Page 41 - BRAVO-3 | ISSUE 2 | JULY/AUGUST 2018

Aswithanything,thereisalwaysabitoftruthinagoodlie.Andtheagedtrailshavealotofthem.Iwrote th a t th e re w e re tim e s w h e n th e d o g s fo u n d w h a t th e y w e re lo o k in g fo r a n d th a t le d c re d e n c e to th e misinformation.Afteral,theendalwaysjustifiesthemeans,yes?Tomany,yes,thismightbethecase,but forthoseintheprofessionalworldoftrailing,itshouldnotbesosimple.TotrulybecomeagoodK9trailing handleronemusttruthfulyconsidereverythingthattheirdogdoesandthereasonswhytheydoit.The reflectiononthesurfacemaynotbethemirorandthetruthmaybedeeperthanfirstglance.
tfirstglancebecausethetrailingdogfoundthedeceasedmissingpersonaftertwoweeksoffruitless searchingitisimmediatelyassumedthatthedogmusthavefolowedtwo-week-oldagedscenttogettothe body.Veryrarelydoesanyonedissecttheworkandisolatejusthowthedogdidthejob.Ihavebeeninvolved inmanyofthesetypesofsearcheswithmyowndogsaswelasfolowingothersandIcansaywithcertainty, therewasneveratimethatanyofthebodieswereeverrecoveredbecausetheK9trailedagedhumanscent ofthelivesubjecttotheplaceofhisorherdemise.Ineachandeveryoneofthesecasesitwasduetoair
A
A
s
s
t
c
c
e
en
n
t
t;
;
t
th
h
e
eo
o
d
do
or
ro
of
f
a
a
d
de
e
c
ca
a
y
y
i
in
n
g
go
o
r
rl
li
i
v
v
e
eh
b
h
e
ei
u
u
in
m
ma
ng
gd
a
n
nb
do
on
bo
ne
od
ei
dy
is
yo
ss
o
so
n
n
oh
h
t
t
h
he
a
a
e
Thesamecanbesaidformanysituationswherethetrailbecamemuchtooold,butthetrailingdoghappened tobedeployedinthegeneralvicinityofthesubjectunbeknownsttothecommandpost.Thoughthedogdid nothavetrail,perse,itdiddetectairscentbecauseitwascloseandfolowedthenowfreshodor.Ifitwasa trailingdogthatwasdeployed,eventhoughfreshairscentwasthesourcetothesubject,thedogisoften givencreditforanagedtrailtrailingfind.IknowbecauseIhavedoneitandobserveditmanytimes.Aldogs wilresorttoairscentiftheopportunitypresentsitself,eventrailingdogs.Thebotom lineisthat,yes,the
dogfoundwhatitwaslookingforbutthewayinwhichitmadethefindisinquestion.Ifwe givecredittotheagedtrailevenwhenthereisnoprooftothatend,thismisplacedcredit actualyhurtsfuturecasesofasimilarnature.Somemayarguethatitdoesnotmaterhow thedogfoundthesubjectandwiththisIagreecompletely.Buttogivecredittotrailing agedscentwheninactualityitwasfreshairscentthatresultedinthefindonlyresultsin perpetuatingafalsesenseofsecurityinaquestionablemethod.
ItonlytakesafewfindslikethoseIjustdescribedtoproduceabeliefintheagedtrail diseaseforanentirelynewgenerationofhandlersorthegeneralpublicwhohavenoidea howdogsrealywork.Itismoreexcitingtosubscribetothefantasticespecialyforanew handler.
Sowhatabouttheexperiencedhandlerswhohavebeenworkingtrailingdogsforyears a n d s til l b e lie v e th a t th e ir d o g s c a n fo l lo w tra ils m a n y d a y s o ld ? I b e lie v e th a t e a c h a n d everyoneofthem havehadtheirdoubtsandhaveexperiencedtrainingandperhapsreal deploymentsthatcastshadowsonthemethodsthattheywereusing.However,the problem isnotnecessarilyseeingthetruthsomuchasitisadmitingit.Toadmitthetruth meansthatthehandler/trainermustadmitthateverythingtheyhavedoneforyearswas incorect.Andthatistherealissue.Itisfareasiertocontinuetoignorethetruth,especialy
w
wh
h
e
e
n
n
t
t
h
he
e
w
wo
or
rk
kb
n
n
d
d
w
wi
l
le
i
e
n
n
r
r
d
da
s
s
at
u
ub
t
b
t
r
r
j
je
e
Sohowisitpossiblethattheexperiencedhandlermaintaintheirpositionoftheviability ofmanydayoldtrailswhentheremaybeevidencetoprovetheopposite?It’srealyinthe testingandtrainingmethod.Thevastmajorityoftrailing/trackingdoghandler’suseknown trailstotrain.Eitherthetraillayeristoldwheretowalk,(sothereisageneralideawhere thetrackis),orthetrailismarked.Thiswasmytrainingandtestingmethodforagood portionofmycareer.ItwaswhenIdiscoveredthatImightbedoingsomethingwrongthat Ilookedatothertestingmodels.
WWW.BRAVO-3.COM
41
a
a
c
c
c
ct
t
t
te
i
i
ed
v
ve
dt
e.
.
th
he
eK
K9
9
.
.