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

MY THOUGHTSABSOLUTELY LOVED ITCharleson has trained search and rescue dogs for years and when the stress of doing her job builds up that she begins experience panic attacks, she finds herself in need of some rescue Her love of dogs and the fact that she notices how her search and rescue companions create calm in a horrible situations, leads her to discover their healing power She embarks on training her own service dog to support her own invisible disability To be honest, when I first saw the ti [...]

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 [...]

I love a good story of redemption, and The Possibility Dogs serves up a great tale of how certain unadoptable dogs were trained to be of service to people with varying conditions Susannah Charleson introduces us to Jake Piper, a pitbull German shepherd poodle mix discovered in deplorable conditions in the author s neighborhood And while stories of other rescues and their partners intermix with Jake s main story, I was very entertained by how Charleson set up trials to determine service dog worth [...]

I m continually amazed at the things dogs can do, and how perceptive they are

This was an extremely interesting book for me The book begins by talking about attitudes towards psychiatric service dogs and service dogs for those with invisible disabilities Since I work in the field of civil rights, including those with disabilities, I see this in my work and I absolutely get the difficulties these individuals face on a daily basis.The author has developed her own foundation called Possibility Dogs, Inc which I didn t realize until the end of the book It is mentioned in the [...]

super book i have a service dog and know how it can go sometimes since my disability is not seen also my service dog is a yorkie so i am often questioned for a long time i have been upset that it seems service dog trainers were missing a great opportunity by not getting dogs out of pounds, rescues, etc this book not only explains the procedure it takes to actually do that, but gives me hope hearing that it is being done what a wonderful read loved reading how others have dealt with some of the s [...]

Not only did I find this to be a heartwarming read, I also learnt from it as I had no idea how many different types of Service Dogs there are.

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 di [...]

Fascinating, moving, compelling

Invisible and stigmatized psychiatric illness.In the hospital for a hip replacement Flowers, notes, visitors.In the hospital for losing it You re on your own Actually you re not on your own Unless you are at the Menginger or Betty Ford Clinic, you are surrounded by cellmates with issues ranging from heroin addiction not yet functioning enough to keep their faces out of their plates to help me and I d be functioning people with depression, bipolar disorder, others Diversity is good Except when de [...]

Susannah Charleson has a gift for storytelling that appeals to both the head and heart of the reader As a partner of a canine tracker myself, I read Scent of the Missing with keen interest Every weekend, I see how my extremely reactive dog forgets all about his fears as he works the scent and finds his victim I really believed that together we could qualify as a SAR team and help in our community Unfortunately, in the last few years, my chronic pain issues began to increase, and one half of the [...]

When search and rescue volunteer Susannah Charleson meets Robert and his psychiatric service dog, Haska, she is curious While she s heard of assistance dogs for many conditions, this is a new one to her Having trained search and rescue dogs, she wonders whether she might be able to evaluate and train a different type of service dog.And so begins Charleson s memoir, The Possibility Dogs She takes the readers on her journey of learning to evaluate dogs for psychiatric service practicing on her own [...]

I enjoyed this book for the most part and gained new information about the many uses of dogs in service and therapy, especially for invisible disabilities The variety of ways dogs can assist is told through the stories of people the author has interviewed for PTSD, depression, OCD, frequent disorientation and memory loss, to name a few Their stories were very poignant Someone very close to me has a service dog for a medical condition and I m familiar with the stares as people try to figure out I [...]

What an awesome book to listen to during my commute to from workI had a few moments when I wondered if I would have to get off the hiway, but all was good I love the stories of the learning journey including Susannah s personally rescued fostered dogs as well as how SR dog Puzzle was a mentor dog for Jake Piper I would love to have a chance to work in this field to be further mentored in this work It is one of the most challenging parts of my like when I actually have a SD in training.I am a vol [...]

I have struggled with this book for days due to the incredible ratings it has gotten from others First, I am sorry I don t like sad dog stories Let s face it, there are far too many and generally I just skip the last chapter in dog books, but in this case the sad parts are at the beginning and in the middle as well I know my dogs are going to die far too young Secondly, the book seems disorganized and choppy I guess I just didn t like the writing style There are good parts interspersed, like the [...]

I raise guide dogs, so this seemed right up my alley Then two friends highly recommended the book in the same week So I rushed to the library for a copy.Eeh The first section, on selecting evaluating puppies for possible service dog work was interesting And the dogs themselves were interesting, as was the discussion of how dogs can offer emotional psychological assistance But in the end the book was just okay obviously heartwarming and of great interest to a lot of people, but not what I look fo [...]

What a great book The dogs in here are service dogs, but they service individuals with various anxiety disorders or OCD or other situations that are not always visible to the eye Charleson discusses the various ways she trains, how she comes across the many dogs she does train and the rewarding aspects of training dogs for this type of service.Not too sentimental and written in a way that makes the material feel fresh and new.

Excellent If you love dogs, are interested in working dogs, or curious about how dogs can mitigate various psych disabilities, this is a must read Ms Charleson details her own experiences with SAR, Therapy, and training a psych service dog in addition to sharing experiences of many other individuals as they cope with a variety of invisible disabilities and how their service dogs make their lives better Possibility Dogs is an interesting, educational, and heart warming read.

Great book Charleson does a fantastic job of describing why some dogs are candidates to be service dogs and others are NOT Many, many people assume that just any dog can become a service dog, and I love the way she educates otherwise The stories she tells are wonderful and heartwarming but she never loses sight of the fact that the dogs she works with are DOGS, not perfect, angelic miracle workers.

Dogs are a wonder.Loved reading about the natural talents, compassion and love a dog gives to us These stories have made me aware of my own dog s personality and her unique traits.

Great insight into the joys and difficulty of choosing and training dogs for service She is a dog person to her core but she doesn t gloss over the hard work, disappointments, limitations and detours on the road to her successes Enjoy her frank approach.

Furheroes

Good book, I really enjoyed the stories about the people and the dogs I also liked watching the training of Jake.

Seriously, dogs are so much smarter than most people give them credit for.

The dog gave me a single glance, sweetly alert, a double huff of nostrils that said she d tagged my scent, and then she turned away This dog was all business When her partner cleared his throat, she looked up into his face immediately, holding her gaze there until something in his behavior satisfied her, and then she relaxed again He extended his index finger to her cheek and gave it an absent scritch She opened her mouth in the half smile, half pant of a happy dog They obviously had things work [...]

This book was a great read I would recommend it to anyone who likes dogs, reading about dog training rescue, or wants to learn about what service dogs can do for humans If you are considering reading this book, you will probably like it The story of the author training her dog for service and eventually finding dogs for others is interspersed with stories of other service dogs and their handlers These are very interesting and I m glad they are included, because it gives the reader an idea of th [...]

The Possibility Dogs What a Handful of Unadoptables Taught Me About Service, Hope, and Healing is a great book I ve been wanting to read one of Charleson s books for a while as I heard her speak at a WGT meeting Charleson does a fantastic job describing the wonder of dogs and the value of their service She never generalizes, instead she shows these creatures as individual personalities It was interesting to learn how some dogs are candidates for service and others are not The stories she tells a [...]

This is a good book I want to train service dogs so this book covers the good the bad the ugly about dogs in general this book also gives a bit about how poorly dogs are treated in some areas of the states it also gives insight to what service dog handlers go through in their life This book made me laugh and cry.

Fascinating book about service dogs, with a big heart.

If you dog trainer or rescuer, you will love this book Or if, like me, you have a rescue dog as a pet, you will love this book If you just adore dogs, you will love this book.