigel and emergency on-call assistant Callie Cottrell patched Jake's wounds.

'Amazingly, he wasn't critical,' Sigel said. ``He's one lucky dog.'

The shark's teeth punctured Jake's skin and some muscle on the dog's abdomen, chest and back in a pattern that looked like 'an upside-down smile,' Sigel said.

Jake also suffered lacerations on his right side and front left leg, with skin hanging like ribbons, LeNoir said.

'The shark put almost all of Jake in his mouth, except for his head and three of his legs,' LeNoir said.

Sigel reexamined Jake on Monday and said the pooch is expected to recover.

'He looks great and is recuperating well,' she said. ``I was worried he may have inhaled saltwater when he was pulled under, but there's no evidence of infection or pneumonia. He's healing great.'

The lucky ones included a 7-month-old white female Maltese pup with pink-tipped ears, a 12-week-old cream-colored female Pomeranian that was curled up asleep and a 4-month-old black female rat terrier.

Those puppies remained at Puppy Love, a pet store in La Mirada, on Thursday as owner Paul Ro and law enforcement authorities tried to figure out who had broken into the store the day before and snatched 16 other puppies valued at more than $20,000. The stolen puppies were 2 to 3 months old, weighed 1 to 1.5 pounds and cost between $800 and $1,800 apiece.

Surveillance tape from the store showed someone shoving the pups into a black trash bag. A few escaped, hiding under tables or at the back of the store. The terrier, seen on the tape jumping out of the thief's arms, was found later by Ro, trembling in the corner of a back room.

"This guy knew exactly about the puppy business because he took the valuable, teacup [size] ones," Ro said. "I think he's going to try to sell them on the Internet."

The missing puppies include four Pekingese, three Yorkshire terrier mixes, two Yorkshire terriers, two tiger Chihuahuas, a Chihuahua, a beagle mix, a Pomeranian, a Shih Tzu and a Maltese.

Detectives who went to the store to pick up the surveillance tape said finding a suspect might be difficult without tips from the public. The quality of the grainy tape would need to be enhanced to see the images better, officials said.

Although the thief did not wear gloves, detectives were not able to clearly pick up his fingerprints, said Det. Marc Sierra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Norwalk station.

Law enforcement officers have seen other thefts from a variety of places such as breeders' homes, parking lots and swap meets, as well as pet shops, said Capt. Aaron Reyes of the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority and the Border Puppy Task Force, a consortium of California animal welfare and law enforcement agencies.

Reyes said many people take smuggled or stolen puppies and try to sell them casually, in parking lots for cash, using disposable cellphone numbers to go undetected.

"The Southern California community has an insatiable appetite for these puppies. They will melt your heart," Reyes said. "The bottom line is, these puppies have resale value, and they have a real appeal.

"Sadly, without a microchip and a type of ID on these pups, who really knows who their owner is?" Reyes said. His only other advice was "buyer beware."

Dogs, especially purebreds, are stolen in many communities around the country, said Lisa Peterson, a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club. Thieves very likely will end up with pups that are extremely anxious and overactive, hungry and not yet housebroken, she said.

"One of the things criminals are not considering is that when they are stealing these purebred puppies, part of the value is that they come with registration papers, which they obviously are not taking the time to steal as well," Peterson said.

Designer dogs such as Shih Tzus, Chihuahuas, Yorkshire terriers and Pekingese may garner as much as $3,000 per puppy, Peterson said.

Thieves think "this would be easy, you just grab them and sell them," Peterson said. "However, selling a puppy is not that easy."

Some thieves have started to turn to the Internet as flashy puppy marketing sites have sprouted, Peterson and law enforcement authorities said.

"Unfortunately, in the last five years, they've just exploded, and the reason they've exploded is because there is no regulation of people who sell directly to the public," Peterson said. "It's an unregulated market that is growing."

Thieves who cannot sell these puppies online may end up dumping the puppies on the street, because shelters often require a surrender fee and interview from those giving up their pooches, Peterson said.

Ro, 50, hoped his puppies would not suffer such a fate. He hoped for the best as he tried to get his business back in order. By late Thursday morning he'd replaced the shattered glass on the front door and had finished up his police report.

"I'm concerned about their health and their condition," Ro said. "The way he put the puppies in the black trash bags gives puppies a lot of high-level stress. For babies, they'll die soon and their blood sugar level will be lowered without the proper nutrition. I'm not sure the suspect will take care of them."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call detectives at (562) 863-8711.

tami.abdollah@latimes.com

Miss Violet back in the fold: Boulder Creek 'therapy dog' was threatened by school district's no-dog rule By MARY BETH HISLOP
Sentinel Correspondent

BOULDER CREEK — Students to Pamela Eiriksson and Marie Schwartz's special day class at Boulder Creek Elementary, which started Monday alongside other San Lorenzo Valley schools, can feel a little anxious about the first day. But those trepidations often disappear when they're greeted by a little bright-eyed and bushy-tailed dog.

OK — she's not bushy-tailed but bright-eyed certainly fits.

Miss Violet is Schwartz's 9-pound, almost 4-year-old mini-rat terrier. She is starting the 2007-08 school year as a certified therapy dog, helping students with special needs.

But Violet's classroom tenure almost came to an end last year when San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District administrators decided to enforce a no-dogs rule on campus. When school resumed after winter break in January 2007, dogs were officially prohibited from classrooms, though rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and turtles were still allowed.

That riled Eiriksson.

"They're more likely to bite than a dog," she said.

Students and parents were so upset about the dog ban that they wrote letters to district administrators vouching for Miss Violet's positive impact in the classroom, Eiriksson and Schwartz said.

Fifteen minutes in a student's lap can prevent anger outbursts, new students frightened of a new environment often light up and calm down when they see Violet and the privilege of spending special time with the little dog is an incentive for students to concentrate on their studies for their ultimate reward, Eiriksson said.

One parent wrote about his young son: "On those days when he is upset or has problems getting along with anyone, he is always calmed by Violet"

So Miss Violet was given a temporary stay, and her handlers scrambled to find someone who could certify the dog in animal-assisted therapy.

"The hardest part was finding someone to do the certification," Eiriksson said.

They turned to Lynn Schmitt of Therapy Dogs Inc. Schwartz said Schmitt tested Miss Violet on her manners — sitting down, staying and walking nicely on a leash — and her interaction with the children. Miss Violet also visited several convalescent homes, where Schmitt evaluated her behavior with different people.

"I was so blown away when I took her to a nursing home," Schwartz said. "Residents were really ecstatic"

Schwartz said one woman suffering from dementia actually remembered one of her own dogs named Esther.

Schmitt also evaluated the environment at the school, both inside and outside the classroom, for Miss Violet's own safety, according to Schwartz.

Today, Miss Violet proudly wears her red collar with a heart-shaped tag that identifies her new occupation, "I am a therapy dog"

Schwartz said she sent pictures and a copy of Miss Violet's certification to the district.

"They've been very receptive and kind," she said.

Violet has been a fixture in the special day class since she was 9 weeks old and was named Miss Violet by an autistic student whose only motivation to return to class after recess was in escorting the little dog back in on a leash, said the teachers.

"She was always a working dog," Schwartz said of Violet.

Schwartz said she's been a special education assistant at the school for 27 years; Eiriksson is embarking on her 11th year at Boulder Creek.

"There has always been a dog in the class," Eiriksson said. Her giant mastiffs Chewy, Mojo and Oz and cat Sassy used to visit with special day class students, too.

Eiriksson said animals play an integral part in helping her students focus and cope, many of whom are diagnosed with autism, ADHD/ADD or developmental delays, have physical disabilities or anger and conduct issues.

"She really is a big part of our behavior management," Eiriksson said of Miss Violet.

FIGHTING RAT TERRORISM AT HOME
Meet Midge, A 7-Pound Police Dog!
Chihuahua-Rat Terrier Mix To Be Used By Ohio Dept. To Sniff Out Pot
GEAUGA COUNTY, Ohio
Sept. 7, 2006
Check Out the Full Artilce and some Midge Video
A lawman's best friend is a police dog, highly trained to find bombs, drugs, people who are lost, and more. But The Early Show resident veterinarian, Dr. Debbye Turner, says the profile of the typical police dog may be about to change.
German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and bloodhounds are the macho breeds that most police departments use in their K-9 units.

But, says Turner, one innovative sheriff in the Midwest is trying out a new idea. He believes good police dog work can come in a small package.

A package named Midge, a 9-month-old, 7-pound Chihuahua-rat terrier mix, who's in line to become what's believed to be the world's smallest drug-sniffing dog.

Midge is the brainchild - and pride and joy - of Sheriff Dan McClelland of Geauga County, Ohio, who admits Midge isn't "your typical police dog, by any means."

More typical would be Midge's partner in crime-fighting, Brutus, a massive German shepherd.

So, why such a tiny police dog?

"The idea for a smaller drug dog came to me," McClelland told Turner, "when I was watching our large dogs search car interiors, in particular, and you put a German shepherd - 120-, 125-pound dog - in the interior of a car, and you watch how hard it is for them to turn around."

And McClelland admits Midge was an easy sell: "I'm the sheriff, so I just had to convince myself that this was an appropriate idea!"

McClelland began training Midge to sniff out marijuana when she was 3 months old. She is still learning, and not certified yet as an official K-9 police dog. But, Turner observed, her skills were obvious.

"We knew," McClelland says, "that, with the type of dog she is and with her size, she was never going to do crowd control, and she's not going to strike terror in the hearts of men, so (we decided to) make her a social dog."

And a social dog she is, Turner says, loved by children, and just about everyone else who sees her.

McClellan says he's confident that Midge is more than just a novelty and that she, and other little dogs, will grow to be a valuable member of law enforcement teams.

Says McClellan: "I believe there's no reason why a small dog can't be as effective as a big dog. She searches big rooms, like a big dog. Her advantage comes in going in small places. ... I think we might be onto something.'

Midge is being trained as a so-called "single purpose" dog, specializing in sniffing out pot, unlike bigger dogs, such as Brutus, who are also used for crowd control and catching criminals.