THE DOG LOVER UNIT

For the millions of readers devoted to dogs, THE DOG LOVER UNIT reveals the intimate bond between animal and officer, and offers life-changing lessons about grit, perseverance and courage.

“Nobody but the dog's handler is supposed to touch him. I know, like only a criminal who has taken a bite can know, that police dogs are not pets. But I brush Cade, so lightly that it could almost be an accident, as he trots besides me. He swings his big head to look at me, black eyes utterly fearless, pure Alpha, and I swear he grins back at me, light glinting off his canines.”

This is how Rachel Rose makes peace with the large German Shepherd who has just attacked her. Protected by a rigid bite sleeve, Rose was a willing participant in a training exercise to keep a police dog responsive to his handler's commands. She was terrified, but determined, recognizing it as a test of her as well as Cade. Did she have the courage to participate in adrenalin-fueled midnight car chases? Did she have the endurance to participate in the rigorous training of new recruits? Could she earn the trust of the battle-scarred cops, as well as their canine partners?

THE DOG LOVER UNIT is a harrowing and uplifting book that immerses us in a previously off-limits world. Rose is our guide through the stages of a police dog's life, as we watch wobbly six-week old pups taking their first tests, run training courses with young dogs and newly recruited police dog handlers.

In Vancouver, we meet K9 Sergeant Wong, who successfully did CPR on his dog Bear, after he's been electrocuted. In Iowa City, we meet Officer Faulkcon and his dog, Rakker, an African-American K9 cop team who challenge the preconceptions of every individual they stop. In California, we meet Deputy Cilia's feisty K9 Sasha, a dog dedicated to finding drugs in jail, and watch a whole unit of dogs getting comfortable with getting airborne during helicopter evacuation training.

In England, Constable Sara Ginn and her gentle dog Sampson are one of the few teams trained to follow old blood trails and find cadavers, even in water. In contrast with the U.S., the K9 officers patrol London with no firearms whatsoever. Paris is heartbreaking and heartwarming. Members of the Brigade and their dogs, were directly involved in rescuing survivors and identifying victims of the Bataclan terrorist attacks. They are on high alert for the next attacks, and the dogs provide a measure of redemption from this horrible truth. Nearly all the dogs employed in Paris are rescue dogs, abandoned by their owners.

Police worldwide are in the spotlight, with shootings, terrorist attacks and crack-downs instantly broadcast. However they remain unknowable to the public, a secretive brotherhood. Rose reveals the unique bonds between a police officer and his dog. In a world marked by violence, in situations of grave threat, the relationship between police dogs and their handlers symbolizes the redemptive possibilities of empathy and the best of humanity. These intelligent, loyal and courageous animals serve to demystify the police force, bringing it to a human level: the level of the heart.

RACHEL ROSE was a 2015 fellow of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. She has won multiple awards for her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including a 2014 and 2016 Pushcart Prize. She is the current Poet Laureate for the city of Vancouver.