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Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:43 AM Apr 2013

The Blood Hound

How could they not track a bleeding man??? Or maybe he wasn't bleeding?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodhound

Human Trailing

There are many accounts of bloodhounds successfully following trails many hours, and even several days, old,[25][26] the record being of a family found dead in Oregon, in 1954, over 330 hours after they had gone missing.[11] The bloodhound is generally used to follow the individual scent of a fugitive or lost person, taking the scent from a ‘scent article’ – something the quarry is known to have touched, which could be an item of clothing, a car seat, an identified footprint etc.[44][25] Many bloodhounds will follow the drift of scent a good distance away from the actual footsteps of the quarry, which can enable them to cut corners and reach the end of the trail more quickly. In America, sticking close to the footsteps is called ‘tracking’, while the freer method is known as ‘trailing’ (in the UK, ‘hunting’), and is held to reflect the bloodhound’s concentration on the individual human scent, rather than that of, say, vegetation crushed by the feet of the quarry.[45][44] Having lost a scent, a good bloodhound will stubbornly cast about for long periods, if necessary, in order to recover it.[18][10][25] The bloodhound is handled on a tracking harness, which has a metal ring above the shoulders, to which a leash is attached, so that the hound’s neck is not jerked up when the leash becomes taut, as it would with a collar. The leash is at least long enough to allow the hound to cross freely in front of the handler, some handlers preferring quite a short leash, giving better communication with the hound, others liking something longer, maybe twenty or thirty feet.[44]

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The Blood Hound (Original Post) Chico Man Apr 2013 OP
The dogs I saw on TV were all German Shepherds, not bloodhounds. hedgehog Apr 2013 #1
I know it is hindsight... Chico Man Apr 2013 #2
How many police departments in the Northeast maintain tracking dogs? hedgehog Apr 2013 #3
they have bomb, drugs and cadaver dogs, they used bomb sniffers since they knew he had been handling bettyellen Apr 2013 #5
I bet every prison does Chico Man Apr 2013 #6
bomb sniffers - blood hounds are not oft used in cities, or drug sniffers when you're looking for bettyellen Apr 2013 #4
Bridgewater State Prison, or Walpole must have them Chico Man Apr 2013 #7
It's probable that some agency nearby had tracking dogs, but hedgehog Apr 2013 #8
Manhunt = "release the hounds" Chico Man Apr 2013 #9
Don't underestimate the costs of raising and training tracking dogs. hedgehog Apr 2013 #10
Few dogs are trained to track blood as I understand it. Most track scent including bloodhounds for byeya Apr 2013 #11
I'm pretty sure this is incorrect Chico Man Apr 2013 #15
It's the training the dog receives. The dog needs to ignore the scents of other animals and other byeya Apr 2013 #21
Sounds like someone watched too much tv growing up. FSogol Apr 2013 #12
Umm.. Chico Man Apr 2013 #13
Yes, dogs have great noses. Other than that, fantasize on. n/t FSogol Apr 2013 #14
Fantasize on? Chico Man Apr 2013 #16
In Urban areas? If the suspect gets in a car and drives some distance? FSogol Apr 2013 #17
Exactly Chico Man Apr 2013 #19
I've worked with working bloodhounds providing protection to the handler and these byeya Apr 2013 #18
thank you Chico Man Apr 2013 #20
You're welcome. You raised an excellent point. I am not a dog trainer or handler but the officer or byeya Apr 2013 #22

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
1. The dogs I saw on TV were all German Shepherds, not bloodhounds.
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:45 AM
Apr 2013

I imagine they are trained to attack on command and/or to sniff out drugs, not people. For tracking purposes, a pack of beagles would have been better!

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
2. I know it is hindsight...
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:49 AM
Apr 2013

But a pack of hounds seems like it could have prevented the door-to-door stuff and brought the issue to resolution much quicker.

They had the car he was driving, they knew the direction he fled.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
3. How many police departments in the Northeast maintain tracking dogs?
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:53 AM
Apr 2013

They might have done well to bring in rescue dogs which are trained to track, but events moved so quickly that that didn't happen.

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
5. they have bomb, drugs and cadaver dogs, they used bomb sniffers since they knew he had been handling
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:56 AM
Apr 2013

explosives. They weren't sure he was shot, but they KNEW he'd been handling explosives.

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
4. bomb sniffers - blood hounds are not oft used in cities, or drug sniffers when you're looking for
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:53 AM
Apr 2013

someone who was handling explosives.

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
7. Bridgewater State Prison, or Walpole must have them
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 11:58 AM
Apr 2013

For escapees. Or maybe I've watched Shawshank Redemption too many times.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
8. It's probable that some agency nearby had tracking dogs, but
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:08 PM
Apr 2013

I suspect the use of tracking dogs never came up in practice scenarios, so events moved too fast to bring them in . Add in the problem of tracking one person among the thousands in a city, as opposed to one person cross country.

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
9. Manhunt = "release the hounds"
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:45 PM
Apr 2013

At least, hopefully this is how the practice it in the future. With all the technology, sometimes they should still go back to basics, and be ready for the possibility.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
10. Don't underestimate the costs of raising and training tracking dogs.
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:46 PM
Apr 2013

We can overspend as much on domestic security as against foreign invasion.

 

byeya

(2,842 posts)
11. Few dogs are trained to track blood as I understand it. Most track scent including bloodhounds for
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:50 PM
Apr 2013

the most part.
I imagine a bloodhound could be trained to track blood, they do have the keenest noses as far as I know.

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
15. I'm pretty sure this is incorrect
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:29 PM
Apr 2013

Plenty of dogs are trained to track wounded animals. In this case the animal in question is human.

 

byeya

(2,842 posts)
21. It's the training the dog receives. The dog needs to ignore the scents of other animals and other
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:39 PM
Apr 2013

odors.
It's expensive for a law enforcement agency to buy train and pay for a dedicated handler who is also an officer. To get the most return on their investment, LE agencies usually opt for a scent trained dog because it's rare to have a bleeding individual to search for. And, the bleeding individual also leaves a human scent for the dog.

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
13. Umm..
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:27 PM
Apr 2013

Not sure what you mean?

This dog is famed for its ability to discern human odors even days later, over great distances, even across water. Its extraordinarily keen sense of smell is combined with a strong and tenacious tracking instinct, producing the ideal scent hound, and it is used by police and law enforcement all over the world to track escaped prisoners, missing people, lost children and lost pets.

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
16. Fantasize on?
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:31 PM
Apr 2013

Or are you just trying to act smart?

This dog is famed for its ability to discern human odors even days later, over great distances, even across water. Its extraordinarily keen sense of smell is combined with a strong and tenacious tracking instinct, producing the ideal scent hound, and it is used by police and law enforcement all over the world to track escaped prisoners, missing people, lost children and lost pets.

FSogol

(45,357 posts)
17. In Urban areas? If the suspect gets in a car and drives some distance?
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:33 PM
Apr 2013

Don't you think if cartoon (or prison movie) bloodhounds worked in these situation, they would have some?

Chico Man

(3,001 posts)
19. Exactly
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:36 PM
Apr 2013

I was wondering why didn't they? They had the car, they had the general direction he was going... if he was bleeding it seems like they should have been able to pick up a trail (of blood, or perhaps even explosive scent).

I wasn't assuming I had any answer, just was wondering what people thought of that. And apparently, you think I watched too much TV as a child, so I guess I'll draw my own conclusions.

 

byeya

(2,842 posts)
18. I've worked with working bloodhounds providing protection to the handler and these
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:33 PM
Apr 2013

hounds are very impressive. It's my understanding that they still have to be trained to a specific type of tracking, be it scenting, detecting explosives or untaxed whiskey or blood. The bloodhounds that I assisted were human scent trained. I think that even if that person were bleeding, the dog would be following the body scent and not the blood.
Even bloodhounds need extensive training.

 

byeya

(2,842 posts)
22. You're welcome. You raised an excellent point. I am not a dog trainer or handler but the officer or
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:44 PM
Apr 2013

handler often needs ready assistance and I fulfilled that job many times. I also was a friend of a bloodhound owner/officer who was a tracker(along with his bloodhound obviously) and I asked questions and these were the answers I got.

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