Giveaway Review Interview THE POSSIBILITY DOGS by SUSANNAH CHARLESON @S_Charleson @HMHCo #possibilitydogs

Book Description

Release date: June 4, 2013

An inspiring story that shows how dogs can be rescued, and can rescue in return.

With her critically acclaimed, bestselling first book, Scent of the Missing, Susannah Charleson was widely praised for her unique insight into the kinship between humans and dogs, as revealed through her work in canine search and rescue alongside her partner, golden retriever Puzzle.

Now, in The Possibility Dogs, Charleson journeys into the world of psychiatric service, where dogs aid humans with disabilities that may be unseen but are no less felt. This work had a profound effect on Charleson, perhaps because, for her, this journey began as a personal one: Charleson herself struggled with posttraumatic stress disorder for months after a particularly grisly search. Collaboration with her search dog partner made the surprising difference to her own healing. Inspired by that experience, Charleson learns to identify abandoned dogs with service potential, often plucking them from shelters at the last minute, and to train them for work beside hurting partners, to whom these second-chance dogs bring intelligence, comfort, and hope.

Along the way she comes to see canine potential everywhere, often where she least expects it – from Merlin the chocolate lab puppy with the broken tail once cast away in a garbage bag, who now stabilizes his partner’s panic attacks; to Ollie, the blind and deaf terrier, rescued moments before it was too late, who now soothes anxious children; to Jake Piper, the starving pit bull terrier mix with the wayward ears who is transformed into a working service dog and, who, for Charleson, goes from abandoned to irreplaceable.

SOURCE:  Publisher

MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

Charleson has trained search and rescue dogs for years and when the stress of doing her job builds up that she begins experience panic attacks, she finds herself in need of some rescue.  Her love of dogs and the fact that she notices how her search and rescue companions create calm in a horrible situations, leads her to discover their healing power.  She embarks on training her own service dog to support her own invisible disability.  To be honest, when I first saw the title of this book, I had misread it as The Possibility OF Dogs, but in some sense, this really is just as true a title since all dogs have a lot of possibility.  I adored Charleson's  first book, Scent of the Missing, and she does an amazing job with describing the work that goes into training a service dog and the fact that it doesn't matter whether the dog is young or old, pure-bred or mutt, almost any dog can be a helpful companion with a little work.

My heart dropped when I read about the two missing dachshunds and she relates that a recent rise in neighborhood crime is also feeding the need for bait dogs in fighting.  I had no idea that pets could be stolen for such a use.   As Charleson finds her perfect match in Jake Piper - you have to check out his facebook page - you can see how this one small bundle of love conquers and becomes the partner she needs to help her cope.  There are short stories as well about other dogs that are helpful to seniors, autistic children and those first responders so devastated by the work they do.

She even mentions the frantic social media postings about rescue dogs that have reached the end of the line at shelters.  One really caught my heart since it is in my hometown of Huntington Beach, CA, as she discusses Compassion fatigue.  There are only so many rescue people to go around, not to mention the expense involved.  I am glad Charleson was able to rescue the little dog from here but it makes me sad that there are not enough local people to help.  This is such a wonderful read for any dog lover.

About the Author
Susannah Charleson is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Scent of the Missing, as well as a flight instructor, service dog trainer, and canine search-and-rescue team member, who most recently began a non-profit organization called The Possibility Dogs, which rescues, trains, and places dogs with people suffering "unseen" disabilities. She lives with her search partner, Puzzle, a golden retriever certified for the recovery of missing persons, her service dog partner-in-training, Jake Piper, a German shepherd-pit bull-poodle mix, as well as a rabble of pomeranians, a chihuahua-cairn terrier mix, and two cats.

Twitter * Facebook  * Website * Jake Piper on Facebook

PLEASE WELCOME SUSANNAH TO BOOKHOUNDS

What is the first book you remember reading by yourself as a child?

I know I read very early – we have family pictures of me doing so, but none of the titles have stuck these fifty years later. My earliest true reading memory is of my second grade teacher sending a note to my parents about my reading Gone With the Wind during reading period in class (she wondered if that was acceptable to them). I also remember Susan Coolidge’s What Katy Did and What Katy Did Next. I know I loved the Noel Streatfeild’s Shoe books. Party Shoes was the first one I read.

What are you reading right now?

I am currently re-reading Patrick O’Brian’s brilliant Aubrey-Maturin naval series – this is my fourteenth voyage through the 20-book canon. I am also reading Natalie Serber’s Shout Her Lovely Name, Hallie Ephron’s There Was an Old Woman, and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life.

How does your garden grow?

Xeriscaped! I live in Texas. Plus, I hover over a clutch of carefully-tended roses. The garden could use a little weeding, but hey! everything in moderation, even virtue.

What is the last thing you Googled? 

Dyspraxia. I am working with a service dog handler now who has it. Next-to-the-last thing was dragonfruit. As in, how to prepare it.

What makes you cringe? 

The sound of Styrofoam squeaking. When anything is said to have a “vibe.” When competing chefs serve Scott Conant raw red onions on Chopped.

WANT TO WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK?
Contest is open to anyone over 13 years old with a US mailing address
(no PO Boxes)
Contest ends on 6.23.13 Winner will be chosen by Random.org and posted in comments.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen.
This giveaway is sponsored by HMH and ONE copy is available.

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Scent of the Missing by Susannah Charleson (Book Review 2010-116)

Product Description

In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson clipped a photo from the newspaper: an exhausted canine handler, face buried in the fur of his search-and-rescue dog. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Susannah was so moved by the image that she decided to volunteer with a local canine team and soon discovered firsthand the long hours, nonexistent pay, and often heart-wrenching results they face. Still she felt the call, and once she qualified to train a dog of her own, she adopted Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever puppy who exhibited unique aptitudes as a working dog but who was less interested in the role of compliant house pet. Puzzle’s willfulness and high drive, both assets in the field, challenged even Susannah, who had raised dogs for years. Scent of the Missing is the story of Susannah and Puzzle’s adventures together and of the close relationship they forge as they search for the lost—a teen gone missing, an Alzheimer’s patient wandering in the cold, signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster. From the earliest air-scent lessons to her final mastery of whole-body dialog, Puzzle emerges as a fully collaborative partner in a noble enterprise that unfolds across the forests, plains, and cityscapes of the Southwest. Along the way Susannah and Puzzle learn to read the clues in the field, and in each other, to accomplish together the critical work neither could do alone and to unravel the mystery of the human/canine bond.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Susannah Charleson works as a handler with her partner, a Golden Retriever named Puzzle, for the Metro Area Rescue K9 unit in Dallas, Texas, an elite volunteer canine Search and Rescue team responding to local, state, and national search and recovery cases. She also serves as the team's Public Information Officer and gives lectures across the country about SAR. A flight instructor who previously flew disaster searches, Susannah is also an experienced television and radio broadcaster. She and Puzzle share their home with six other dogs, four cats, and a fish named Sound Bite. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0547152442
• ISBN-13: 978-0547152448

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER /  FSB ASSOCIATES

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

This is the first book about a dog that hasn't made me cry and I get teary while reading most dog books. This is a fearless look at life and what happens when you decide to help other people.  Susannah Charleston doesn't mention how she really earns a living and pays for all that dog food, but you get the feeling that she would scrub floors to keep her rescue dogs well fed and in good health.  Yes, she has a search and rescue dog, as well as several cute little Poms that she has taken in as well.  The story mostly centers around her Golden Retriever Puzzle and what it took to be a certified search and rescue (SAR) dog.   The training seems much more grueling for the human part of this team rather than the dog.

This book is so uplifting and tells such a good story about the goodness of people in general, that someone would make the time and take the effort just to help others.  I can tell that the training helped the author overcome her own difficulties as well by creating this much commendable service in her life.  I just finished A Dog's Purpose by Bruce Cameron which is a fictional account of SAR from a dog's point of view and it appears that both the human and dog are worthy of our praise.  This book is a real must for dog and memoir fans.