Red Dog Rising Paperback – December 1, 2009

I absolutely love this book. I purchased it for my father as well on his kindle. It is two books in one. What I mean by that is the author puts a lot of thought into how he explains the training of his dog (obviously a bloodhound) his relationship with his dog and all others in his life; as well as the job they performed together. I have a bloodhound, I do not use him for work but we walk everyday and I can so relate to many of the things the author describes in the book. I have told others what my dog does or "what he tells me" and they think I'm crazy. If you are not a "dog" person, you will not understand the literal heart of this book. If you have a Bloodhound, you will be ecstatic. I have laughed and cried and am only partially finished. Honest revelation of a Bloodhound and so descriptive of my dog and my relationship with him even though he has never worked like Ronin.

I once owned a single-minded English Springer Spaniel that had a great nose and loved to use it (albeit on his terms, not mine)for locating things that only a dog would love. He would venture forth with me into the woods, running well ahead of me and happily following an invisible trail of doggy-delectable air molecules and come back sometimes covered in burrs, or with the slime of a barely liguified puddle or (once) someone's exposed septic field. We also played a great game of hide and seek, me being the quarry and him being the hunter. I usually had to pay off with a cookie if I was found. I can't remember a game where he ever did not find me. Quickly. All of this, while fun (for him, mostly)was just play without discipline or training. Years later, I discovered "Red Dog Rising" by Jeff Schettler, and found in it the same love for life and for scent locating, this time belonging to a police K9 officer named Ronin, a Bloodhound, and his master/partner, Schettler. It turns out that what we were playing at is something the pros-- both canine and human-- can and do spend a lifetime developing.In the book, Schettler spends some time explaining the difference between trailing and tracking. It's an important distinction, because a dog that trails its quarry is emulating the way that related wild animals, such as coyotes or wolves, pursue prey. Tracking is a more human-imposed method of assuming that the scent of the quarry lies on the ground in a path that can be followed. Trailing allows a dog to use its own innate logic and senses to most directly get to the thing or person being sought. Although sometimes the description of how training a dog to trail the origin of a scent can become a bit technical, it is still interesting and educational, and does not overwhelm.The book is well written and Schettler does not cut corners on his and Ronin's memoirs, which sometimes takes the reader on a trail of its own. Not every story delivers a punch line, but they're all real, if not interesting,and since Schettler and Ronin share an obvious bond and affection, the seriousness and gravity of some the searches are balanced with levity and love. These are the good guys, and there is enough excitement mixed in to Schettler's narrative to make this book well worth the time, especially if you are, like me, a lover of large, slightly crazy dogs who love cookies and fighting crime.

This book was so engrossing, I found it hard to put down. I have done tracking and scent discrimination with German shepherds and Cardigan Corgis to AKC standards. But I had minimal knowledge of extensive trailing with a bloodhound. The author's writing style was such I felt as though I was sitting down with another dog trainer and listening. He relayed the good and the bad, and did not spare himself at all for learning errors. Each chapter detailed a search, how it started and ended. Including how the scent was preserved, how given to the dog and how the search progressed.. Each chapter was a particular search, illustrating different problems that existed, contaminated scent, weather conditions, terrain and so on. I enjoyed the book greatly and just wish a second one followed.

I love that you are reading a life history, not only of a man but of his partner, a dog. I read on the cover that it read like a detective novel and it truly does. I loved learning how the dog is trained for trailing. How much depth to the work that there is. The huge amount of time going into the training. Learning how Jeff blended his life with Ronins. The ability to go out again and again and have good results and bad. Teaching others to believe in the abilities of your partner and the knowledge that this creature that you have put all your heart, soul and life into just does not live long enough. A wonderful tool to learn about dog/human relationships and what trailing is all about. Even if your not a dog lover, this is a great education in learning the mystical ability of human and dog to help find something or someone.

I really enjoyed this book. I have a Bloodhound that I man trail with as well, so this book was especially fun for me. Reading of the awesome adventures of this team, the training, the hunt, the finds, was a great experience. I not only enjoyed the written account of their conquests, but I was able to learn from them as well.

I had a hard time putting this book down once I started it. It was so honest and heartfelt. The descriptions of Ronin and his actions drew me into the workings of this Bloodhound. The relationship between Jeff and Ronin grew with each adventure that they had. Good or bad, every case strenthened their bond. This is a great book if you are interested in the dog/human relationship in anyway. I will read it again.

The story of Jeff and Ronin and thier adventures would be reason enough to read this book, but interspersed between the stories is one of the best books on trailing and working a bloodhound I've ever read.

Being a police officer myself and in search and rescue this was a awesome read. A must read if you are interested in search and rescue. A must read if you love dogs and all they have to offer in the working world.

I bought this book because I am a Mantrailing Dog Handler myself and I have been reliving some of my own experiences and I can say I got a lot of encouragement and reassurance to carry on with my work. It is the adventure between Jeff and Ronin and it is a brilliant written story. Thanks Jeff

Really enjoyed this book and read it far too quickly! Could have done with more stories and post police what happened then, or perhaps bother book?

Ein wunderschön zu lesendes Buch.Jeff Schettler schreibt hier keine Ausbildungsanleitung (macht er ja an anderer Stelle).Die Einsatzberichte sind liebevoll ausgesucht und wunderbar aufbereitet, um sie flüssig lesen zu können. Macht richtig Spass, wirkt natürlich auch heroisch, aber das ist insbesondere deshalb erlaubt, weil das Führen eines einsatztauglichen Mantrailers in Form eines zentnerschweren Bloodhound - Rüden in der Tat ein großes Hundeführerherz erfordert.Wie gesagt, aus diesem Buch läßt sich nicht herauslesen, "wie Mantrailing funktioniert", wer aber mit dem Virus angesteckt ist, wird es gerne lesen. Wer noch nicht angesteckt ist, dem sei gesagt, dass dies durchaus passieren kann, wenn man für derartig aufbereitete Geschichten etwas übrig hat und auch zulässt, dass "Suchberichte" eben redaktionel aufbereitet werden müssen, um sie lesen zu können!

Wer sich für Polizei-Mantrailing interessiert, sollte sich dieses Buch nicht entgehen lassen. Es ist sehr spannend geschrieben und gibt auch gute Tipps im Bezug auf den Mantrailing-Aufbau. Es liest sich wie ein spannendes Krimi!

Wer selber einen Bloodhound hat, findet sich in diesem Buch wieder. Mit viel Herz beschreibt der Autor seinen Werdegang mit seinem Diensthund. Das Buch macht Lust auf mehr!