AIRED: February 21, 2011– 11:30 am PST
www.latalkradio.com
Available – 2-23-2011 for PLAY | DOWNLOAD
TITLE: “Scent of the Missing”
CLICK HERE to View More About “Scent of the Missing”
SPECIAL GUEST: Susannah Charleson. Author- “Scent of the Missing”
During the 2nd half of our show, Susannah Charleston discusses with Allen and Melody her new book “Scent of the Missing”, which offers a fascinating inside look into the dangerous, difficult and very important world of search and rescue work.
As Susannah describes, “It is often the encouragement of the dogs that will keep a human handler going. They show us how to work through discomfort, fatigue and emotional intensity or these devastating situations.”
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In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson (a flight instructor who had flown many disaster searches) became intrigued by a newspaper photograph of a diligent search and rescue dog alongside her exhausted handler. She realized how little she knew of the work dogs did to rescue humans. So she began to volunteer, and, eventually, to train and work with a dog of her own.
Her story of the importance of canine search and rescue teams – as well as the story of her own relationship with her remarkable partner, a Golden retriever named Puzzle, is told in SCENT OF THE MISSING: Love & Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog.
The book brings together the warmth and joy of Marley and Me with the intrigue and grit of forensic drama CSI to startling effect. Readers follow the highs and lows of several intense searches.while at the same time observing every nuance in the communication between handlers and their dogs. We witness how together, human and canine, can do the work that separately they could not.
With so many Search & Rescue teams working the recent Haiti and Chile disasters, the time is ripe to examine the impact these kind of searches take on both the dogs and their handlers. Many of them are very acute about the emotional intensity of a situation, and they too respond to it. The partnership is not only about collaborative communication and reliability in the field, it’s also about a mutual responsibility to each other. We assist the dogs when a search overwhelms them. They, in turn, comfort us in the manner we need and request from them.”
Beyond the moving narrative of a woman’s complex and ever deepening bond with her pet, SCENT OF THE MISSING offers a fascinating inside look into the dangerous, difficult and very important world of search and rescue work. What is being accomplished on the ground with canine search and rescue squads is fascinating, important, and has never been more in need.
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 and Puzzle share their home with six other dogs, four cats, and a fish named Sound Bite.
