If you like suspenseful crime fiction focused on working dogs and law enforcement set amid rugged mountain terrain, check out award-winning author & K-9 handler Kathleen Donnelly’s  National Forest K-9 series. The author blends her personal and professional experience into the stories she weaves, giving us an in-depth view of the myriad challenges– physical and psychological–faced by today’s law enforcement officers and many military veterans. After reading the first in the series (and looking forward to reading more), I asked Kathleen to share an experience of her own with a K-9 drug detection dog. Read on for a sneak peek into the world of working dogs …

Working Tails

K-9 Juniper, my fictional dog in the National Forest K-9 series, was inspired by my years of working  with dogs trained to detect narcotics, as well as my experience as a co-owner of a Colorado-based narcotics K-9 company.

I was recently asked how we make sure the dogs are alerting on the correct odors of drugs, alcohol and gunpowder versus food. I work hard to make sure the dogs are alerting on the correct odors. When we check backpacks that the dogs have indicated on, I always keep notes on what we’re finding. I often wish the dogs could speak and tell us what they smell, but more often than not, the dogs are proven correct in an alert. Sometimes it takes a while, though, to validate why the dogs were alerting.

One of these times came about when I was working at a high school with Boomer. Boomer diligently checked each backpack and his body language changed near a black backpack. Sure enough he sat which is his alert.

The principal started going through the backpack trying to figure out what Boomer had found. There didn’t seem to be anything obvious. As she pulled items out and placed them on the floor, Boomer went over to a Ziploc bag that had some Mentos candy in it. He put his nose on the bag and then sat again. This was his way of telling me that the candies were the source of his alert.

Finding nothing else, the principal decided to take the candy with her. We decided we would try a test. I went out to my car and after telling Boomer what a good boy he was, I put him away and got Willow out. I took her in. While I was switching dogs, the principal hid the candies in her office. I asked Willow to check the office and sure enough, she went to where the candies were hidden and sat.

That was enough for me to say those candies were probably laced with something. But just to be sure, I decided I would do what I call “proofing.” I went to a store and bought the same kind of Mentos. Then I took them home and put them in my own Ziploc plastic bag. I set up a training session that included the bag of Mentos. If the dogs were alerting on those for some reason, then I would need to work on discouraging that in training. Boomer went first and ignored the Mentos. Willow did the same. I repeated the exercise during a session with our trainer. Neither dog ever alerted on the Mentos I bought. Now I was very certain the candies we found in the school were laced with something. I let the principal know.

One of the hard parts with finding something like we did is getting it tested. The school resource officer (SRO) sent the candies off to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation lab for further testing, but he told me that it could take over a year and they may only test for certain drugs, not all the different drugs that the candy could be laced with.

Eventually the test results came back negative, but as the SRO mentioned, the lab didn’t test for everything. A few months later, when Boomer and I were back to work the same school, the SRO told me that another officer had arrested someone for selling Mentos laced with different types of drugs like LSD. The suspect admitted to selling these candies to high school kids. Boomer and Willow received high praise. This also reminded me once again to always, always trust my dogs.

The National Forest K-9 Series

Chasing Justice         Hunting the Truth          Killer Secrets

About the Author

Kathleen Donnelly is a K-9 handler who’s worked with dogs and was part owner of a Colorado-based narcotics K-9 company for many years. As a writer, she loves crafting realism into her fictional stories from her dog-handling experience. She was raised in Colorado and holds a B.A. in Journalism from Colorado State University. Her debut novel, Chasing Justice, won a Best Book Award from the American Book Fest, won first place for romantic suspense in the PenCraft Awards and was a 2023 Silver Falchion finalist in the Suspense category and Readers’ Choice Award. She lives near the Colorado foothills with her husband and four-legged coworkers.

P.S. When asked about Boomer, Kathleen says “His goal in life is to be a 70-pound lap dog so he was quite happy to climb into my lap for the photo shoot.” (Photo credit: PiperAnne Worcester Photography)

Connect with Kathleen

Email kathleen@kathleendonnelly.com or visit her website at www.kathleendonnelly.com. While you’re exploring her site, sign up for her monthly newsletter and receive the short story collection of other Working Tails!

Find her on social media, as well: facebook.com/AuthorKathleenDonnelly; on Instagram @authorkathleendonnelly; and as @KatK9writer on Twitter.

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You can  find even more purchase links at http://www.kathleendonnelly.com!

Working Tails © 2023 by Kathleen Donnelly