# Bloodhound commentary really rough draft.



## Jim Engel (Nov 14, 2007)

OK, this is a quick draft to get my thoughts on paper, it is the way I usual write. Feel free to throw stones, my severe critics are my useful commentators:

Over the years there has been an enormous amount of outlandish Bloodhound propaganda, tales of following many month old trails over incredible distances, crossing streams, roads and bridges, even carrying on the trail after the subject person departs in a vehicle. 



This is most unfortunate, because the truth is remarkable enough; Bloodhounds have a long and honorable history of service. A good specimen of this breed is indeed a remarkably useful dog, but not any sort of a super dog, just as a Malinois or a German Shepherd are in their own ways good dogs, but still only dogs with all of the frailties and idiosyncrasies that go with life in the real world. Well-bred, meaning bred according to working effectiveness rather than fashionable appearance, and well trained Bloodhounds can and do serve as remarkable trailing dogs. 



Much of the controversy is a result of scent discrimination, that is, such things as having the Bloodhound sniff an article suspected of being touched or owned by a perpetrator at a crime scene and then having the dog pick a suspect out of a lineup. Just as drug dogs can give false indications because of overt or unintentional handler cuing, canine criminal identification needs to be subject to rigorous standards of training and procedure. 



Bloodhounds are remarkable trailing dogs, successfully following a person up to a week later in favorable conditions is more or less routine work; much longer times are reported more anecdotally. Experienced, credible handlers talk in terms of a week or a little more, often after rainfall and asphalt. This is in areas where there has been extensive human activity; the ability to sort out the one person's odor is perhaps the most remarkable aspect. They can follow a child when picked up and carried by an adult, and persons using a bicycle. They are able to detect scent hovering over a body of water and search downstream to pick up the odor. 



Bloodhounds are in fact capable of following a person in a vehicle. Even when entirely enclosed, the forced air ventilation system continually expels passenger compartment air with the scent rafts and other components of odor. This does not mean sixty miles at highway speeds in a windstorm, but in instances of lower speed, shorter delay time and shorter distance it is not only possible but of practical utility; criminals are actually on occasion located and convicted after such a search. (Stockton, 2004)


This is not to say that a Labrador Retriever or German Shepherd, selected specifically for this purpose and trained intensively as a single purpose dog, would likely be capable of many of the these same things; but the people with this in mind generally choose a good Bloodhound. 



For police work, or any other specialty, a good dog is a good dog, and a not good dog is just a waste of time. The Bloodhound is the ultimate specialist, created and maintained for man trailing, that is seeking out a specific person from a known point of presence, usually in modern police or search work as a single dog on a harness and line. The Bloodhound is not a protection dog, not an active pursuit dog, not an area or building search dog and not generally used as a substance detection dog. Sure, some Bloodhounds could do some of these things after a fashion, just as some German Shepherds could be taught to retrieve ducks, and a Golden Retriever might pass a Schutzhund trial or chase a few sheep around and be described as a herding dog. 



When a person has departed from a known point a well-trained Bloodhound is often the dog of choice, but it is not automatic. Just as the bite and aggression must come from within a Malinois, but is only useful when the response is encouraged and controlled through discipline and training, a Bloodhound must not only have good working selection in the breeding, he must be schooled and trained to know that he cannot go back to the game following instincts of his ancestors and must followed the trail indicted by the handler through the personal scent article. One year of training is often cited as a reasonable expectation, just as in so many other areas of life, great Bloodhounds must be born and then made through training. 
Dogs characterized as Bloodhounds have existed for centuries, and groups in both Britain and Belgium have claimed the breed as their own; it is indeed an ancient type or style, and the dog show and breed enthusiasts have diluted the heritage in "show lines" with emphasis on size and baggy skin, to the detriment of work. In Belgium it is claimed to derive from the centuries old "Chien de Saint-Hubert," which died out in its land of origin and has been reconstructed based on modern Bloodhounds. As with all other working breeds, the division between show lines, generally larger, more lethargic and prizing wrinkled skin and working lines, more medium in size, is ongoing.


Often in police work the issue is one of affordability, whether a department has the financial resources to carry a single purpose dog. The primary limitation on Bloodhound deployment is cost effectiveness, modern police departments rely on the multipurpose protection, search and protection capabilities of a Malinois or Shepherd. Many Bloodhounds are owned and trained by individuals devoted to the breed and serve on a voluntary basis.


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## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

Pretty good.

Bloodhounds are becoming more common in police work, which is not to say that they are common. They are still most commin in SAR, which is not really mentioned.

They ARE used for active pursuits. Either with an overwatch team, or with an apprehension dog as backup. Jeff Schettler has entire seminars devoted to active police work with bh's. Thats most of my work too.

They are great for cold cases too, assisting in finding persons of interests in burglaries, crim mischiefs, etc. 

Probably a little more info then you need, but on highway vehicle trails, the most common utilization is to have the bh check each exit for suspect scent. Had a friend do this for a murder suspect, and bh did correctly guide them in. Suspect got life. 

But it takes not only a very very capable dog, but a handler that can truly read their dog. For the record, I dont practice that, although my hound has successfully worked vehicle trails.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

The comment on highway vehicle trails was interesting to me. Presumably the notes offered by Jim regarding how that plays out is accurate or are there other known factors involved?


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## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

Nicole Stark said:


> The comment on highway vehicle trails was interesting to me. Presumably the notes offered by Jim regarding how that plays out is accurate or are there other known factors involved?



He's got it right, at least as best as handlers can figure. In the end, no one knows for sure what exactly the dog is detecting. There are theories on scent rafts and oils and bacteria, but again, it's theory.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Thank you. I had a few other things typed in my response about testing this out but didn't want to derail Jim's thread so I deleted it.


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## Jim Engel (Nov 14, 2007)

How common are Bloodhounds in civilian search and rescue ?
Do they commonly area search off lead ?

Added paragraph in response to above comment:
When I say not an active pursuit dog I am talking about the dog coming out of the vehicle to pursue a suspect in sight or very recently departing, in such cases an on duty dual purpose dog, a Malinois or Shepherd, is likely to be most available and fully able to the job. When the trail is a little older or the available dogs are not suitable, it is quite common to deploy a Bloodhound with an apprehension dog as backup. Lacking an apprehension dog, an "over watch team" can provide the cover and step in to make the apprehension.


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## mel boschwitz (Apr 23, 2010)

Bloodhounds are fairly common in SAR. Moreso than LE, probably. There are many SAR folks with bh's that are called in for high felony cold cases. 

Most bh's are worked on lead. They are very single minded when on trail, dont listen to voice commands well, and will run right out into traffic. I know one lady who used to run them off lead in a pack, but that was only in rural areas. Terry Holstine (who is on this forum) runs his hounds off lead. I've got one I use for cadaver I work off lead. But for trailing they are on lead. My trails regularly take me down main streets with heavy traffic.

There are many bh's on patrol that are involved in active pursuits. Meaning that the dog is there right away. Yes, these dogs are on patrol.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I have heard a lot of controversy concerning both car trails and scent lineups. 

Around here, not to many SAR have bloodhounds because just about every sherrif department does, but they are typically crossed with coonhounds..so it seems...I think the performance greatly depends on what is put into the dog and handler in actually training. A friend of mine is LE and she has a bloodhound she uses for criminal work. She puts an awful lot of training into her dog and does well with it. PM me and I can give you her contact if you want her insights. She is very much a bloodhound person.

Conversely, you may want to contact Kathy Arnold 
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Arnold_Kathy_107132844.aspx

She had a GSD that beat out a whole bunch of trained bloodhounds in a trailing event (I think it was a state thing done at a prison, so these were trained law enforcement dogs and a LE type scenario) a number of years ago with her GSD, Retten......


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