August 13, 2010

Finding the Missing: The Personal Story of a Search and Rescue Dog and Her Handler

Susan's guest this week, Susannah Charleson, author of Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog," will tell us stories of her adventures together with her dog, a golden retriever, named Puzzle as they search for the lost, a teen gone missing, an Alzheimer's patient wandering in the cold and signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster. We'll hear how Susannah and Puzzle learn to read clues in the field, what it is like for a dog and human to rely on each other to accomplish together critical work neither could do alone and how Puzzle became an effective Search and Rescue dog.

Episode Segments:

Wild About Pets: The Rescue Dog Susanna talks about the rescue dog’s amazing sense of smell, how it works in different environments (Including water) and the three main ways a handler can tell their dog has picked up a scent. (photo by Susannah Charleson)
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Wild About Pets: The Rescue Dog Handler Susanna tells Susan about the path that led her to become a rescue dog handler, and about the unique bond she has with her dog Puzzle, whom she has trained with since he was a pup. We’ll also learn how the handler and dog work together out in the field. (photo by Daniel Daugherty, Photographer)
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Wild About Pets: The SAR Teams Susanna talks about some of the more unique rescues she and Puzzle have been a part of, how dogs become certified, and whether an old dog can learn new tricks, or at least learn to become a search and rescue dog! (photo by Daniel Daugherty, Photographer)
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Links to Related Websites:

Look While You Listen! Click here to view the photos Susan and her guest are discussing and for other useful links

Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Susannah Charleson Susannah Charleson was first published under her given name in 1981. A content provider before the term became an idiom, she has written magazine and newsletter articles, multimedia productions, PSAs, news stories, commercials, features and movie reviews for commercial radio, Web content for publisher Thomson/Wadsworth, radio theatre and parody for public radio, catalogue copy for a vintage jewelry store, and serial fiction on AOL. She is a flight instructor and canine search-and-rescue team member in the United States. Her search partner Puzzle is a Golden Retriever certified for the rescue/recovery of missing persons in urban, wilderness, disaster and scent discrimination searches. Susannah and Puzzle share their home with a rabble of Pomeranians, cats and a fish named Sound Bite. Susannah's first book, Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in April 2010. Scent of the Missing Website

Getting ready for a Search - from the "Scent of the Missing" Book Trailer