This week police bloodhounds from across America gather in Los Angeles to put their noses to the test in the National Police Blood Hound 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 40-hour, four-day course of rigorous testing to demonstrate a hound’s ability to rescue victims and follow scent trails across complex landscapes.
This year about 20 hounds from a dozen different law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, are participating in the event unfolding in Granada Hills, Van Nuys, and Downtown Los Angeles and ending on Thursday, Feb. 9.
Claremont K9 police officer Matt Morales’ dog Drew during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy Curtis Rouse’s K-9 Vito, a Polish Gonczy Polski dog, alerts on Cass County Sheriff’s K9 Deputy Tiffany Graves during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Merced County Sheriff’s Deputy Curtis Rouse’s and K-9 Vito, a Polish Gonczy Polski dog, during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Riverside Police Department K9 Ruger is rewarded after a successful training exercise during at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023 during the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Cass County Sheriff’s K9 Deputy Tiffany Graves with her bloodhound during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Merced County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dustin Witt and K-9 Banshee during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Claremont K9 police officer Matt Morales and his dog Drew during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Claremont K9 police officer Matt Morales’ dog Drew during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Cass County Sheriff’s K9 Deputy Tiffany Graves with her bloodhound during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Merced County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dustin Witt and K-9 Banshee during a training exercise at the Balboa Sports Complex in Encino, Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023. The training was part of the National Police Bloodhound Association’s man-trailing training and certification seminar. The week-long program involves classroom instruction, fieldwork, and evaluation in small groups with senior handlers and instructors. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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,” said Leon. “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,” said Leon, “so it’s pretty incredible to watch them.”
This week’s certificate exam drew police from LAPD, Arcadia, La Verne, Grants Pass, 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 their police 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.
Clara Harter | Reporter Clara covers LAUSD for the LA Daily News in addition to writing about housing policy, homelessness and mental health. She formerly worked as the Torrance/Carson reporter for the Daily Breeze and as a city hall reporter for the Santa Monica Daily Press. She has a B.A. in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University.
