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More than a dozen police dogs from across the state were put through their paces this week at a law enforcement training academy just outside the state capital. The bloodhound trailing instruction is designed to teach the pooches not to stray from the human scent they are supposed to be following. When well trained the dogs can play a vital role in capturing robbery suspects and in searching for missing people. Luis Pratts of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office says his dog, named Blue,  wants just one thing for a job well done; praise.

“You never know it might be a kid being abducted from school and you want your dog to be able to do that. Go to a very contaminated area, and go scent out that kid and follow where he went and get that bad guy away from that kid,” says Pratts.

Several of the dogs were donated by the Jimmy Ryce Center for Missing
Children. Jimmy was 11 when he was kidnaped in 1995. He was found
murdered less than a mile from his home. At the time, a bloodhound was
not available to aid in the search.