Four-legged Detectives: Bringing K-9s to Life in Fiction
Terry Odell and Kathleen Donnelly
As you read this, I’m be in New Zealand. I’m delighted that Kathleen Donnelly agreed to cover for my post this week. I first met Kathleen years ago at a writer’s conference where she did a fascinating presentation on working dogs.
Kathleen, Gracie, Sparky, Boomer, and Willow
Thank you so much, Terry, for inviting me to guest post on the Kill zone! I’m excited to be here today to share information about one of my passions—working dogs. Whether you’re a reader, writer or both, I’m happy to share a behind the scenes look at how I developed my fictional K-9 Juniper, based on my real-life experiences.
Dogs are man’s best friend for many reasons, but their ability to help us solve mysteries by using their noses make them invaluable for law enforcement, military, private sector work and more. They also make great fictional characters. I’ve been lucky to have worked for a private company for the past 19 years called Sherlock Hounds Detection Canines. Our dogs are trained to find drugs, alcohol and gunpowder. The goal of our program is to help deter these items at schools. Over the years, my dogs continue to amaze me and it was this work that led to me adding a K-9 into my National Forest K-9 series.
I had many decisions to make when I decided to add in a K-9 character to my series. What breed should I use? Which agency would employ my main character? What language would my main character use to give her K-9 commands? I wanted the K-9 work in my books to be authentic and so before I even chose a breed, I had to decide on the agency. Why? Because each agency has different requirements, commands, and training styles.
Knowing the agency would determine all of that plus help me decide on the breed of dog. For example, my private company uses Labrador retrievers because we work in schools. We want a non-intimidating breed. However, a police department who’s tracking a suspect wanted for homicide needs an intimidating breed that will also be happy to apprehend (the polite way of saying bite) the bad guy. Dogs who are known for apprehension are usually shepherds. One other breed I’ve seen used more and more for this work is the Giant Black Schnauzer.
These two very different breeds below are both searching for narcotics. The Fox Terrier was one of our non-intimidating dogs while the shepherd was in training for law enforcement. Your character’s agency will make all the difference in the breed you choose.)
When I determined that my protagonist, Maya Thompson, would be a US Forest Service law enforcement officer, I knew she would have a Malinois. They are my favorite shepherd breed. They are also high-energy, intense, love their work (especially apprehension) and loyal to their handlers. I was asked once why I chose a female Malinois. My answer was simply for “Girl Power.” In real life, for most agencies, the sex of the dog doesn’t matter, only the characteristics needed to be a good working dog. Some of those characteristics include a high-retrieve drive, high prey drive, and extremely high energy.
Knowing the agency and breed allowed me to determine all the different jobs my one fictional dog would be able to do. As a law enforcement K-9, I knew she would be a dual-purpose dog. Dual-purpose means the dogs have more than one job. In this case, I knew that like other law enforcement K-9s my dog would find narcotics, track suspects, locate evidence and apprehend. I also researched how my dog would alert. There are two types of alerts—passive and active. Passive is when you see a dog sit or lie down to tell their handler they’ve found something. Passive alerts are becoming more common because there tends to be less destruction. Active alerts are when a dog scratches at an item they’ve found. The type of alert is very important when it comes to creating an authentic fictional dog. For example, for obvious reasons, a bomb dog will never do an active alert. I chose to have my dog do a passive alert. I was talking to one of our trainers and even took the alert a step further. When our trainer was a deputy, she taught her German Shepherd to sit when he found narcotics and down when he found evidence. I loved that and my fictional dog soon had the exact same alerts.
When I had these factors worked out, I also had to create a realistic handler. Once again, girl power. I knew I’d have a female protagonist and Maya came to life. I wanted Maya to already have training as a K-9 handler and there were a couple realistic ways to go about this—she could have a past in law enforcement or the military. I chose military for my character as that lent itself better to the storyline of my character having PTSD from losing her dog in Afghanistan. On a side spoiler note—no dogs will ever be killed in my books. This is just a part of my character’s backstory.
As I wrote my first book, CHASING JUSTICE, I enjoyed incorporating my fictional K-9 into solving the mystery. Juniper tracked, apprehended, cleared a cabin and found narcotics. Through some of these storylines, I enjoyed also dispelling some myths about working dogs. How many times have we seen in a movie where the bad guy gets away because he ran through water? Or the dog missed the narcotics because they were hidden in coffee? While in real life dogs can miss something or lose the scent of someone they’re tracking, these ways of deterring a dog are not real. Dogs can smell just fine through water and have even been known to find drowning victims. There’s nothing that will cover the scent of narcotics, bombs, or anything else a dog is trained to find.
One of my last decisions was what language to have Maya give Juniper commands. Many people think that K-9s are automatically trained in German or Dutch. For some dogs this is true. Our trainers would keep commands in a different language if the dog came with previous training in a different language. Otherwise, they train the dogs in English. This is because officers in a high stress situation (which is when a dog is being deployed) often forget the foreign language. It’s much easier to recall your native language. Officers have also found that when a suspect hears the command for the dog to go bite, the person is more inspired to give up and start complying with arrest. For those reasons, plus the ease of writing, I decided to have Maya give Juniper commands in English.
If you’re thinking of incorporating a K-9 into your writing, these are just a few of the things to think about as you research. I’ve enjoyed not only working with my dogs, but learning more about other K-9 jobs, handler qualifications and how other agencies train. Have you thought about a K-9 character? What would your K-9 character’s superpowers be? What else would you like to know about K-9s? I’ll be around all day to answer your questions and discuss further. Thanks again for having me as a guest on the blog!
P.S. Every month I write a story for my newsletter about my experiences as a K-9 handler. If you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll also receive my free eBook “Working Tails: The Stories Behind the K-9s.” You can sign up on my website.
I also wanted to let you know about a special pre-order campaign through my favorite indie bookstore for my latest book, KILLER SECRETS. If you order KILLER SECRETS or any of the other National Forest K-9 books through Old Firehouse books, you’ll receive a signed books and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a National Forest K-9 Gift box which includes a gift card to the bookstore (can be used for online orders), dog treats from a local biscuit bakery, and coffee. Go to Old Firehouse Books today to buy your copies and be entered in the drawing.
Thanks, Kathleen, for stepping up while I’m away. TKZers, I’ve read her award-winning Chasing Justice, and it’s obvious Kathleen knows her dogs!
How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands.
Available now.
Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”
Welcome to TKZ, Kathleen! Thanks for this information-packed post about K-9s. The two different passive alerts–sit for drugs and lie down for evidence–is a fascinating detail.
About your “spoiler alert”–I consider that a “reassurance alert”! We dog lovers thank you!
In the fourth book of my series, a determined 13-year-old girl is inspired to train her rambunctious black Lab pup after she reads a book about search dogs. Their well-meaning mistakes complicate the investigation of a missing man. A K-9 handler friend, Susan Purvis, helped with authenticity based on mistakes her own pup made during early training. Lots of fun to write. The girl character would now be an adult–maybe I should bring the pair back for another case where they are better trained.
Give your K-9s a biscuit for their good work and thanks for visiting TKZ.
Hello Debbie,
Thanks so much for having me on TKZ! I was excited to be a guest blogger here today. 🙂
I found the alerts that our trainer taught her dog fascinating as well. And I’m glad the spoiler alert was reassuring. I can’t read or watch anything where an animal is killed. It’s just too hard after partnering with these wonderful dogs all these years.
Your book sounds wonderful and I understand training mistakes. We’ve all been there as handlers and I continue to learn from my dogs.
Boomer and Willow say thank you for the biscuits. Thanks again for having me on this fantastic blog today!
Great information. I enjoyed Chasing Justice.
Thanks so much, Sharon and it’s great to see you here! I’m so happy you enjoyed Chasing Justice. I hope to see you at a conference again soon. 🙂
Good morning, Kathleen and Terry.
Thanks, Kathleen for a very interesting blog on four-legged detectives. Your information was fascinating. I’ve not used working dogs in my stories, but you have me thinking that they may be a good idea.
Terry, I hope you’re having a wonderful time in New Zealand. Bring back some more great pictures.
Hello Steve,
It’s great to connect with you here! And yes, Terry, I look forward to seeing pictures from New Zealand. 🙂
I’m so happy you found the information fascinating and I think it’s always fun to add a K-9 character. Of course I’m a bit biased on that. 🙂
Thanks again!
Today is National K-9 Veteran Day. Good timing. A great article.
This was great timing for National K-9 Veteran Day! I’m so happy that the brave K-9s who have served and helped protect our military and country have a day to recognize them. 🙂
Welcome to TKZ, Kathleen, and thank you for your fascinating post. I especially like “On a side spoiler note—no dogs will ever be killed in my books.” Wise decision.
Barkley the Border Collie is a character in my Watch Mystery series. Generally he’s there for my main character to talk to, but he did get into a dustup with a rattlesnake in one book. (The dog wasn’t hurt, but thanks to the help of a friend, the snake went to pieces. 🙂
Btw, I recently read (and loved) The Art of Racing in the Rain where the narrator is a dog. Have you read it?
Best of luck with all your writing and your dogs.
Hello Kay,
It’s been such an honor to be a guest today on TKZ blog. Thank you for having me!
Yes, I would never harm an animal in any of my books. I don’t like reading that or watching anything like that in a movie, so it won’t happen in my novels. 🙂
I’ll have to check out your mystery series! I LOVE Border Collies. They are such great dogs. So smart!
I have read The Art of Racing in the Rain. I read it a long time ago and I enjoyed it although I almost didn’t make it through the opening chapter.
Thanks so much for reading the post and commenting today! 🙂
Thanks, Terry and Kathleen! This is a great post, with “killer” ideas… 🙂
Love that the bad guys sometimes get to hear the handler say “go bite”…that’d sure get my attention.
We have (sorry, Kathleen) the smartest German Shepherd in the world. Her name is Hoka. She will be 10 next month. She has learned many words, like “go, outside, ride, treat” (of course), and the phrase that always makes me smile, “Time for bed.” When I say that to her, she trots off down the hall and lays down in front of the inside door out to our garage.
Hoka has also earned the titles of “Neighbor’s cow herder” and “Certified Cat Scanner”. One neighbor in our rural area has six cats that always taunt her from the other side of the fence, and sometimes venture into Hoka’s turf. I shudder to think what will happen if one of those cats has a slow day and gets caught.
I signed up for your newsletter, Kathleen. I love dogs, and stories of LE and military working dogs, and look forward to learning more, and how to incorporate a canine into a story.
Thanks for being here today and filling in for our awesome Terry…
Hello Deb,
Thank you so much for signing up for my newsletter! I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the monthly stories.
I loved reading about your German Shepherd, Hoka. They are such wonderful dogs! Do you know author Margaret Mizushima? She has a great K-9 series and her dog, Robo, is a black German Shepherd. I think all the shepherd breeds are so smart and amazing. 🙂 Hopefully those neighbor cats are also smart…
Thanks again for reading and commenting today! I always enjoy connecting with other dog lovers. 🙂
I’ll check her out!
This is a timely and fascinating post. I just finished writing a book with a canine working with a search and rescue team. From your article, all my research and videos paid off. One interesting article I found talked about the use of the smaller spaniels in searching for lost children. An agency in England discovered these happy enthusiastic smaller breeds were less intimidating to the kids, even some adults, than the bigger dogs such as the shepherds and blood hounds. The spaniels don’t have as keen a nose as the traditional breeds, but do well enough in most cases. For the more difficult trails, the team used the shepherds and hounds initially, then send the spaniels in for the find.
Since I’ve had several generations of Brittany’s, I was delighted I could use my dog as the basis for my canine character. I could incorporate his silly antics as companion dog as well as a working one. My Brittany has an incredible nose. I do a lot of fun training with him to keep him from being bored. He’s very adaptable between parlor tricks and finding different objects (even me). It’s just fun for us, but gives me a close up on how the dogs use scent. Added with my research on actual service dogs, it was a fun and interesting addition to my story.
I love stories about dogs. I’m going to look up your books.
Thank you for your insightful post. By the way, I love the name of your organization.
Hello Cecilia,
I love that you had a search and rescue dog in your book! What’s the name of your book? I always love reading other K-9 authors. 🙂
I also love that you have a Brittany. They’re beautiful dogs and I would imagine they would make a great working breed! Another breed I forgot to mention that’s being used by TSA, ATF and other agencies for narcotics and bomb detection is the German Shorthair Pointers. I bet they would be great at search and rescue too.
Thank you for reading and post on the blog today! It’s been great meeting you! I’m also glad you enjoyed the name of our company. As a writer, I’d love to take credit, but my business partner named the company before I became a handler and owner. She did a great job coming up with a fun name!
Take care and give your sweet pup and biscuit from me! 🙂
My book may not be in your preferred genre. It is an urban fantasy. Only a few characters have unusual abilities. The Brittany does not. Thus the research. I want as many true to life details as possible to blend with the fantasy portion. The book should be available next week. The title is Evie. But again, a different genre from your books. I don’t write romantic suspense but I read a lot of them. I bought Chasing Justice and can’t wait to dig in. I especially love the addition of the service dogs.
Welcome, Kathleen, and thanks for a fascinating post. I am amazed by the intelligence and bravery of K-9 dogs. I saw a police demonstration once. The dogs were so disciplined.
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for reading the post and I agree, K-9 dogs are so brave! Especially those used for law enforcement, military, etc. They love their jobs!
It’s been great connecting with you! 🙂
Kathleen, I have read and love your books: I’m definitely a fan — and still I learned new information from your fascinating blog post today! I was so interested that you thought so carefully about the language you used for Maya’s commands to Juniper. I was one of those who assumed that dogs were mostly trained to respond to commands in German. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise! I’m so looking forward to the release of KILLER SECRETS!
Hi Marjorie!
Thanks so much for your support of my books and for reading this blog post today! It’s great to see you here. And by the way, I’m a big fan of YOUR books! 😉
I’ve heard a lot of people assume that the dogs are trained in another language. I always joke that I had a bilingual dog as my K-9 Gracie would only let go of her toy if I used the German command, “Aus.” No idea why. Every other command was in English with her. Although she just knew her job and really didn’t need commands. 🙂
Thanks again for stopping by today! 🙂
Kathleen,
I am a fan of the Kill Zone. Great post. My memoir is called Go Find: My Journey to Find the Lost and Myself. I trained and deployed a black Lab in the high country of Colorado. We deployed to SAR missions in water, avalanches, the wilderness. We also deployed to crime scenes. I am also a good friend of Deb Burke. I hope we can meet up one of these days and talk DOGS!!! I can’t wait to read your books.
Susan Purvis, Author, Educator, Explorer
Hello Susan!
Your name sounds so familiar! I bet though that we have K-9 handler friends in common. Do you know Cathy Bryarly? I met her through one of our trainers, Lanie DeLong. It’s a small world when it comes to K-9 work. I would LOVE to get together and talk dogs at some point! Search and Rescue work fascinates me. 🙂
It’s so great to connect with you and I just found you on Facebook and sent a friend request. I hope that’s okay! Thanks so much! 🙂 And thank you for all the wonderful work you and your brave K-9 did!
Thanks for a great column about the best ever characters! Dogs are crucial in my lives, both real and fictional. My 1/2 Border Collie (the other half is unknown but very sweet and thankfully laid back) is my constant companion in my office as I write. I recently finished book #17 in my Cutter’s Code series, featuring a Belgian Tervuren with all the instincts of a Maligator. I went with the Terv in part because Mals are so recognizable these days, and I wanted the fluffier version to kind of throw characters in the story off, but also because I met one on a ferry across Puget Sound and flat fell in love. Which is fitting, because since I write romantic suspense, Cutter also has a knack for knowing when people need to be Together. It’s made for a fun ride.
Hello Justine!
It’s so great to connect with you! Being published by Carina Press, I’ve seen your series with Harlequin and I look forward to reading your books at some point soon! 🙂
I love that you have a Tervuren in your books! They are such cool dogs and you’re right, you don’t see them very often in fiction. Was the one you met on the ferry a working dog? Or a pet?
If you live in the Washington area, you should connect with my friend and fellow K-9 writer Margaret Mizushima. You two would enjoy talking about working dogs. 😉
I hope I get to meet you at some point as it’s always great to meet other dog lovers and writers. 🙂 Give your sweet co-author a dog biscuit from me! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment. 🙂
Hi, Kathleen!
Thanks for the kind words! I’ve already added some of your titles to my shopping list. We have a lot in common; I spent a lot of years at my first job, at a police department in a beach town in SoCal. And got to work and play with some great K9s there! Also read about your horse–I used to barrel race in my wild youth…
The Terv I met on the ferry was on his way to a weekend agility trial/show. He was amazing, so tuned in to =everything=! Yes, I do live in Washington, in a little village on Puget Sound.
And a dog treat was delivered in your name. 🙂
Love this very informative post, Kathleen! I love your books and can’t wait for the next one in the series to come out!
Thanks so much, Margaret! I so appreciate all your support and you taking the time to stop by the blog today! By the way, I mentioned to Justine Davis in the above comment that if she also lives in the Washington area, you two might want to connect. 😉
Thanks again! 🙂