Page 38 - BRAVO-3 | ISSUE 2 | JULY/AUGUST 2018

trainerswhocouldnurturetheaveragehouseholdpetintothelevelofstardom everybodydreamedabout.
Inaspanofonlyafewshortyearstrainerssuddenlyappearedwhoworkingforlitlemorethanfoodand airfare,wouldmiraculouslytransform Fido,whojustmonthsbeforespentmostofhistimeonthefrontporch, intoasuperhumanhuntingmachine.Thesuccesswassoamazing,theseGandhilikeK9Gurusweresought afterlikeneverbefore.Inthebeginning,veryfewpeopleelectedtochalengetheseclaimsprimarilydueto thefactthattherewassomesuccessbeingreportedandseveralpeoplewerefoundevenafterdaysorweeks hadpassed.TheseveryFEW caseswerejusttheammunitionnecessarytoperpetuatethiswayofthinking
oevenahigherlevel.Suddenly,groupsofpeopleweretakinguptrailinginrecordnumberswithsome SearchandRescuegroupsestablishedsolelyaroundtheuseofthesesupersleuthdogs.Therewere reasonswhythedogsweresuccessfulinthesecasesbutthereasonwasnottrailingagedhumanscent.We wilgetbacktothisalitlelater.
AlwasnotwelinCamelot,however,andcracksbegantoform assoonasmainstream professionalK9 trainerstookupthetrailingmantleandtrieditforthemselves.Dogteamswereformedonthepremiseoftrails inexcessoftwoweeksormanydaysinageandtheabilitytofolowhumanscentblownfrom movingcars. Astimewenton,mostoftheseagenciesdiscoveredthatrarely,ifever,didthedogsperform asexpected.As amateroffact,manydogteamswentyearswithouteverfindingasingleperson.Yes,therewerealways storiesabouthowthedogstrailcoroboratedevidenceintheoldertrailcasesthereforethedogmusthave
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Agencies thatdid nothave theirown super sleuthdogsoftensolicitedtheuseofSearch& Rescuetrailingdogstofulfiltherole.National mediahadcreatedsuchastirabouttheuseof these dogs that cities and counties felt they neededtousethem simplyforthepurposesof avoidingvicariousliability.Theproblem wasthat
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etheresourcewas“known”duetomedia hypeitwasfeltthatithadtobeusedsimplyto placatethecitizenry,inparticular,familiesofthe missing.Intheearlydayswhenthiswasalstil new,eventherequestingagencybelievedinthe dogsbecausethehypewassooverwhelming. Whatexacerbatedthisproblem wasthatmuchof
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e oficersthathadjustgotenintothegameand trulybelievedintheabilityoftheirdogs.Iknow thisbecauseIwasoneofthem.Itisonethingto c o n s id e r w h a t a c iv ilia n s a y s a s v ia b le b u t a n altogetherdiferentthingwhenitcomesfrom a cop.Thencametheproblems.Notonlywerethe
agedtrailK9’snotfindingwhattheywere lookingforinthevastmajorityofcases,butitwas proven thatin quite a few,these K9’s led investigators completely the wrong way supposedly on the scenttrailofthe missing subject.
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