Suzanne Elshult - A Dogs Devotion: True Adventures of a K9 Search and Rescue Team

Above all we thank Keb. Without her keen nose and willing spirit, this book would have never happened. She changed our lives, humbled us, and made us better, both as search and rescue (SAR) volunteers and as human beings.

We are deeply indebted to our respective spouses, who supported us every step of the way. We arm-twisted Scott and June to review and critique our early drafts, and they stuck with us as writing took over much of our lives for several years. We also are grateful to our very dear friends and colleagues in Cascadia Search Dogs. Together, weve faced big challenges while remaining unfailing in our support of one another and of the vision we share to make a meaningful contribution to the K9 search and rescue community, both locally and beyond. We appreciate the dedicated members of other K9 teams in the Pacific Northwest who train with us and our dogs through sun, rain, and snow. We would be sorely remiss in not recognizing the dedicated members of law enforcement with whom weve worked, deputies and detectives alike. Know that when your family member needs rescue, theyre the ones who will lead the effort to bring them home.

The Pacific Northwest Writers Association provided us with our first opportunities to learn about writing a book and finding an agent, and we were thrilled to receive their 2021 Writing Contest for Unpublished Work Award for best entry in the Nonfiction Memoir Category. We are indebted to Evy Dudey for her attention to detail, excellent proofreadingreading every single word, many timesfor helping us with our early style guide, and for her many thoughtful suggestions. We thank the EPIC Writers Group, particularly Laura Moe, who led our writers critique group. Susan Purvis, Cat Warren, and Vi Shaffer are all writers of successful SAR dog books who supported us throughout this journey. Susan Purvis is a bad-ass adventurer and writer who helped us be brave in our own writing with her candid feedback and focus on being real.

Our awesome literary agent, Regina Ryan, with Regina Ryan Books, had faith in our book concept and went above and beyond to shape our adventure memoir into a more cohesive reader experience. We are indebted to Regina for taking our rough idea for a book, helping us turn it into a reality, and connecting us with a respected publisher. Rick Rinehart, executive editor at Globe Pequot / Rowman and Littlefield, saw the promise in our work, and guided us as first-time authors into the world of publishing.

Suzanne Elshult: While my gratitude first and foremost goes to Keb, I cannot forget about all the other dogs Ive learned from, not the least my first search and rescue K9, Bosse, who let me make all the mistakes of a novice handler, while remaining a true and loving companion. I treasure my newest crazy Labrador addition, K9 Kili, for keeping me on my toes and making me play, train, and go on purposeful hikes when I get too intensely involved with book writing. My dogs, ever forgiving and nonjudgmental, have allowed me to become the best version of myself.

I am deeply grateful to a whole host of people. There are just too many to mention, including my very dear SAR K9 colleagues in Sweden, Denmark, and Canada, but I am particularly indebted to the many capable K9 trainers/instructors in the SAR community from whom Ive acquired knowledge over the past two decades. I have deep admiration for Paul Martin, Mary Cablk, Ben Alexander, and Deb and Joe Hurlburt, who all have helped me grow as a handler in recent years. Cris Goodhue, Catherine Louis, Jane Harlan, and Janet Wilts all supported me immensely as a novice handler in the early years, as did the late Shirley Hammond, a giant in the K9 disaster world, who convinced me to go to my very first out-of-state K9 SAR workshop in Arkansasan eye-opening experience.

Many others have made important contributions along the way: legends Andy Rebmann and Marcia Koenig, Matthew Devaney, Greg Strickland, Brad Dennis, Lisa Higgins, Ann Christensen, Ann Wichman, Denise Alvord, Jennifer Hall, Kevin George, Norma Snelling, Kevin Huggett, MaryAnn Warren, Roy Pescador, Terry Crooks, JoMay Wyatt, Laurie Strite, and more. Travels with my friend and colleague Sally Olsen to workshops or National Search Dog Alliance testing events as Principal Evaluators in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and British Columbia have left me with treasured memories. Also, I appreciate what I have learned about partnering with my dogs from my long-time agility instructor Eric Sanford. And I am so very grateful to have been a student of Terry Ryan as I studied to become a Karen Pryor Certified training partner. She not only helped me train a chicken and a fish to perform tricks but opened up my eyes to the immense power of positive training as we work in partnership with our dogs. Although I have never personally met some of the highly acclaimed authors in the dog behavior world such as Karen Pryor, Patricia McConnell, Susan Clothier, Michael Ellis, and Alexandra Horowitz, their books, blogs, podcasts, DVDs, and articles have been invaluable resources as I have evolved in my understanding of dogs and dog behavior.

I have nothing but respect for Ken Lakey, long-term past president of Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue; Danny Wikstrom, the legendary SAR sergeant with Snohomish County for many years; and Mark Glidden, former chair of Everett Mountain Rescue who believed in me and played an important part in me becoming a member of Everett Mountain Rescue. And I would be remiss without acknowledging and thanking my executive coaching clients, whose patience and understanding when I canceled yet another meeting for a SAR mission allowed me to pursue this avocation as a lifestyle.

Guy and I have been a team for many years and our relationship has deepened as we have written this book together. He deserves credit for coming up with the idea of writing this book, even after I hesitated to begin with. In relating our story, we hope to honor other K9 handlers, dogs, and search and rescue personnel committed to bringing home the missing and the dead. We hope to inspire others to pursue their dreams of being purposeful in the world.

Last but not least, hats off to my family: husband, Scott; daughter, Linnea; and son-in-law, Chris. They have all been rocks as I have lived through the high highs and low lows of being a SAR volunteer. Scott is the reason I became involved in search and rescue in 2001, as he was already in mountain rescue and we were looking for a joint pursuit in the aftermath of 9/11. From Scottand the MountaineersI learned pretty much everything I know about climbing, scrambling, and skiing. He helped me overcome my fear of heights, triggered by a gruesome accident in the Sierra Nevadas, and has been my adventure partner as we climbed Kilimanjaro, Nevado DeToluca, Kebnekaise, and other mountain tops together. Over the years he has been my dogs volunteer subject (some call it victim) literally thousands of times and has cheered me on withoutmuchhesitation in the pursuit of becoming the very best human remains detection handler I can be. There really are no words.

James Guy Mansfield: We are nothing without our family and friends. The love and support of my parents and grandparents has shaped my character and will always be remembered. My brother, Gary, was an enthusiastic partner in my early outdoor adventures, from rock climbing the walls of Yosemite to climbing the Grand Teton, to circumnavigating the Wonderland Trail on Mount Rainier. Sisters Kathy and Cris also joined us for multiple adventures. My wife, Juneenticed into K9 SAR with the why dont you just come out one day and hide for the dogs ployhas supported me through all of my careers and adventures and has become a strong organizing force for multiple SAR teams.

My academic roots were shaped by Oregon Health Sciences University professors Judson Brown and Christopher Cunningham, who taught me analytical thinking and winced as they critiqued my early attempts at writing. Their influence served me well throughout multiple careers and continues to do so in my endeavors in the sometimes life and death business of search planning and management. Lifelong friends from graduate school, including Kevin Quinn (The Gray Mountaineer), shared some of my earlier wilderness experiences, which formed a foundation for my search and rescue avocation.