“In this new and luminous world, words like 'glamorie-glass' made sense, and daylight names were shields, designed to hold back the approach of night. The thought of this girl at night conjured up pictures of Van Gogh's Starry Night, and comets, and lightships, and the taste of her skin, torched to silver in the moonlight---
The girl looked amused. It occurred to him that she must be used to men being fools around her. 'I'm Vanessa.'
'Vanessa. Vanessa. I'm Tom,' he said. 'And where are you from, Vanessa?' It was an excuse to keep saying her name, which sounded to him like a cat's-paw of wind across the bright surface of a lake.”
Source: The Moonlight Market
“Vanessa had changed her yellow dress for one of a vibrant butterfly-blue, and her curly dark hair had been braided into an elaborate coronet. Gold bracelets gleamed on her brown arms, reflecting tiny flecks of gold onto her skin. Surrounded by glass and chrome and lights, she was the most magical being Tom had ever seen.”
Source: The Moonlight Market
“The combination of qualities required in a police dog – the nose, the biddability, the controllable aggression, the bravery, the talent for distinguishing the toe-rag from the good citizen, the fear-inspiring bark and looking the part – these do not necessarily come with any pedigree, nor do the genes predictably pass on.”
Source: Cassius - The True Story of a Courageous Police Dog
“He is tough as galvanized nails, this dog. I suddenly realize that’s the problem: he’s tougher than I am. All those years on patrol, on SWAT, sweating in that tactical gear, all of it nowhere near the level of discomfort this animal can and will endure to do what he wants to do. Brag isn’t the one who needs to toughen up, it’s me.”
Source: Werewolf: The True Story of an Extraordinary Police Dog
“Once you’re on the Dog Unit, you’ll never want to give it up.’
He was right: it’s the best job in the world.
If you think about the most exciting thing you’ve ever done and times it by ten, then think about doing it every day with your best friend and getting paid for it, that’s what being a police dog handler is like. It’s the best game of hide and seek ever. Every dog owner knows how much fun it is to play with your dog. I knew if I worked hard and passed out with flying colours, I’d be able to play with my dog every single day and get paid for it. Yes, there’s a cost and a risk to chasing baddies but, ultimately, to your dog it’s a game.”
Source: My Hero Theo: The brave police dog who went beyond the call of duty to save lives
“I hid behind a wall and looked inside: there were three adult men getting changed and throwing money around like they were in some Hollywood movie. Shocked and delighted, I couldn’t contain my excitement: ‘Bloody hell, Theo, you’ve found them, you’ve bloody found them!’ I whispered and gave him a stroke, my heart pounding.
Theo had found the team of armed robbers.
What I was feeling inevitably went down the lead. Theo was whimpering, he was expecting the challenges to be issued, but I couldn’t with so many of them. There was a chance he’d fare okay against three but it was unlikely even with the element of surprise on our side.”
Source: My Hero Theo: The brave police dog who went beyond the call of duty to save lives
“For me it was a huge deal to get that care from so far up the chain and it dawned on me that I couldn’t ever thank Theo enough. Yes, I could treat him and give him lots of love, but he’d never understand the gravitas of what he’d done. He didn’t know the cause and effect. He didn’t know there were kids safe in their beds thanks to him, that kids had their Christmas presents back because of him, that bad people were off the streets and in prison.
All because of him”
Source: My Hero Theo: The brave police dog who went beyond the call of duty to save lives
“Jeff’s first lesson for me was in how to select a good police dog. He had myriad tests he would put dogs through to determine whether they had the right focus and effort to be a good police dog. He explained that the three most important characteristics were that the dog be happy, social, and confident. I found it odd that Jeff started with a happy dog.”
Source: A Dog Named Mattis: 12 Lessons for Living Courageously, Serving Selflessly, and Building Bridges from a Heroic K9 Officer
“Have your helper tease your dog with a toy and run away to a place the dog can’t see. Start the dog on an item the helper dropped, like a sweaty hat, then have the dog find him. As you progress, you want the dog to start using his nose, not his eyes, to identify the person who has his toy. So you remove the part where the dog sees the helper run away and just start him on the sweaty hat that was dropped. You make the tracks longer and longer with different types of ground and obstacles, and eventually you have an amazing tracking dog. The key to this one is, again, to flip out with excitement when the dog finds the helper and make it the most amazing time in the world.”
Source: A Dog Named Mattis: 12 Lessons for Living Courageously, Serving Selflessly, and Building Bridges from a Heroic K9 Officer
“I asked the decoy what happened. He told me he heard Mattis go down a row in the distance and then jump up onto a shelf. He said he then jumped from shelf to shelf (in the dark) straight toward him at about head level. The decoy said, “I know I was supposed to be still, but he was coming at me head level, so I threw my arm up to intercept him.”
The other handlers, the decoy, and I were all astounded. This was not what I had planned. This was not the lesson | wanted to teach Mattis. I laughed because he’d solved it in a manner I hadn’t considered, and in a more efficient way. This type of Mattis solution became commonplace at every training session. Throw a complex problem at him and just watch him with wonder as he comes up with a solution. We never knew what it was going to be, but we knew it was going to be grounded in determination, athleticism, and efficiency.”
Source: A Dog Named Mattis: 12 Lessons for Living Courageously, Serving Selflessly, and Building Bridges from a Heroic K9 Officer