Psychology, discipline key to training 'hero' police dogs

A police dog undergoes search and rescue training with the help of a drone in Huangshi, Hubei province. (Photo provided to CHINA DAILY)

Police dog Doubao, meaning red-bean bun, took part in 16 searches for missing people in Wuhan, Hubei province, last year. The 3-year-old German Shepherd serves as a tracker dog at the Jiangxia district sub-bureau of the city's public security department.

"Initially, we introduced the dog with the thought that it could assist us in tracking down criminals who…would abandon their vehicles and flee into the nearby mountains," said Xia Mengmeng, deputy chief of the Zhengdian police inspection station. "Such individuals have not appeared, but Doubao has proved to be invaluable in serving the community."

Doubao's most recent successful mission was on Nov 29 when he helped a resident surnamed Wei locate his 83-year-old father. Wei reported to police on the evening of Nov 27 that his father had gone missing at an agricultural market.

After several hours of unsuccessfully searching the site, police sent Doubao and his handler Zhang Zhou to join the operation.

Under Zhang's command, Doubao sniffed an item of clothing from the missing man and tracked a scent trail from the Haijixing agricultural product logistics park to a street several kilometers away. However, the trail was lost around 2 am and the search was stopped.

The following day, during a search of the area between the market exit and a gas station two kilometers away, Zhang observed Doubao's excited behavior. The search area was narrowed down, and after 35 hours the team located the missing man about 300 meters from the gas station.

"He was sent to hospital immediately. A medical examination showed that his vital signs were stable," Xia said.

A dog's sense of smell is approximately 1,200 times stronger than that of a human, allowing them to accomplish tasks that humans cannot, he said. Other estimates put a dog's sense of smell up to 10,000 times more precise than a human's due to their far greater number of olfactory receptors.

"Although tracker dogs are generally not as useful in urban areas, they can play a role in rural areas with a mix of urban and natural landscapes," Xia said.

Doubao has been involved in searches for the elderly, children, and disabled people.

While many missing people have been successfully located, there have been occasions where individuals were found dead.

"Factors like traffic and rain can cause scent trails to disappear. Starting a search within eight hours of a person going missing is crucial because the scent remains strong, increasing the likelihood of finding them," Xia added.

Doubao's first mission was on Feb 11, 2024, when he helped locate the body of a missing septuagenarian.

"Before setting out, I was quite nervous because real-life scenarios are quite different from training," recalled the 27-year-old trainer Zhang. "I didn't expect his performance to exceed expectations."

After getting a scent from the man's clothing, Doubao tracked through streets and forests, ultimately leading to a small grove.

"After making inquiries, we learned that the man had planted trees there. Doubao lingered there for quite some time. Later, he burst out of the grove and stopped in front of a major road," Zhang recalled.

Based on Doubao's prolonged lingering at three locations, police officers and villagers involved in the search continued to narrow down the search area. Unfortunately, the elderly man was later found dead.