Summary

With a huge 60 MINUTES feature coming in March 2013, this is the first book to take readers inside the world of elite Navy SEAL working dogs As a SEAL on combat deployment in Iraq, Mike Ritland saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he'd found his true calling. While the SEAL teams had used dogs in the past, they never had dogs trained specifically by SEALs, for SEALs. To fill this void, Ritland started his own company after he retired, training and supplying dogs for the west coast SEAL teams. He knew that less than 1% of all working dogs had what it takes to contribute to the success of our nation's elite combat units. He searched the globe for animals who fit the profile. The results were a revelation: highly trained working dogs capable of handling both detection and apprehension work in the most extreme environments and the tensest of battlefield conditions. Though fiercely aggressive and athletic, these dogs develop a close bond with the handlers they work side-by-side with and the other team members. Truly integrating themselves into their units, these K9 warriors are much like their human counterparts-unwavering in their devotion to duty, strong enough and tough enough to take it to the enemy through pain, injury, or fear. For the first time ever, listeners get an inside look at these elite K9 warriors-who they are, how they are trained, and the extreme missions they undertake saving countless lives asking for little in the way of reward. From detecting explosives to eliminating the bad guys, these powerful dogs are also some of the smartest and highest skilled working animals on the planet.