"PAWS TO PROTECT: Dogs Saving Lives and Restoring Hope," by Sharon Sakson, Alyson Books, 261 pages, $24.95
Oowen, a Belgian Malinois, patrols the front lines in Iraq, searching for explosive devices. Bentley, another Belgian Malinois, patrols the U.S. border with Mexico, alerting border agents to anyone trying to cross into the United States illegally. Trouble the beagle works at an airport, sniffing passengers' bags for taboo fruits and veggies that might harbor harmful insects or bacteria.
These are just a few of the dogs with difficult and potentially dangerous jobs profiled in "Paws to Protect: Dogs Saving Lives and Restoring Hope."
Author Sharon Sakson offers up heroic, heartwarming and sometimes tearful vignettes that illustrate the many ways canines make the lives of humans better — and safer. Sakson's previous works include "Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs" and "Paws & Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog."
Sakson focuses heavily on dogs in wartime, beginning with Stubby, a pit bull, who was smuggled onto the World War I battlefield by his owner. With his superior hearing, Stubby could detect the whine of an incoming rocket and run for cover, signaling his human companions to do the same. With his superior smelling ability, Stubby could alert soldiers that a gas attack was coming in time for them to don gas masks — a feat of bravery that sent Stubby to the hospital, as there were no dog-size gas masks. Stubby survived to serve more missions, make more friends and win more medals, becoming the most decorated canine war hero ever.
By the 1940s the U.S. military had caught on to the value of war dogs, and "Paws to Protect" shows how canines have played an important role on the battlefield ever since.
Besides battlefield stories, there are stories of police dogs, cadaver dogs who worked at ground zero after 9/11 and search-and-rescue dogs. There is Spike the German shepherd, who prevented a disturbed man soaked in lighter fluid from setting himself on fire on the tracks of a New York City subway line. And a band of merry little Jack Russell terriers keeps Hawaii free of dangerous snakes that stow away on cargo planes.
"Paws to Protect" is a loving tribute to the dogs who use their abilities to help people, asking nothing in return except for a little human companionship — or, in the case of the Trouble the beagle, that dog treat hiding in the handler's pocket.
E-mail: jwilliamson@desnews.com