AUTHOR: Jeff Schettler 

     Red Dog Rising is the riveting true story of Jeff Schettler and his police K-9, Ronin, a bloodhound involved in hundreds of dog trailing cases. Nothing seemed to stop them, and they thrived on the adrenaline rush that was almost a daily occurrence. They were mantrailers—trained by the best.

     Not a how-to dog training book, Red Dog Rising nevertheless explores the world of police K-9 training, tracking dogs, bloodhound trailing, dog behavior and dog training through the experiences of a police K-9 officer and his canine partner.

FEATURES

·         fascinating mantrailing and tracking dog cases, including trailing noted bomb suspect Eric Rudolph

·         explores the differences between trailing dogs and tracking dogs

·         insightful information on handling and training dogs to track, training trailing dogs, search and rescue dogs, police K-9 training, bloodhounds, and more.

Trade paperback, 6 x 9, 256 pages, illustrated, appendix

AUTHORS BIO

     Jeff Schettler’s dog training methods have been featured on CNN, ABC, Unsolved Mysteries and MythBusters. Jeff is a retired police K-9 handler who worked for the city of Alameda and county of Amador in California and was attached to the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Teams’ K-9 Assistance Program. Jeff has worked hundreds of trailing cases across the United States and is a specialist in tactical trailing applications and a law-enforcement expert witness in the areas of scent evidence and trailing with bloodhounds. He has trained under many well-known manhunters, including Jerry Yelk, Glenn Rimbey, John Lutenberg and Jerry Nichols.    

     After leaving the police K-9 force, Jeff founded TacticalTrackerTeams, which he later integrated with the Georgia K-9 National Training Center, LLC, a specialty K-9 training company offering a variety of services to fit the needs of civilian, law enforcement, and search and rescue dog trainers and handlers. Recently his dog training has diversified to include such unique work as training dogs to search for explosives and/or narcotics and training service dogs for autistic children and those with special needs. Royalties from the book go to provide service dogs for special needs children.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Jamie Hyneman, MythBusters TV Series

1.  In the Beginning—Fascination with Dog Training

2.  An Unsolved Mystery—Bloodhound’s Amazing Search and Rescue

3.  The Wandering Samurai—Plans for a Police Bloodhound

4.  Happy Trails—Learning how to Work a Trailing Bloodhound

5.  Trails and Tribulations—Search and Rescue Dog Certification

6.  Myth Busting—The Truth about Police Bloodhounds

7.  The Best Times of My Life—Earning Our Place on the Police K-9 Unit

8.  The Bank Robbery—Learning to Trust My Trailing Dog

9.  Officer Lost—Trailing a Fellow Officer

10 A Stolen Car—Police K-9 on the Trail of a Thief

11. Car Clout—Everyday K-9 Patrol

12. A Life Destroyed—A Scent Lineup and Testimony

13. Manhunt—Tracking with the FBI Hostage Rescue Team

14. Search for an Abandoned Baby Girl—Trailing a Murder Suspect

15. Quadruple Homicide—Search Dog Tracks Murderer

16. Tunnel Vision—Police Trailing Dog in Urban Environment

17. Colt 45–Police K-9 Article Search

18. A Hunt for Mushrooms—Dog Tracks Missing Person

19. The Last Find—Searching for Evidence Leading to Conviction

20. End of an Amazing Career

Appendix: K-9 Trailing vs. Tracking

            The Nature of Human Scent on the Trail

            The Scent Article

            Reading a Trailing Dog

REVIEWS

     “I can’t say I have ever read anything like it. . . .  Jeff’s recollections read like a page turner of a detective novel.”

Jamie Hyneman

Co-Host, Myth Busters TV Series

     “Red Dog Rising is a riveting account of one man and one bloodhound who shared a passion for one thing — following the scent trail of criminals. Join Jeff and Ronin through a mix of heartbreaking, amusing, and seedy investigations and you will experience justice from the end of a leash. . . .This is a page-turner that you won’t want to put down!”

Kat Albrecht

Author, The Lost Pet Chronicles

     “Schettler takes the reader on a thrill ride filled with suspense, action, and excitement as he recounts his own roller-coaster-like career as a law enforcement K-9 handler involved in some of this country’s most high profile fugitive searches with his beloved canine partner.”

Mark W. Holmes

President/Founder, United States Mantrailing Association

     “The book takes the reader from early training and progresses into the eventual challenges of getting a hound accepted into the force, a traditional bastion for primarily German shepherds, as a credible tool for a law enforcement agency. Once the dog was accepted, the pair worked a variety of cases together, and Jeff relates their trials and tribulations in that regard with poignancy and often humor, providing the reader with additional insight into the working of departments. The cases that they worked, many tragic, took a toll mentally and physically, and the author explains those cases in detail as only a police K-9 handler can.

     Interwoven in the book is information on dog training techniques and interesting snippets on how Ronin was able to work successfully in a variety of elements, many of which were not conducive to an enjoyable stroll for the pair. The book definitely is worth the price to any K-9 person.”

                                                Russ Hess

     “Enjoyable to read and very hard to put down. Anyone can read this book and get something out of it, whether they ever worked a bloodhound or not.”

                                                                        Jerry Yelk

                                                                        Trailing Dog Trainer/Handler