Dog causes Ruckus at Roachdale

Ruckus, a 140-pound Cane Corso police dog, attempts to take a bite out of Roachdale Elementary School counselor Dan McMurtry during the last day of school on Monday. As part of field day and React Walk festivities, McMurtry agreed to put on a bite suit and have the dog make a run at him. (Photo by JARED JERNAGAN)

ROACHDALE -- Back in the days before consolidation, Roachdale's biggest rivals from down the road were called the Pointers.

But it was no mid-sized bird dog doing the damage at Roachdale Elementary School on Monday afternoon.

Instead, guidance counselor Dan McMurtry spent a few minutes getting acquainted with Ruckus, a 140-pound Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) police dog.

Besides being the last day of school, Monday was the annual field day and React Walk at Roachdale Elementary School.

The event kicked off with a visit from Zeke, the mascot of the newly-established Indy Eleven professional soccer team. Zeke is another oversized pooch, albeit a less toothy one.

The students and faculty followed this up with the React Walk, a parade around town featuring the kids chanting "Say no to drugs," while being escorted by personnel and vehicles from the Roachdale Police Department, Roachdale Fire Department and PMH Ambulance Service.

For the kids, though, the highlight was seeing McMurtry take one for the team. The counselor agreed earlier this year to don a bite suit and let a police dog take him down.

For the task, Roachdale Town Marshal Mike Mahoy called on John Holcomb, a Parke County deputy and owner of VonBernd Canine Training Center in Rockville.

Holcomb has done previous training for the Roachdale Police Department, and Mahoy thought Ruckus would be just the dog for the job.

The two-year-old behemoth got immediate reaction from children and adults alike.

"That is the biggest dog I've ever seen in my life," wide-eyed Principal Scott Spencer said to McMurtry.

For his part, the counselor wanted to keep the encounter brief.

"I only have to do this once, right?" McMurtry asked.

Alas, the dog got two shots at McMurtry, twice latching on to his arm (well protected by the thick bite coat) and wrestling him to the ground. On the first go-round, Ruckus even drug him by the sleeve until McMurtry's head disappeared inside the coat.

In a display of how calm police dogs can also be, though, Holcomb finished the exhibition by having McMurtry remove the bite suit and walk Ruckus (now completely calm) around in front of the students.

And while the message was never directly stated to the students, it wasn't hard to make a connection between the two halves of Monday's festivities: Say no to drugs and avoid being on the business end of a police dog like Ruckus.