Hero Dogs
How a Pack of Rescues, Rejects, and Strays Became America's Greatest Disaster-Search Partners
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Narrated by:
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Will Damron
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Xe Sands
About this listen
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 AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Very Good Book
- By Char on 08-05-11
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Smokejumper
- A Memoir by One of America's Most Select Airborne Firefighters
- By: Jason A. Ramos, Julian Smith
- Narrated by: Ned Vaughn
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this extraordinarily rare memoir by an active-duty jumper, Jason Ramos takes listeners into his exhilarating and dangerous world, explores smokejumping's remarkable history, and explains why their services are more essential than ever before.
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About damn time a book on wildland firefighting was written!!!
- By Jefferer R. Beren on 07-16-15
By: Jason A. Ramos, and others
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Dogtripping
- 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure
- By: David Rosenfelt
- Narrated by: Jeff Steitzer
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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When best-selling mystery writer David Rosenfelt and his family moved from Southern California to Maine, he thought he had prepared for everything. They had mapped the route, brought three GPSs for backup, as well as refrigerators full of food, and stoves and microwaves on which to cook them. But traveling with 25 dogs turned out to be a bigger ordeal than he anticipated, despite RVs, the extra kibble, volunteers (including a few readers), and camping equipment.
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Only about 1 hour of the book is about the trip
- By Gretchen on 10-29-13
By: David Rosenfelt
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Sergeant Rex
- The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog
- By: Mike Dowling
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Filled with harrowing tales of knife-edge bomb-detection work, including an extraordinary baptism by fire, Sergeant Rex is a heart-pounding account of how an unbreakable human-canine bond helped Mike and Rex to stay focused on their mission and save countless lives.
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Book That You Will Not Want To Put Down
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 05-11-14
By: Mike Dowling
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Trident
- The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader
- By: Jason Redman, John Bruning
- Narrated by: Erik Bergmann
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Decorated Navy SEAL Lieutenant Jason Redman served his country courageously and with distinction in Colombia, Peru, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where he commanded mobility and assault forces. But his journey was not without its supreme challenges. He was critically wounded in 2007 when he was struck by machine-gun fire at point blank range. During his intense recovery period, Redman posted a sign on his door, warning all who entered not to "feel sorry for [his] wounds."
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SEALS and Leadership
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 06-20-14
By: Jason Redman, and others
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Tell Me What You See
- Remote Viewing Cases from the World’s Premier Psychic Spy
- By: Major Ed Dames, Joel Harry Newman
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Decorated army officer Major Ed Dames tells the shocking true story of his time asoperations and training officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency's top-secret Psychic Intelligence Unit. Together with his PSI Spyteam, Dames used the practice of remote viewing to uncover accurate and verifiable military intelligence by going where no intel operatives on the ground could go - into the very mind of the enemy.
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Interesting, but...spend your credit elsewhere
- By Karen on 11-28-10
By: Major Ed Dames, and others
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Report from Ground Zero
- By: Dennis Smith
- Narrated by: Eric Conger, Jeff David, Don Leslie
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
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Immediately after two hijacked jets struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Dennis Smith volunteered in the rescue effort. Having spent his career as both a respected writer and a member of one of the city's busiest firehouses, Smith became determined to use his unique background to tell the story of the disaster and its aftermath with the empathy and understanding that only an insider could bring to it. In this audio memoir, he has collected astonishing first-person testimony.
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Intersting choice of narrator
- By Sara Roltgen on 09-24-18
By: Dennis Smith
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Bird Dream
- Adventures at the Extremes of Human Flight
- By: Matt Higgins
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Human flight is one of the last great challenges on Earth. Not like how the Wright brothers flew, but how we fly in our dreams. This is the goal of the Wingsuit Landing Project: to soar through the sky at speeds up to one hundred miles per hour and to land without the aid of a parachute. This project is the creation of 37-year-old Jeb Corliss, Jr., a Southern Californian who seeks to emulate a mode of flight more like a flying squirrel than bird or plane.
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Good read
- By Jowly on 04-22-15
By: Matt Higgins
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Never Quit
- From Alaskan Wilderness Rescues to Afghanistan Firefights as an Elite Special Ops PJ
- By: Jimmy Settle, Don Rearden
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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"That Others May Live" is a mantra that defines the fearless men of Alaska's 212th Pararescue Unit, the PJs, one of the most elite military forces on the planet. Whether they are rescuing citizens injured and freezing in the Alaskan wilderness or saving wounded Rangers and SEALs in blazing firefights at war, the PJs are the least known and most highly trained of America's warriors. Never Quit is the true story of how Jimmy Settle, an Alaskan shoe-store clerk, became a Special Forces Operator and war hero.
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Unbelievable Heroism by AF Parajumpers
- By Larry on 11-26-17
By: Jimmy Settle, and others
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Beyond Possible
- One Man, Fourteen Peaks, and the Mountaineering Achievement of a Lifetime
- By: Nims Purja
- Narrated by: Shridhar Solanki
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Nepali climber Nims Purja is the first man ever to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter "Death Zone" peaks. He did so in less than seven months, breaking the previous record of seven years.
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5 stars for the achievement 3 stars for the book.
- By fostesa on 01-11-22
By: Nims Purja
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33 Men
- Inside the Miraculous Survival and Dramatic Rescue of the Chilean Miners
- By: Jonathan Franklin
- Narrated by: Armando Valdez Kennedy
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Having had unparalleled access to the Chilean mine disaster, award-winning journalist Jonathan Franklin takes readers to the heart of a remarkable story of human endurance, survival, and historic heroism. 33 Men is the groundbreaking, authoritative account of the Chilean mine disaster, one of the longest human entrapments in history.
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Excellent
- By James on 11-23-15
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No Hero
- The Evolution of a Navy SEAL
- By: Mark Owen, Kevin Maurer
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The second book by former Navy SEAL Mark Owen, following his multimillion-copy classic about the bin Laden mission No Easy Day, in which he tells the stories from his career that were most personal to him and that made him the operator and the person he is today.
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Did not meet my expectations. Could be 3.5 stars
- By Derek on 11-12-14
By: Mark Owen, and others
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Free Days with George
- Learning Life's Little Lessons from One Very Big Dog
- By: Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Rudy Sanda
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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After Colin Campbell went on a short business trip abroad, he returned home to discover his wife of many years had moved out. No explanations. No second chances. She was gone and wasn't coming back. Shocked and heartbroken, Colin fell into a spiral of depression and loneliness. Soon after, a friend told Colin about a dog in need of rescue - a neglected, 140-pound Newfoundland Landseer, a breed renowned for its friendly nature and remarkable swimming abilities.
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Great
- By Diane Downs on 06-17-18
By: Colin Campbell
What listeners say about Hero Dogs
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Phillip taylor
- 08-01-22
OUTSTANDING!
An amazing emotional and inspiring story that is impossible to stop listening to with fantastic pace
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- Cynthia
- 02-02-22
Great Book 📖
I really enjoyed this book.The story was true and soo interesting. the reader was perfect
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- Anonymous
- 06-22-24
Service Dogs Search and Find
Every animal lover will love this fact based listen. Dogs which would have been thrown away or euthanized are having a second chance to be spectacular and spectacular they are! Their trainers dedicate themselves to train so closure can be found and loved ones can be found alive.
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- Erick
- 04-08-22
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.
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- Alyssa DeNuccio
- 06-27-23
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
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- Lori Maxwell
- 02-24-22
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
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- Kim M. Brownell
- 11-17-22
Hero Dogs
Wow! What a heart wrenching and heart warming true story. These animals are heroes in their own right!
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- Karen Ackman
- 11-26-22
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.
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- yaknandpakn
- 12-12-22
Moving and Interesting
What a drive and accomplishment! Amazing, dedicated people and dogs. I enjoyed learning the story.
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- MKelley
- 06-06-24
First audiobook that ever made me cry
What a beautiful story. Dog lovers will love this book! It’s an incredible true story! Read it. Listen to it. Take it in.
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