A Bloodhound’s sense of smell is so strong it can be used as evidence in court

We love our dogs, and since we spend so much of our time with them, you’d think we know everything about them - well think again. We’re constantly learning new things about our pets, and the latest fact is no exception. Seriously, this one has really blown our mind!

Did you know that a bloodhound’s sense of smell can actually be used as evidence in court? We definitely didn’t! Believe it or not, a trained bloodhound is the first animal whose evidence has been legally admissible in the courtroom.

The average bloodhound’s nose is made up of about 230 million scent receptors - that’s around 40 million more than a human’s nose, and they can follow a scent that’s more than 13 days old!

According to PBS, their employee Holly is one of the best and brightest detectives on the Massachusetts State Police Force - and you guessed it, she’s a bloodhound.

She's an expert in her ability to assemble clues while tracking missing persons or hunting down criminals.

Holly didn’t always have it as easy as she does now, she was passed from home to home multiple times when she was a pup. Thankfully, Larry Allen, trainer and member of Barbour County Tactical Search and Recovery Teams in West Virginia, saw some potential in her.

“The working ability of a bloodhound is 75 percent nature and 25 percent nurture,” Allen says.

“The physical size of their olfactory area far exceeds most other working scent dogs,” he says. “The larger capacity combined with the desire to work makes them a very good tool.”

A bloodhound’s appearance also lends a helping hand to its tracking ability. Their loose and wrinkled skin around the face helps trap scent particles and long, drooping ears that drag on the ground collect odors and sweep them into the nostril area. Their long neck and muscular shoulders, mean they can track close to the ground for miles on end. So they're not just a pretty face!

But there’s more to becoming a good police dog than just an acute sense of smell. The dog must also have a predisposition to working with a handler, be eager to please, and have a strong play drive:

“The bloodhound’s whole biological makeup enables it to track like no other dog. Such skills are gifts of nature,” says trainer Aidan Woodward.

“However, without the disciplined and focused assistance of the dedicated trainer, a novice bloodhound may not reach anywhere near the potential it could.”

“The first time I saw Holly, all I could think was, how am I going to make this puppy into a working dog in 12 weeks?” he recounts. “Little did I know that she would develop a love for the game within two weeks and go on to be one of the best trainees I have ever had. The more that I worked with her, the more solid she became and the more she became my partner.”