CANINE CLUB PRAISES GERMAN SHEPHERD'S SELFLESS ACT OF HEROISM.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

A dog killed in a mobile-home fire that claimed the life of a 9-year-old mentally retarded boy has been posthumously anointed a canine hero by a national dog club.

Cocis, a 1-1/2-year-old German shepherd who perished in the February fire that killed Luis Jaime Fimbres, was found next to the door of the bathroom where the boy's body was found.

``I think he deserved the honor. He did something I would not probably have done,'' said Irina Oprisan, 22, a Palmdale dog trainer and friend of the Fimbres family. ``I would have tried to get the kid out, but I wouldn't have stayed. He stayed there. That's something to be honored in a German shepherd.''

As the fire raged, the dog had scampered through the legs of the boy's mother when she opened the door to a bedroom and then lay down by the door to the bathroom where the boy was, Oprisan said. Firefighters came and found the dog dead, still by the door, Oprisan said.

``I think he was trying to prevent smoke from going in. He laid down by the base of the door,'' said Oprisan, who added the boy and the dog were close pals.

Oprisan is a member of the German Shepherd Dog Club of America and wrote to the club to nominate the dog for the pet dog hero award. She found out Tuesday that Cocis was selected.

Blanche Beisswenger, club hero dog chairman and secretary, said Cocis was selected by the 82-year-old, 4,000-member club's board from about seven dogs nominated.

``Each (board member) votes for the dog that best epitomizes the hero qualifications,'' said Beisswenger from her New Jersey home. ``The fact he lost his life in front of the closed door when he could have easily gotten out, they thought it was something beyond the call of duty.''

The award will be announced at the club's national dog show in November in Perry, Ga. Either Oprisan or a fellow member she knows will accept the award on behalf of the family.

``Right now they are going through difficult times. They're glad,'' Oprisan said.

A second German shepherd dog owned by the Fimbres family also died in the fire.

Luis' mother, Catherine, was charged with murder, accused of leaving her son to die in the fire, but a judge dismissed the charges in April. Friends rallied around the Fimbres family, saying that Catherine was devoted to her son.

The boy, who had Down syndrome, was found by firefighters critically burned in the bathroom that connected to a bedroom he shared with a younger brother. He died a short time later.

Authorities believed the boy started the fire while playing with a butane lighter.

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Photo: (ran in SAC and AV editions only--color) no caption (Cocis)