Bloodhounds put noses to work
This week police bloodhounds from across America have been in Los Angeles to put their noses to the test in the National Police Bloodhound Association certification exam.
Passing the exam is an annual requirement for both newbie and veteran police hounds.
Doing so is no simple feat. Bloodhounds and their trainers must undergo a 40hour, four-day course of rigorous testing to demonstrate a dog's ability to rescue victims and follow scent trails across complex landscapes.
This week, about 20 hounds from a dozen law enforcement agencies have participated in the event unfolding in Granada Hills, Van Nuys, and downtown Los Angeles that wraps up today.
Police forces use a variety of dog breeds to assist in tracking scents, because their sense of smell is about 2,000 times stronger than that of humans, said Los Angeles Police Department officer and bloodhound trainer Josh Leon.
However, when it comes to sniffing skills, bloodhounds are first in class.
Their nasal cavity is six to seven inches long and filled with a mucus membrane that traps scents, Leon said. Even their characteristic droopy faces and drool serves a purposes — it ensures that smells stick to them and don't dissipate with time.
Bloodhounds are also fiercely determined.
“They will track until they literally die,” Leon said. “You have to physically pull them off of the track, which is another reason why we use bloodhounds to trail.”
Bloodhounds are one of the only dog breeds that can pick up a scent track that is more than 24 hours old, and are they able to scent discriminate between different people on a single track.
“They're really amazing,” Leon said, “so it's pretty incredible to watch them.”
The certificate exam drew police and dogs from LAPD, Arcadia, La Verne and other cities; and from sheriff's departments in Riverside and Orange counties, and other jurisdictions.
The National Police Bloodhound Association ensures that hounds are properly trained to carry out duties.
According to the association, no trainer of a certified hound has been proven wrong in court for his or her use of a hound.