The Dog Lover Unit: Lessons in Courage from the World's K9 Cops
"Enter the intense world of both the dogs and people who form the K9 corps. Every dog has its own unique personality." ―Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make us Human
An acclaimed poet, Rachel Rose never expected to spend her nights careening along for the ride while the police teams search for armed suspects. Yet once she decided to meet the people who devoted their lives to police K9 units, she found herself signing up for the ride-alongs, training runs, and other challenges that these courageous people–and canines–face on a daily basis.
In The Dog Lover Unit, Rose introduces readers to police dogs and their handlers in the United States, Canada, Britain, and France (where their group's official name translates as "the dog lover unit"). She’s there to catch a criminal with Constable Matt Noel and Blackie; to patrol with Sheriff Gene Davis and Gunner; and writes movingly about the tragic funeral of Constable Dave Ross, and its impact on other K9 teams.
With insight, humor, and awe, this book reveals the feats that these human and canine teams accomplish, and the emotional and physical risks that they take for one another, and for us.
“Rose’s new book — The Dog Lover Unit: Lessons in Courage from the World’s K9 Cops — is a work of non-fiction that takes readers on a deep dive into the gritty world of canine cops and their handlers. Rose met, trained with and rode along with K9 units in Canada, the US, France and Britain. She learned to track and apprehend, and to respect the officers who sacrifice their time, their personal relationships and their hearts for the dogs they work with.”
The Vancouver Sun, Article By Denise Ryan. Published Oct 07, 2017
Praise
“Absorbing, informative and thoughtful, The Dog Lover Unit manages to be emotionally rewarding and provocative as well.”
–The Toronto Star
"Enter the intense world of both the dogs and people who form the K9 corps. Every dog has its own unique personality."
―Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make us Human
"What do you get when a poet does ride-alongs with police K-9 units in four different countries? You get a unique, insightful, and well-written book like this. It is a must read for anyone interested in these dedicated police officers and their valiant canine partners."
―Stanley Coren, author of How Dogs Think and The Intelligence of Dogs