How to Train Your Bloodhound Dog to Search and Rescue

Bloodhounds have been used for centuries to track scents due to their incredibly sensitive noses and their high motivation to follow a scent. Although all dogs have great noses, Bloodhounds truly are most prodigious sniffers, even amongst dogs. Their sense of smell is so reliable that it can even be used as testimony in a court of law! Bloodhounds have been used in the past and still are used to track fugitives, which gives them a negative reputation for being aggressive that is undeserved. Although a Bloodhound will aggressively follow a scent trail accurately for miles to find a person, they are not necessarily aggressive once they locate the person. Besides tracking fugitives, Bloodhounds are ideally suited to search and rescue as they are able to track lost and missing people effectively based on scent, allowing emergency personnel to reach people in need of assistance and provide much-needed help.  Because they are adept at tracking in a variety of terrain and can distinguish scent trails in difficult conditions, Bloodhounds are effective trackers even in the roughest terrain and wilderness areas.

Motivating your Bloodhound to follow a scent trail is rarely a problem, as these dogs love to follow scent trails and use their nose. The problem is getting your Bloodhound to focus on the required scent trail, and not be distracted by competing scents. To accomplish this, a dog may need to have some maturity and training to focus on the required scent. Never use punishment to train a Bloodhound to follow a scent trail. Bloodhounds, although they have a reputation for being stubborn, are remarkably sensitive, and punishment can easily put them off their game, resulting in a dog that is confused, anxious and reluctant to work. If your Bloodhound makes a mistake in training, following the wrong scent trail or going off the directed trail, ignoring them is the most effective correction, while rewarding and reinforcing correct attempts. 

For search and rescue work, you will want to be able to provide your Bloodhound with a sample scent and direct him to pick up that scent trail and follow it while not becoming distracted by competing scents. Bloodhounds used for search and rescue will need to be in good physical shape and familiar with distracting environments, wilderness terrain, and the noise and various people associated with a search and rescue operation.

Bloodhounds have loose wrinkly skin, and having a harness and collar that fit appropriately is necessary to keep your dog under control and comfortable. You will need a harness while training so that your dog can comfortably work with his head down on the ground, following the scent with his nose, and a long lead about 6 feet in length to allow some freedom of movement so your dog can adjust to the trail as necessary. Treats and toys are often used to reinforce scenting success. An assistant will be required for some training.