We have had the great honor on two multiday efforts in 2023 (with another planned search in the Spring of 2024) to work alongside members of the Yakama Nation in the search for unmarked graves on the site of the first US reservation boarding school just outside White...
On Monday April 3, 2023 at the Seattle Mariners’ home game with Los Angeles Angels, 13-year-old K9 “Keb”, the 2022 American Humane Search and Rescue Hero Dog, caught the ceremonial first pitch of the game! Keb appeared at the home plate (and on the Big Screen),...
It had been four days since I dropped off Kevin and his daughter Katie at the Pacific Crest Trailhead at Snoqualmie Pass. For two months, this intrepid pair had been working their way northbound on the trail -- through northern California, then Oregon, then...
Keb is the WINNER of the American Humane Society Search and Rescue Dog Award and one of seven dogs vying for the overall National Dog Hero Title. Voting continues until September 13. As a puppy Keb was quite a handful. She had unending energy, and she was fearless and...
It was just after midnight when we parked near the cemetery on the outskirts of Snohomish, Washington and began our assignment. As Team 7, Erin and I had been tasked with searching the grounds of the cemetery: 25 acres of grass, graves, and tombstones. After putting...
Hike Your Own Hike "Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?” The Gospel of Luke “Hike your own hike.” It’s a phrase you see fairly...
Class Notes from the Summer, 2022 "California Magazine" (of the UC Berkeley Alumni Association) highlighted "A Dog's Devotion: True Adventures of a K9 Search and Rescue Team", authored by Suzanne Elshult and Guy Mansfield (Class of 1971).
Book publishing activities are heating up. Final touches to our book, “A Dog’s Devotion,” were made in May. We just approved the book jacket and we have now started working with our Lyons Press assigned publicist Emily Cable. The learning curve is steep given that we...
Working with our publisher the last several months has been an educational experience to say the least. In February we collaborated with the Production Editor and submitted our final edits. Once the copyeditor has cleaned up the manuscript, it will be sent to...
As search and rescue volunteers, some of our motivations differ, but any differences we may have are overshadowed by our common passion for finding the missing. We know we cannot always bring closure to families. Truth be told, more often than not missions I have...