My wife has been extensively training our 15 month old Bloodhound for SAR/HRD (Search and Rescue/Human Remains Detection). She found places nationally and also locally that offered not only great seminars, but advice and helpful training tips. She recently went to an HRD seminar close to us in Dallas, and her and Brutal did absolutely awesome according to the instructor. She has also been approached and called several times by a Pet Detective here in Dallas to come work with her on locating lost pets.
Really, start with the internet, do some research on who's around you that you could "shadow" and train your dog. Know what signals your Bloodhound shows when on a specific trail. Some, not all, Bloodhounds are born to it, others are great couch potatoes that can smell dinner cooking, but don't have the drive to trail. Play "Hide and Seek" with friends, children, spouse, at the park. One of the first things we did was test Brutal to see if he was not only able, but if he had the drive to track. Have someone you know (for us it was me and our kids) take off the socks they have been wearing all day and put them in a Ziplock, then head out for where you normally walk your dog, and go "hide" at a predetermined "starting spot". Let you hound smell the sock INSIDE the Ziplock, don't handle it at all, and see if your Bloodhound naturally starts looking. For us, Brutal took right to it...almost as if a light went off in his head and said "HEY!, THIS is what I'm supposed to be doing!". Within a week he was doing multiple tracks and finding us withing 5-10 minutes of each other. It became fun for him, and for us as a family...our boys started thinking of ways to "fool" him, but it does no good, he finds us every time.
Also, you may want to check out NASAR:
News
We also have TRUSAR here in Texas (who my wife is training with):
Texas Response Unit Search & Rescue - Dallas/Fort Worth
One of the seminars she and Brutal attended (Robin and Brutal are the only Bloodhound/Handler at the seminar):
Scent Works 2009 Gallery
I also posted pictures of them working here in the picture area. It's all dependent on how hard you want to SAR train your dog. As a Bloodhound parent you know they are more stubborn than any Bulldog, and the Bloodhound Motto is: What's in it for ME?!
Obedience Training, Obedience Training, Obedience Training
They are in their second class together just to refresh what he's already learned and keep the training goals up to date. He does GREAT in class, but can become scent focused on trail, and you don't want that leading to stepping out into traffic with you being pulled into the road right behind...SPLAT...
Training a Bloodhound is a VERY rewarding endeavor. Once they have a job, and KNOW that job, they are alot better off, and so are you. My wife was complaining about being 33 and out of shape last year. Now she's 34 and in better shape than when we met.
I hope I didn't talk your ear off, or speak out of turn, just wanted to give some insight from someone in the middle of the SAR/HRD training right now. If you have any questions, or ANYTHING, please let us know via PM or e-mail.
Sar
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