Evening Star Newspaper, March 12, 1933, Page 62

& A ; #f KEOVTOATE S T 0 : THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 12, 1938 - “Man-Trailers” of the Lorton Reformatory, ——pe————— BY JOHN L. COONTZ. I l ET in here, boy!” The Negro youth crawled into the car. “Better get them dogs, Cap- tain.” “Where are they?” “Down there in the brush. We tied them to a sapling with our suspenders. They may starve.” ‘The Captain chuckled. He was Capt. M. M. Barnard, general superintendent of the Dis- trict of Columbia’s penal institution at Lorton. The Negro boy was one who left on his own responsibility. The dogs were bloodhounds be- longing to the institution for use in just such emergencies. ! “Every now and then one of our ‘boys’ takes it into his head to wander away from the in- stitution without any thought of returning,” @ays the Captain, “and when he does we just unleash our ‘trailérs,’ post ourselves at strate- gic road positions around our 2,700-acre res- ervation and await results. Results usually take the form of the above-described con- versation. The training of these man huntérs at Lorton is a part of the routine work of the institution, There are now nine hounds there, of fine pedi- gree, under the supervision and training of Paul F. Pegelow, assistant to Capt. Sanford of the guard. Capt. Pegelow loves dogs and has devoted many patient hours to bringing these intelligent but lugubrious and clumsy fellows up to their present state of efficiency. “The most important thing to consider in developing a reliable man-trailing bloodhound,” says Capt. Pegelow, “is first to secure well-bred pups from parents that are known to be de- pendable trailers. No person following horse racing would attempt to develop a racer out of a Percheron or other heavy breed, but would choose a trim-built animal that was a descen- dant from the racing type. Although they are all horses they have been bred for years for an entirely different purpose, one for speed, the other for strength. Conditions similar to this exist with the bloodhounds. It is impos- sible to make an expert man trailer from every bloodhound just because he happens to be of that particular breed of hound. “In choosing a bloodhound pup to teach the art of human trailing secure from some reliable breeder of thoroughbred English bloodhounds & pup, or preferably two, as they do much bet- ter working in pairs, both in training and when trained. Where there are two pups each will do his utmost to follow the trail and keep ahead of the other, just as foxhounds do in & chase. Also, when making your selection be sure that the pup’s parents are of good type and have been bred to the man-trailing pro- fession. 1 [CEMALES, as & rule, make the bést trailers. They have more life, are very ambitious and intelligent and are the easiest to train. The male, as a rule, has more courage and is seldom shy in locating the person being pur- sued if that person conceals himself in a build- ing or crowd. Further, he quite often attacks if the trailed person attempts to escape after being located. “Here at Lorton we follow the accustomed practice of beginning training at a very early age.. The younger the hounds are started the easier they are to teach and the better the results obtained. We give them their first les- sons at the age of 10 or 12 weeks. “When we have selected our pups for train- ing we handle themi as much and as often as possible until they are 10 or 12 weeks old. We then take them to an open field where there is nothing to attract their attention or injure them. We then have some person they are not acquainted with hold them by their collars in a position so that they will face their trainer. The trainer pets and fondles and then walks quickly away from them, at the same time attracting their attention by calling to them. At a distance of about 200 feet he drops from sight and in the path they Bloodhounds Trained to Capture Prisoners Who “Wander’ From the Institution. Routine Followed by Masters of the Dogs, and the Class of Animals Engaged for the Work of Man-Hunting. Ome of the prize “man-trailers” of the Lorton kennels. each time going a little bit farther awa the starting point. After a few trials kind~you will notice the pu noses to the ground. They have detected the scent of the irainer on the ground but, of course, do not as yet understand what it means. ‘“The pups are now ready for their second lesson. This parallels the first except that the trainer, after he has gone 200 yards or more away from the starting peint and dropped out of sight, turns and crawls some 30 or 40 feet away. The pups are now let loose and the chances are they will overrun the end of the trail. They get excited and race the ground over snuffing everywhere for scent. They know something is wrong, but not just what. The trainer and the assistant watch them closely. Pretty soon they discover that, by keeping their noses to the ground, they can still find their master. And they do, for the master, whether by their own instinct or by calling to them, never lets them fail to find him or show that he is otherwise than delighted for “The third lesson consists in the traimer versing positions with the assistant. procedure is used in tolling them assistant as was used in the case of the with this addition: The trainer, when leases the pups, commands them in & to “Hunt them.” This command is re often and is never dropped even in a bona fide hunt. As in the case of the first and second lesson the distances are increased as the hounds become more and more proficient in trailing. Difficuities are put in their paths, such as streams, cross-trails, concrete walks. But not too rapidly. When the pups begin to show signs of becoming tired or begin to lose interest it is time to return them to their kennels. For the first few lessons it is very well for themr to work in harness, removing it as soon as the day’s trials are over. “Am we have trained the pups in this manner for three or four weeks we be- gin to*teach them to work on the leash. This is much easier done than the average person thinks. In training for the leash we use a leather not less than 16 feet in length. To start the pups working on a leash, the trainer W aiting for the call to go. Lorton bloodhounds posing for the cameraman. bolds them after the assistant has left him and encourages them with the command, ‘Hunt them!’ repeating it quite often. At the same time he letz out the strap just a little and walks a short distance with them, holding them up for a few minutes then permitting them to move forward again. After this has been repeated a few times the pups will trail with their noses to the ground as efficiently and willingly as when running loose. “We always use the same assistant for the first month or so. By doing this we impress upon the pups the necessity of following the one particular scent they are given and not to switch or trade trails, “By this time the pups should be far enough along in their training to take a trail without first having seen the runner leave the starting place. In preparing for this test the assistant goes afield and puts down some garment worn by him and tramples all around it on the ground. He then "ides. The trainer now brings from the kennels the pups on leash and takes them to the article in the fieid and commands them to ‘Hunt them.’ After a few repetitions the pups learn what is wanted of them, snuff the clothing and proceed to track down the o ..lthpossiblemchsncenmw:u often as you wish, though it should be dis- upon of the trail he has made, and after located by the pups to get down run for a short distance, dropping at the the run to the ground. The trainer the pups overtake him and encour- “Our next step in this in get the runner to hide in some vacan where the pups will have to sear but not futilly to reach him. over, the trainer may have the runner the direction of his trail; vacant house, rub his hands windows for scent. is well for the first few times to end in an open field or woods. ner can travel from one vacant another. In a very short time be able to take a trail from and pied building. low one particular trail when but a few of age. I personally have proof 10-month-old pups following wit cross-country trail that was 30 hours 11\/OUNG bloodhounds mobiles, go up and down stairs, swim streams, walk railroad bricges, enter strange buildings and become acquainted with the sights and noises of city streets and crowds. They should never be allowed to roam at will but be con- fined to kennels and lot. The kennel should be about 6 feet by 12 feet, divided into two rooms, one for sleeping quarters, the other for water and fesding. This permits the hound to ‘nove about during inclement weather. A wire- inclosed run shouid also be provided for the pack and a bit of Summer shade. Blood- hounds, like other dogs, respond to kind treat- ment. Petting does them no harm, but it should not be permitted by strangers at any time, especially away from the kennels. “When a crime has been committed and bloodhounds are. called for, they should be gotten to the scene of the crime at the earliest possible moment. They should be taken to the starting place in crate or vehicle; not led to it. “When notified that the services of blood- houncs are desired instructions should be given without fail to isolate the house and yards and to permit no one to enter or leave the premises, or touch anything handled by the criminal. After the hounds arrive at the scene and before they are taken from their crate or vehicle it should be determined, if possible, the enirance and exit of the criminal or criminals, just what articles they touched. The com- mand should then bz given “Hunt them!” If the above instruetions are complied with the hounds will readily take the trail. If it can be determined what door or window the crim- inal left by it is well to give them the scent there after letting them smell the articles handled by him. “If the person handiing bloodhounds learns that the trail is too ‘cold,” on account of not having been called immediately after the com- mission of the crime or from trampling of the grounds, he should refuse to work his hounds. Failure not only discourages the hounds but gains for them the reputation of being ‘no good.’ “Under no conditions, I repeat, whip or kick a bloodhound. He does not need this kind of treatment. A well trained hound will do his very best at any time or any place. Always give him the advantage. The more an owner handles his bloodhounds the more he will learn about them, and the better he becomes acquainted with them the greater success he will have with them. and success means added worth. “In trying out bloodhounds trained by another person it should be remembered that few of them will work for strangers as well as they will for the one training them. It is often a fact that some expert trailers will not work for a stranger at all until they betome well acquainted with him. Therefore, in securing a trained bloodhound from another person and testing him out make his problems easy to solve at first. Later his difficulties can be in- creased as you establish a better acquaintance or friendship between yourself and him.” The bloodhounds at Lorton have done ex- cellent work. No bars or walls surround this prison land of 2,700 acres of field and forest.