A hound story.

[Roy Sparks]

One day I arrived at my small holding with a new lurcher pup. As I drove in to park the car I saw my staff messing up on a job they were doing so I jumped out quickly to correct them. In few minutes I returned to the car to fetch the pup - well the pup was gone as I'd left the car door open in my hurry to adress the problem with the staff.

Well the pup was new to me and the surroundings and no amount of calling and searching the immediate vicinty turned up anything. I got the staff and we proceeded to carefully search in an extended line as best we could the entire property and out buildings - nothing !! We had a public road nearby and we searched that up and down for a distance and still nothing.

A good hour or so later I told my dog handlers to bring me one of the hounds I got originally from Trev Filmer ( Trail ) he was about 6 years old then and a cat hound supreme. They looked at me as if I'd lost it totaly when I told them I wanted to try track this pup using Trail.

I got Trail on a lead and took him to the car and coaxed him a bit and he went into the car and really gave it a vacuuming over and his tail was going wild in there. Well I pulled him out and got him going on the ground beside the car door and he started pulling against the lead.I let him slip and off he went trailing and baying merrily on the trail. He went down and out the drive way crossed the public road and on into Trevors dads farm across the road all the while baying as though he was trailing a cat. I did not know what to make of this but left him and trusted his behaviour. My staff were just as baffled.They followed him through into the neighbours camps and I waited on the road.

Trail started making a big loop and started back toward my position roughly and I moved more or less in line with his course. He was about 300 yards out and closing toward me when I heard panting close to me and soon the bewildered little lurcher broke cover and came on through the fence straight into my arms totally exhausted. A short while later Trail came out at exactly the same spot. He showed a lot of interest in the pup smelling it all over. My staff just shook their heads.

Trail is no longer with us , but Flight is living out her retirement here in my kennels.She had a very successful career and we bred some serious running dogs out of her.

Anyone had a similar experience please share it with us.

Roy Sparks.

[cat and bear]

Roy that is a very interesting story. These dogs can or will do about anything for us, if they understand what were asking. You know, we get to hunting, following dogs etc. Grandpa is up in age, and when the race heats up we hit the woods, and try and keep him at the truck, as he is 82 years young. That is a good plan on paper but it never keeps him there. He hears dogs bayed up on a bear, he is going to try and stumble to them, and I've asked him several times, how the heck we going to find you if something happens to you, asking him to at least carry a tracking collor with him,he just looks at me, and says, you know my closest dogs to me, put them on my trail, they will help ya find me. I hope that day never comes, but he sure is confident it will work. He has hunted over dogs for 65 years, I'm sure the day he passes, that would be the way he would want to go.

[Roy Sparks]

Yes I must admit though it was a last ditch plan and I cannot truthfully say I new what the outcome would be. I just tried it in desperation and for lack of another plan and it worked out.

Keep grandpa in the woods with you , though he's 82 he may still come save your neck when you're in a jam , even if it is just some words of wisdom.

Got another story for sometime but fear if I tell it , it may start an uproar so I'll think it over before I post it.

Take care - Roy.

[BEAR HUNTER]

Outstanding story Roy. I saw a Television story a few years back about a couple who were using Bloodhounds to track down missing pets for people the same way you would use one on a person. This was in Las Angelas. The story said they were pretty successful and were turning it into a money making business.

[Roy Sparks]

Thank you bear hunter.Just thought I'd share this now.

We got got some really bad landowners in my area who are insistant on using prohibited poisons for controlling vermin which is against the law firstly and devastating to the enviroment and creatures. Needless to say it is any houndsmens curse as well. A lot of these folk are well off farmers who are to miserly to employ methods that may cost them a bit more but that have less impact on the enviroment.

I have been toying with the idea of offering my services to the South African Poison Working Group with hounds ( muzzled ) trained to locate poisoned baits. My idea is to do this under the auspices of the South African Police with a valid search warrant. A few prosecutions may make a change. Using the garmin collars we can get an exact gps location of each bait that is located that may come in handy in court.I just want to clean up !!

Please share your views on this.

Roy Sparks.

[pegleg]

i have complete faith a dog could be trained to wind scent for bait items. I've heard and read many examples of methods dog owners employed in the past to break dogs of picking up baits or tripping cyanide guns. so the right dog with wise training would be effective i am sure. but proving who put it there may require a man trailer also to back track the perp.

[cat and bear]

I agree with both you guys, I feel we only tap a small percent of a dogs potential, and are more versitile, then we can begin to understand. Look, at the hound world, search and rescue, and even the medical field, dogs are detecting, certain cancers in your body, the K9 is amazing animals.