The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of "Unadoptables" Taught Me About Service, Hope, and Healing

Susannah Charleson is best known for a previous book, Scent of the Missing, about her experiences in search & rescue, and working with a search dog, the Golden Retriever, Puzzle. Over the years of her search & rescue work, though, she began to experience health problems, both physical, and reactions to the stress and trauma often involved in such searches. She also began to meet a new kind of working dog: psychiatric service dogs.

Charleston recounts a little of that stress, but focuses mainly on her discovery of "psych dogs" and their work, and her own growing interest in training rescue dogs as service dogs. She had a plan to search for a dog in need of rescue whom she could train for service dog work, though she knew that could be a show more heartbreaking task.

Along the way, she also had a friend dying of cancer, who asked her to take in her two Pomeranians. One of those dogs had crippled hind legs, but a sweet and sunny disposition. The other was so focused on his owner, and devoted to her, he had real difficulty being separated from his owner when the time came.

Both of these dogs proved to have untapped potential.

Another unexpected addition was a puppy found, in rough shape, by her neighbors. They were allergic to dogs, so they brought it to her...

The puppy needed extensive vet care, but survived, and became the first dog she seriously tried to train as a service dog. Training Jack became a key part of how she worked on her own difficulties with OCD.

We meet some fascinating people in her story, people who regained independence and confidence through working with the right service dog. We also meet some amazing dogs.

It's a moving story and a great listen.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. show less

Definitely a three hanky read. I listened to the Overdrive version, read by the author, and she does a fantastic job. You can feel the emotion in her voice, and her imitations of her dogs' vocalizations is hysterical. I learned about psychiatric service dogs, which was entirely new to me, and was touched and entertained by the stories of many animals and their partners, as well as her own animals and her own journey. Highly recommend.

I didn't know about the different types of dogs trained for service before I read this book. Susannah Charleson writes about service dogs, therapy dogs, guide dogs, and the types of dog personalities that are happiest in each particular line of work. I loved the details of the training of her rescue dog, Jake, as he learned the ropes of partnering with a human with PTSD. Best of all, the book details her work identifying dogs in shelter and then training them to provide the skills necessary to partner with a human in desperate need of such a dog. Win Win. The book was well written and hard for me to put down. I learned quite a lot.

In THE POSSIBILITY DOGS, Susannah Charleson explores whether rescue dogs, dogs who have been through abuse or neglect, can be trained to work as service dogs. Would this be possible? Could she find rescue dogs that were trainable? What if she works at training a dog and he doesn't work out as a service dog? She asks these questions as she meets Jake Piper (that's Jake on the cover of the book!). When Jake came into her life, he was a cruelly neglected, starving puppy. Could Jake become a service dog, even with his rough start in life?

Her discovery that Jake was actually quite well suited to service work is only part of this wonderful book. Susannah talks about all kinds of service dogs, what is involved in assessing and finding dogs show more suitable for service work in the rescue population, the people who can benefit from service dogs (including perhaps herself), as well as living with and loving dogs as pets. Susannah has Puzzle and Jake, as well as several assorted Pomeranians and a couple of cats. She was, as she did so well in SCENT OF THE MISSING, brilliantly able to capture the joys and challenges of having, training, and loving dogs.

I loved the stories of handlers and how they got matched with dogs who were perfect for them. Bob was one, a traumatized firefighter and his dog, Haska, his psych service dog who can lead him home if he becomes disoriented. And Nancy, whose rescue/service dog Lexie can help calm her panic. And of course there is Jake Piper, who, through the course of the book learns, along with Susannah, how he can become invaluable as a companion and as a service dog. I must admit, there were some tears as I read this book. There was laughing too. She had some great descriptions of the Poms, some of which, she discovered, were also well suited to service work. Some of the other Poms were not, and her life with all of them is rich and wonderful.

Not only have we gotten to read this book, but lucky for us, Susannah Charleson came to town! She and Jake came to Powell's. We got to hear more about her, Jake, and her important work with her organization, Possibility Dogs. And we got to meet her!

(you can read the full review, and see pictures here:
http://www.notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-new-book-and-we-g... show less

The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of "Unadoptables " Taught Me About Service, Hope, and Healing by Susannah Charleston is a keeper. I will always keep it on my bookshelf so I can go back again and again.

The author saw the need for training dogs as psychiatric and therapy dogs. I have read about therapy dogs before but this is something broader and much better. She had PTSD and a critical incident experience herself. She had been a search and rescue worker before but now she discovered a need that was not being taken care of. She wanted to take animals from death row at the pounds and train them to help people with these problems. Unfortunately only one dog in thirty has the personality, intelligence and aptitude to become this type show more of dog. She relates how the dogs were picked out and how heartbreaking it was to leave the others at the pound. Also, she tested her own dogs to see if they could learn to be psychiatric or therapy dogs. There are photos of the dogs in the middle of the book. For each dog that was adopted from the pound the difference of before and after is so dramatic. She also details the training. Some times the dogs improve upon the training with their own ideas.

All of the stories in this book are very moving and inspiring. But there is one that stands out. A white shepherd pit bull mix was adopted. He had been found in a rat infested shed behind an abandoned house. He was left by a family with no food or water. It is an amazing that he was still alive when he was found. All skinny and starved for food, he quickly adapted to her home and pets. He is on the cover. Jake did take to the training and gave back so many times in so many ways. You won't believe how perceptive and friendly this dog is.

You will be quickly immersed into this book and be amazed at how these dogs add to people's lives in so many ways.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves dogs and people who are interested in training therapy dogs.

Although I received this book from the Amazon Vine program, that in no way influenced my review. show less

I listened to the audio version of this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book goes beyond the typical "this dog rescued me" kind of storytelling and focuses also on how people can rescue the dogs. The author tells many stories of people who have had their lives changed by therapy dogs or dogs trained to help with psychiatric issues, but she tells her own story along with these others. It sounds jumbled, but it really is a pleasant read that not only makes you happy inside, but also shows the importance of therapy dogs and giving all animals a second chance.

I liked the book as the author delves into psychiatric dogs including training one for her. There is enough details to get a good feel how she accomplished the training. She does this with a dog she is rescued.

The book is also interspaced with chapters on people with some kind of issue, like continually checking to see if the stove is turned off, or turning lights on and off or other issues, and then how much better they became with a dog to be there to nudge them away from the behavior. Not amazing exciting stuff, but interesting enough to be worth reading.

This book would be particularly good if you or someone you know has a psychological problem that a specially trained dog could help. A good dog can help with a lot of stresses and show more strains in life, but for more debilitating behavior problems, a trained dog is needed. Getting one trained by someone else is very expensive, but this book gives hope that a person with help could training their own dog.

What I really enjoyed about the book though was her descriptions of the interactions between Puzzle, her Search and Rescue dog, Jake, her rescue that she is training to be a psychiatric dog, and her 4 Pomeranian rescue dogs. The following passage was one of my favorites from the book. (You will have to imagine the places she writes what she imagines the dogs are thinking or saying in italics as it was written.)

"After a week or so, Puzzle and Jake have clearly got it. Door now means 'the-closest-exit-outside-no-matter-where-we-are." Door also means "and-make-sure-the-human-gets-there-too." I feel a little bad about the Poms, the tragic little overlooked, underestimated Poms, and now that Jake and Puz seem assured about the command, I decide to invite any Pomeranian that wants in on the action to have a go.

We'll have a little fun. "Door," I say in my bedroom, armed with a pocketful of treats. Jake and Puzzle race to the back door and sit, and I follow them readily, but the Poms at first follow me, because I have the treats. I start with them the way I started with Jake and Puzzle. Door means a treat when you get there, not before. A couple of them (Jack and Smokey) figure it out quickly and are happy to run to the door and sit for a treat. On of them (Mr. Sprits'l) would rather scold me from ankle level all the way there. One of them (Mizzen) is a natural. She races to the door and back to me again, there and back to me again, there and back. Hoor! she says, tap-dancing across the wood. She can get to the door and seems to know what the word means, but it's all so exciting she can hardly contain herself. Hoor! Here's the door! Aren't you here yet? Hoor! Let me come back to you! Hey! Look! Over here! Hoor! Here's the door! She is thrilled with Door. She is thrilled with the knowing. She is thrilled with the treats. Mizzen-monkey makes me a little dizzy." show less