Red Dog Rising

 

“I want to tell you a story—a story of a time in my life that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to talk about much in the future. For some reason, time is of the essence, and I have a task to complete. I write this now, while I can, as my fingers flow across the keys of my laptop computer. They seem to know the words I want to say before I even think them.”

A riveting true story of Jeff Schettler and his police K-9, Ronin, a bloodhound involved in hundreds of searches, including some of the most heinous child abduction cases in California in the 1990s. Nothing seemed to stop them, and they thrived on the adrenaline rush that was almost a daily occurrence. They were manhunters—trained by the best.

Red Dog Rising is also full of adrenaline as Schettler vividly recounts some of his and Ronin’s most fascinating cases. However, it is more than a tale of adventure; it is an exploration of “trailing,” a descriptive word for the art of allowing a dog to follow human scent wherever human scent might be — on the ground or in the air. An appendix discusses the differences between trailing and tracking and gives specific explanations for the nature of human scent on the trail.

Ultimately, though, Red Dog Rising is the story of a man and his snack-loving, slobbery, courageous, and loyal K-9 friend and companion, Ronin.