K9 Commando: Police and Army Dogs from New York to Berlin

by Violetta Kovacs

K9 Police and Army Dogs from New York to Berlin Dogs have much to teach us humans about selflessness, loyalty and incorruptibility. As crime-fighters aiding the police, Special Forces dogs, in particular, heed the call of duty with all the courage that their owners and fellow officers have. Author Violetta Kovacs presents 12 true and touching stories of these brave, tough, smart and beautiful animals in her latest book, K9 Police and Army Dogs from New York to Berlin. Kovacs gives a voice to those brave and honorable officers of the K9 variety who cannot speak for themselves. Her tales of their exploits demonstrate what extraordinary creatures they are. For thousands of years, man and his four-legged "best friend" have had a special bond. As guide dogs for the blind, search-and-rescue dogs for the lost, sheep dogs for shepherds or simply companions for ordinary people, dogs have always taken their place at their masters' sides. This bond is no more apparent than with the Special Forces K9 officers Kovacs honors with K9 Commando. The touching stories in the book prove without a doubt that a dog is not "just an animal." It testifies to the truly deep and honest emotional relationship between a police officer and his dog.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Who am I?

My name is Violetta Kovacs and I live in Hungary. I am a dog-crazy editor- journalist (no comma) whose first word as a child was "dog". My first star-photos were taken of a dog. I learned to walk by grabbing the fur of our family's watchdog, Rinti and when I sometimes cried, our dog licked up my tears to my mother's great astonishment. The dice was cast. You will not be surprised if I tell you that the most sweeping change of my life happened thanks to a dog, Roxy. Roxy was a German Shepherd who had been my partner and best friend for 15 years. I miss her very much. Although my new dogs are fantastic and both Rush and Sunny - who was named Chaos by my son when he was a puppy - have put a lot of happiness into our lives.

How does a Hungarian journalist get to be involved with American police dogs? Hmm... It's a good question. The answer can be traced back to the past. A long time ago I had a dog named Roxy... When Roxy died, I was hurt so much when I saw that German Shepherd dogs were put to sleep by the dozen in shelters... These dogs that could give so much good to us, people. These dogs that we can only learn from when it comes to selflessness, loyalty and not being corrupted...and lots of other traits... A few friends and I established the Hungarian German Shepherd rescue. I felt that we had to show people and the whole world these creatures whose lives we can finish with just one shrug and one fatal injection after declaring that we don't need them...

Reviews

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, as well as other canine handlers I'm sure, spend a great deal of time looking at our dogs at the end of the work day. We look into their eyes and wish that there was something more that we could do for them in order to show our appreciation, love, loyalty, and passion for their great work and companionship. It seems, at times, to be the only thing that separates us...as the working dog constantly strives to display loyalty, work drive, and for a lack of a better word, partnership regardless. Never ending. K9 Commando satisfies a desire to show our, as human beings, appreciation to our four legged brothers and sisters within the working dog world. I have read this book three times, and have had the wonderful opportunity to meet two of the Hungarian Handlers from this book. After having the pleasure of meeting the author, Violetta Kovacs, I have since labeled her the champion of working dogs. She has given the K9 Handlers a loving translation of gratitude. However, it is an understatement after the amount of time and effort she puts into working with many rescued dogs in dire need of help. She is the overpowering Hungarian voice for dogs in general. I am proud that my partner was requested to tell her story through our training and incident records. Although both K9 "Pia" and myself humbly read about the K9 Commando dogs with pride, understanding, and admiration. I think I would enjoy this book just as much if I was a "cat person".

[Lauren Monsey Nagel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book shares the stories of 12 incredible dogs. They work in the protection field with Police and military aiding in every way they can. They can be purebred or mongrel because the loyalty they show has no limits. They may patrol the streets of New York with their Master very much like Bandit and Jax do with Paul Gitlin of the SWAT team.
There are dogs that have dug through rubble and collapsed building and rescued countless people from Rome, Greece and around the world. They work side by side or alone and they get the job done.
The photographs in this book are amazing. The dogs are so beautiful and the pictures are exceptional. The dogs at work, doing what they love and also posed with their human masters. Some of the stories in this book will touch your heart and move you to tears. These dogs are all hero's I couldn't even pick a favorite. The pictures of beautiful black Bagira and many of the other dogs are etched in my mind forever.
Violetta Kovaks has a wonderful writing style and her deep love for dogs is clear. I had received this book and agreed to give an honest review of it. In my opinion this is a perfect gift for any dog lover. I enjoyed each story and every photograph from beginning to end. The amazing abilities and uncanny loyalty these dogs show will impress anyone that picks up the book. These dogs are sniffing out, drugs, bombs, bodies and bad guys. They have no fear and love what they do. They protect us all over the world and these are some of their stories. This book is a winner

[Kim Ledford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable overall! Enjoyed the division of the book into stories of only a few pages long, which helped make for an enjoyable and casual read. I did feel that it could use more continuity between stories. Pictures and formatting helped the book to be more cohesive, though the translation could use some work.

The stories themselves were well chosen, thorough, inspiring, and emotional, especially when quoting the dogs' owners and partners. It showed the personal side of dog training and policing in general. The author's voice clearly showed a deep personal interest and appreciation, and the text showed good reasons for this appreciation. The book could have used more facts and less anthropomorphism.

Worth a read. Received a free copy in exchange for fair review.

[Dianne Sidebottom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories. Cried that "Pia" is no longer with us. Love having K9 Commando on facebook n getting the pictures of K9's around the world. I got the calendars and have one in the classroom with yr 6-7's n hope to give the book away to students as gifts. Thank you Violetta

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

received a copy of this book directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. For anyone who knows me would know that I was pretty excited to read this due to my extreme love of dogs and fascination with service dogs (I'm the proud mom of a 2 year old Golden Retriever).

This was a compilation of stories about various police and army dogs and their handlers. It was remarkable to read about all of the brave and heroic things that these canines have done. The story that stood out most to me was regarding Roscoe and what occurred to him in the line of duty. Warning, have your Kleenex nearby for this one!

One of the aspects of this book that I had a hard time getting past was the fact that the stories were told in story form the majority of the time. Kovacs describes the emotions of the dogs and sometime provides a voice for them. Although I am guilty of doing what I call the "voice over" for my dog all of the time I found this made the stories lose a bit of their impact. I think the stories would have been better told as a factual recount of events as opposed to the style that was chosen. Perhaps I am being picky however this prevented me from fully enjoying the stories.

At the end of the day it was amazing to read about these real life dogs and to learn about what they are able to do to make our lives safer. I always say that they give us so much for how little we give them in return. For anyone who is owned by a dog they would appreciate this read!