Hero Dogs

How a Pack of Rescues, Rejects, and Strays Became America's Greatest Disaster-Search Partners

By: Wilma Melville, Paul Lobo

Narrated by: Will Damron, Xe Sands

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Lola was a buckshot-riddled stray, lost on a Memphis highway. Cody was rejected from seven different homes. Ace had been sprayed with mace and left for dead on a train track. They were deemed unadoptable. Untrainable. Unsalvageable. These would become the same dogs America relied on when its worst disasters hit.

In 1995, Wilma Melville volunteered as a canine search-and-rescue (SAR) handler with her Black Labrador Murphy in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. At the time, there were only 15 FEMA-certified SAR dogs in the United States. Believing in the value of these remarkable animals to help save lives, Wilma knew many more were needed in the event of future major disasters. She made a vow to help 168 dogs receive search-and-rescue training in her lifetime - one for every Oklahoma City victim.

Wilma singlehandedly established the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) to meet this challenge. The first canine candidates - Ana, Dusty, and Harley - were a trio of golden retrievers with behavioral problems so severe the dogs were considered irredeemable and unadoptable. But with patience, discipline, and love applied during training, they proved to have the ability, agility, and stamina to graduate as SARs. Paired with a trio of firefighters, they were among the first responders searching the ruins of the World Trade Center following 9/11 - setting the standard for the more than 168 of the SDF’s search-and-rescue dogs that followed.

Beautiful and heart-wrenching, Hero Dogs is the story of one woman’s dream brought to fruition by dedicated volunteers and firefighters - and the bonds they forged with the incredible rescued-turned-rescuer dogs to create one of America’s most vital resources in disaster response.

©2019 Wilma Melville with Paul Lobo (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

OUTSTANDING!

An amazing emotional and inspiring story that is impossible to stop listening to with fantastic pace

Great Book 📖

I really enjoyed this book.The story was true and soo interesting. the reader was perfect

Don’t normally leave reviews

Recently finished dog training with our golden doodle. This book paints a great picture of how someone who loves dogs and helping others can maximize a dogs natural instincts. A few LOL moments.

Loved hearing about these great dogs

Enjoyed learning about these amazing dogs and the great work they do. Narrator was fine but sounded like she was reading through clenched teeth or something

Interesting

I found Hero Dogs very interesting. The narrative shares stories of dogs who were close to death, having been unsuccessful as pets or care dogs due to their energy, strength, and unique personalities. The author shares the stories of finding these dogs and training them to be search and rescue team members, making them not only useful but happy and healthy. The actual search and rescue experiences of these teams in NYC at the World Trade Center disaster and working several hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea kept me listening spellbound.

I’m not a “dog person” but I am intrigued by the ability of people to bond with and love them, guiding them to hero status. I’ve read a number of novels depicting SAR dogs but they’ve failed to capture the grueling training and how much the dog and its partner love and trust each other.

I highly recommend this book if you want factual information about SAR and how the dogs are found, trained, and paired with their partners to locate victims and save lives.

Moving and Interesting

What a drive and accomplishment! Amazing, dedicated people and dogs. I enjoyed learning the story.

Inspiring Story

I enjoyed this book about how Wilma turned her dream into a foundation for search and rescue dogs. The stories of Wilma, the handlers and of course the dogs were interesting and inspiring.

Masterfully told

The writer does a superlative job. His language is compelling, painting beautiful word pictures.

The narrator is exceptional. Just the right nuances and emphasis. I kept forgetting that it wasn’t Wilma telling her own story.

So, Brava, Bravo, and very well done to Wilma for creating the SDF, to the author for telling the story well, and to the narrator for her sensitivity to the story. Thank you.

Wonderful true story well written

I thoroughly enjoyed reading/listening to this book. It is so well written, and about such an important subject. Wilma is so strong, and she has such amazing vision. I would highly recommend This book

Hero Dogs

Wow! What a heart wrenching and heart warming true story. These animals are heroes in their own right!