K-9 Trailing: The Straightest Path
Continuing on the trail of his first book Red Dog Rising, Jeff Schettler returns to the hunt with his newest book The Straightest Path. Simply said, if you currently work with police dogs that trail (or you want to) and you are a K-9 handler, cover officer or supervisor, you should read The Straightest Path. If you work with police dogs that search but don't trail, you can also benefit from reading this book.I have not been a handler of a trailing dog, but I've been working with police dogs and handlers for the past 30 years as a decoy, K-9 handler, supervisor, SWAT operator, tactical instructor and expert witness. After reading The Straightest Path, I've learned much more about training a police dog and officers for the hunt as well as preparing for the potentially dangerous end of the trail. Of particular interest to me, from a tactical perspective, was proximity alerts and scents relating to the pending conclusion of the search trail that included the line; If you can read proximity alerts and you become a good handler with a good dog, proximity will save your life, your dog's, or that of another person one day.The Straightest Path is about reading a dog and it is a straightforward approach to police dog training. Jeff does a commendable job in simplifying and explaining his training, methodology, and terminology regardless of the reader's level of experience. He shares his successes, his failures and his lessons learned. It became rather obvious to me as I read this book that he is extremely passionate about the art of trailing. --Sergeant Bill Lewis II (Retired), Oxnard (CA) Police Department, Training and Consulting (TAC) Team, LLC