K-9 Search: One Handler’s Journey

It was almost 4 months later that we got the call that our missing hunter had been found. Deceased. The first words out of the Operations Officer's mouth, after saying Sam was found, were "You are going to kick yourself." A volunteer search and rescue dog handler, Rebekkah has always put duty and responsibility first. She lives by the rules, believing that success means having a plan and not deviating from it. Dreams are things that happen at night and don't ever seem to come true for her. Things in Rebekkah's life are about to change, and she's not really sure she's ready for it. With her K-9 partners Ariel and Gus, Rebekkah faces decisions that could jeopardize their lives every time they deploy. As she responds to missing person searches through treacherous terrain, emotional battles and bitter disappointment, she finds that there is a fine line between success and failure; but that the search for life is definitely worth the risk. Sharolyn Sievert, a seasoned K-9 handler herself, takes the reader with her on fictional missions in K-9 SEARCH-One Handler's Journey, weaving the laughter, fears, faith and tears of a life that isn't sensational or sexy, and definitely not glamorous, but a heartwarming and genuine reflection of a SAR dog handler and her dogs.

Sharolyn Sievert, a Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) finalist in 2015, is an engineering coordinator by trade and has been active in volunteer Search and Rescue since 2003. A member of Central Lakes Search and Rescue, she responds with her unit to calls from Law Enforcement from across the Upper Midwest of the United States to search for missing persons. The strength and purpose of their motto, ＂. . . so that others may live.＂ is not taken lightly. While she truly loves training dogs to cultivate and heighten their innate skills to locate the human scent, the goal is serious. Sharolyn was born in Tachikowa, Japan in an Air Force Base hospital on Mother’s Day, and her brothers liked to tell people that her left big toe is stamped ’Made in Japan’ (it really isn’t). Sharolyn’s dad was an Eagle Scout and throughout his life, an avid outdoorsman and hunter. Because of her Dad’s love of the outdoors, family outings were often spent hiking in the woods and vacations meant camping. Her sister noted how very proud he would have been of his daughter’s work with Search and Rescue. Sharolyn’s personal knowledge of outdoor survival, gleaned from a lifetime of experience, adds both to her skill as a SAR volunteer and to the accuracy of the SAR work presented in her book. Her family is incredibly proud and supportive of her ＂out of the norm＂ volunteer work. The miles spent on the road, crashing through woods in all weather, the hours of training, are a precious gift to those she serves. Over the years Sharolyn has trained and certified four different dogs in multiple disciplines, and responded to many, many searches. Additionally, she serves as an instructor, a speaker, a K-9 evaluator, and maintains certification in a number of areas beyond the K-9 work she loves, including being a Certified Minnesota Emergency Manager. Her hope is that the reader will find in the pages of her books an appreciation for the incredible, highly skilled work that a Search and Rescue dog can do, and the amazing dedication it takes to be a K-9 Search and Rescue handler.