Fred

Anyone who loves animals, particularly dogs, will probably have a favourite breed, but having worked with so many different ones, I have found it impossible to decide on a favourite. Not that I really want to, particularly as my much-loved current canine companion is a small black individual with decidedly dubious origins. Looking back, though, I remember, with fondness, some of the more memorable dogs that crossed my path. The German Shepherd Dog Mutley (31^st October 2021) was trained to protect his mistress but never got the opportunity; she protected him instead!! Dotty the Dalmatian (10th January 2021) was trained to prepare a man for life in a wheelchair. Plus, the delinquent boxer Bertie (15th May 2022), owned by the irrepressible Samantha, is on that long list, but there is one breed I have never had the opportunity to work with: the bloodhound.

Known as “the nose with a body attached,” they not only have a unique ability to find missing people, but that lugubrious look, combined with the droopy ears, creates the impression that this delightful dog is not the brightest breed in the world. This obscures the fact that this amazing animal has found so many missing people that others couldn’t. Without doubt, most would have perished without the bloodhound’s participation in the search.

Sadly, the use of bloodhounds has declined sharply in law enforcement worldwide, with cost cited as a major factor. This has occurred despite their unparalleled success in tracking down fugitives, missing people and lost pets. The difficulty is that the bloodhound can be extremely willful, and it takes so much more time to train than other, more compliant breeds. Unfortunately, it also has a shorter lifespan than many other dogs, under 10 years; however, what price do we put on a person’s life, particularly a child?

The nose knows

The Rutherford County Police Department faced a rather difficult conundrum. A father was suspected of kidnapping his own daughter, and despite the best efforts of multiple agencies, the case was still not solved, with the exact whereabouts of the suspect and daughter still unknown. Those involved included Police Officers, the Rutherford County Fire and Rescue Department, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the FBI, Holloway DeKalb EMS, the Tennessee FBI, and a company that supplied the drones. But even with all this vast array of specialists assembled, they were forced to look for just one more who had done this sort of thing before: a large, hairy one with four legs and a wrinkled face.

In an attempt to track down the missing infant, the department looked to a police officer with very special skills, the redoubtable Fred. This officer has a junior partner: K9 Deputy Sheriff Richard Tidewell. As you know, the deputy’s role in this arrangement is to provide his partner with an item of clothing to leave a scent to follow, and to leave matters to the expert, namely Fred. On this occasion, the only item available was one that had been worn by the father.

Starting at the family home, Fred diligently followed the trail without any hesitation to a building where he sniffed the door and doorknob. At this point, he sat down, indicating that he had done his job. The door had been locked and reinforced, and the officers needed to force entry, where they found the suspect and his daughter. The living conditions were absolutely appalling; the father was remanded in custody and charged with a variety of offences. The daughter gave Fred a huge hug, which Fred gratefully accepted, and licked her face.

Case closed

Now the normal reward for a working dog is a rubber ball and a game of fetch; however, Fred was not having any of that nonsense. There is an expression that says an “army marches on its stomach and this definitely applies to Fred. The reward for successful tracking has to be something edible, and for Fred this involves a large piece of chicken, which Fred always receives for a successful outcome. I must admit that this is not an established reward for a working dog; however, it’s fair to say that Fred isn’t any normal working dog.