Post by oksaradt on Jul 3, 2011 19:02:03 GMT -5
This is a name attributed to the cemetery we worked by one of the historic dog handlers that could truly appreciate its gifts.
From June 16 to June 25(2011), I got the pleasure of working my dogs at a cemetery in Colorado hosted by Bonnie Guzman. I’m not going to give the details as to how to get to this cemetery as I don’t feel they are mine to give. For those that train their dogs on buried, this place could be considered a national treasure. It was created out of the negligence and disregard of others for the dead they buried. Many have tried to right the wrongs done to the dead, but legal difficulties get in the way. The result is well over 1100 unmarked collapsed graves. All the graves were actually dug six feet deep with the rock in the ground exchanged for soft soil; Thus, over anywhere from 120 to 70 years, the graves have collapsed as the bodies of the poor decomposed and flattened.
In the 1980s, concerned townsfolk did their best to document the cemetery by pouring over death certificates and any records they could get their hands on. The local mortician (multiple generations) responsible for the “potter’s field” (a common name for where the poor folk are buried) was a scoundrel and did the minimum. The rocks from the holes were tossed to the side and left there such that ridges grew between graves. Some graves were covered with these mounds of rocks as they tossed the rocks from one new hole on top of an existing one. The volunteers were able to list who was buried in the potter’s field, but there were rarely able to locate which grave each person was in. Very few of the graves were marked and by cross-checking, we were able to determine that many of the markers were in the wrong location. Talking to one of the original volunteers, we were able to determine that there were also mistakes in transcription. Being married to a near-master genealogist, I know from experience that this is not all that uncommon. The important part for us as HRD dog handlers was that few (if any) persons were moved out of these graves and when they did, it was a ceremonial move. A ceremonial move is when the remains and their container (or lack there of) are in such bad shape that only a few shovels of the remains are moved to a new grave somewhere else. Again, this is common with old graves. The end result is this. Lots of old graves containing people not embalmed. There are lots of graves that have collapsed because they replaced the rock with soft soil and when the remains collapsed to due decomposition, a depression formed from ½ inch to FEET. When I say LOTS, I mean well over 1100 such graves. In our explorations, we believe we found two additional sections that the volunteers didn’t find where the area is covered over with grass and woody debris in woods. We’re very confident of this area as the burial patterns are identical and many dog teams located graves there independently of each other.
So, we had lots of graves to imprint new dogs on and then areas to build up a dog team’s search capabilities as needed to located clandestine graves. As I harped on those coming to train with us. If you and your dog can locate a one-hundred year old “clandestine grave” then a twenty year old clandestine grave won’t be much different.
I was surprised at the number of dog teams that came that were cross-training their dogs in both live and human remains. Each were advised that working these graves could slow their dogs down when looking for live as the dog learns to be much more detailed and methodical in its work. Each handler has to make the choice what is best for their community as to how they serve it with their dog. It was not my job to pass judgment, so I didn’t. I have to make a similar call with my dogs. I hope to have Murphy work older remains from approximately ten years dead to hundreds. My puppy Thorpe is a more pedal-to-the-medal sort of dog, so he’ll cover recent dead to 10 years dead (if all goes well). Thorpe has about one more year for his head to mature. His nose is already there.
Now for the meat of this message. Each group was given a guide for conditions as to when a grave was easy to work and when it could become impossible. As handlers we often come to take our dogs’ noses for granted. The reality is that if there is no scent due to the environment then it doesn’t matter how good the dog is, it will struggle to make a find.
Best Conditions are:
1) The soil moisture is higher than the relative humidity in the air above.
2) The soil temperature is higher than the air above.
3) The soil is in shade rather than sun.
Why?
If the soil moisture is higher than the air then evaporation will take place carrying scent.
If the soil temperature is higher than the air then “hot goes to cold” (thermodynamics), but it means the air pressure in the soil is higher than the air pressure of the air above and scent is pushed out.
If sun is shining where scent should be then the scent is now at the whim of the heat and lifts away from the scent source. This has multiple applications. If you have a high source and sun is shining on the dark surface below it, then air thermals are created that lift the scent up. If you have a dark bark tree with sun on one side and shade on the other, then wind plays a factor. If the wind blows the scent to the shaded part of the tree then scent will drop and the dog can find it. If the wind blows the scent away from the tree it will carry till either a cold thermal or shade allows it to drop. The dog can locate scent there. After that, it’s how much experience you give your dog in solving such problems.
Murphy taught me this in a problem I’d set up for others. I was going to bury a placenta and set the Ziploc it was in on a 6 inch diameter stump that was four foot tall. Some drops of blood were left on the trunk and absorbed into the wood. I tend to work my dogs in both the best conditions and the worst conditions. When in the worst conditions, I see it as a puzzle for them to solve and I’m patient with them to work it out. It’s training for future searches where law enforcement doesn’t give me the luxury of good conditions.
Anyway, Murphy got to work this problem in the afternoon when conditions were less than favorable. I wanted to see how Murphy solved the problem. Murphy worked the area on his own. I watched his nose goes up the shady side of an adjacent tree growing at an angle towards the source. Murphy then proceeded to move around the stump and tree, getting downwind in a slightly shady spot. Murphy alerted there some five feet away. Being a bit perplexed, but figuring he had something, I asked him to show me. He then proceeded to walk directly towards the stump, rose up against it, and slapped his paw right smack down upon where the blood had now dried into the wood. To say the least, I was proud. I’d watched him work both the shade and the wind to solve the puzzle.
We saw many dogs that would sit on the edge of a collapsed grave that was in sun. A cloud would pass over suddenly shading the grave and the dog would then go down into the grave to locate the scent source.
What’s the point of all this?
A smart dog handler is going to try to obtain the best scent conditions for his/her dog in an attempt to guarantee scent will be there is the scent source is there. On those occasions when conditions are adverse to finding scent, but L.E. demands that is the time to search anyway…….then the handler knows that his/her dog may not find a scent source that day even if it’s really there. I advise L.E. that I’m like the support crew for an advanced scent locating entity. Like any good support crew I know when my dog works best and when it’s likely to miss scent even if it looks like it is putting out 120 percent for me.
I set up a double blind negative for some dog teams and one handler said it best, “My dog just isn’t himself out there. I’m not sure what is going on, but he’s acting like there is no scent there.” I couldn’t say bravo at that time as she wanted to try again in a few minutes after her dog had some “quiet time.” The dog was working great. There was nothing to find. The handler was convinced otherwise and didn’t allow her dog to tell her the obvious. I’ve been on lots of searches where my detective tells me, “we got a great tip on this area. I know your dog is going to make a find.” My dog and I work diligently to prove to me that there is no scent there. When I’m coming out, I tell the detective, “I’m sorry, but my dog didn’t get scent.” The detective’s response more times than not is “well, it was just a tip. We had to check it out.” He was more than satisfied that there was nothing there.
So, diligently train your dog for the sources you agree to search for whether it be a bloody weapon or a 20-year old clandestine grave. Know the conditions that are the most conducive for your dog to be able to acquire scent. Finally, trust your dog’s training to tell you the right thing. If you walk away from a search not sure, it usually means you took on a search that was over your and/or your dog’s head for whatever reason(s).
Jim
That was an awesome place to train. I hope to experience it again some time with my dogs.
From June 16 to June 25(2011), I got the pleasure of working my dogs at a cemetery in Colorado hosted by Bonnie Guzman. I’m not going to give the details as to how to get to this cemetery as I don’t feel they are mine to give. For those that train their dogs on buried, this place could be considered a national treasure. It was created out of the negligence and disregard of others for the dead they buried. Many have tried to right the wrongs done to the dead, but legal difficulties get in the way. The result is well over 1100 unmarked collapsed graves. All the graves were actually dug six feet deep with the rock in the ground exchanged for soft soil; Thus, over anywhere from 120 to 70 years, the graves have collapsed as the bodies of the poor decomposed and flattened.
In the 1980s, concerned townsfolk did their best to document the cemetery by pouring over death certificates and any records they could get their hands on. The local mortician (multiple generations) responsible for the “potter’s field” (a common name for where the poor folk are buried) was a scoundrel and did the minimum. The rocks from the holes were tossed to the side and left there such that ridges grew between graves. Some graves were covered with these mounds of rocks as they tossed the rocks from one new hole on top of an existing one. The volunteers were able to list who was buried in the potter’s field, but there were rarely able to locate which grave each person was in. Very few of the graves were marked and by cross-checking, we were able to determine that many of the markers were in the wrong location. Talking to one of the original volunteers, we were able to determine that there were also mistakes in transcription. Being married to a near-master genealogist, I know from experience that this is not all that uncommon. The important part for us as HRD dog handlers was that few (if any) persons were moved out of these graves and when they did, it was a ceremonial move. A ceremonial move is when the remains and their container (or lack there of) are in such bad shape that only a few shovels of the remains are moved to a new grave somewhere else. Again, this is common with old graves. The end result is this. Lots of old graves containing people not embalmed. There are lots of graves that have collapsed because they replaced the rock with soft soil and when the remains collapsed to due decomposition, a depression formed from ½ inch to FEET. When I say LOTS, I mean well over 1100 such graves. In our explorations, we believe we found two additional sections that the volunteers didn’t find where the area is covered over with grass and woody debris in woods. We’re very confident of this area as the burial patterns are identical and many dog teams located graves there independently of each other.
So, we had lots of graves to imprint new dogs on and then areas to build up a dog team’s search capabilities as needed to located clandestine graves. As I harped on those coming to train with us. If you and your dog can locate a one-hundred year old “clandestine grave” then a twenty year old clandestine grave won’t be much different.
I was surprised at the number of dog teams that came that were cross-training their dogs in both live and human remains. Each were advised that working these graves could slow their dogs down when looking for live as the dog learns to be much more detailed and methodical in its work. Each handler has to make the choice what is best for their community as to how they serve it with their dog. It was not my job to pass judgment, so I didn’t. I have to make a similar call with my dogs. I hope to have Murphy work older remains from approximately ten years dead to hundreds. My puppy Thorpe is a more pedal-to-the-medal sort of dog, so he’ll cover recent dead to 10 years dead (if all goes well). Thorpe has about one more year for his head to mature. His nose is already there.
Now for the meat of this message. Each group was given a guide for conditions as to when a grave was easy to work and when it could become impossible. As handlers we often come to take our dogs’ noses for granted. The reality is that if there is no scent due to the environment then it doesn’t matter how good the dog is, it will struggle to make a find.
Best Conditions are:
1) The soil moisture is higher than the relative humidity in the air above.
2) The soil temperature is higher than the air above.
3) The soil is in shade rather than sun.
Why?
If the soil moisture is higher than the air then evaporation will take place carrying scent.
If the soil temperature is higher than the air then “hot goes to cold” (thermodynamics), but it means the air pressure in the soil is higher than the air pressure of the air above and scent is pushed out.
If sun is shining where scent should be then the scent is now at the whim of the heat and lifts away from the scent source. This has multiple applications. If you have a high source and sun is shining on the dark surface below it, then air thermals are created that lift the scent up. If you have a dark bark tree with sun on one side and shade on the other, then wind plays a factor. If the wind blows the scent to the shaded part of the tree then scent will drop and the dog can find it. If the wind blows the scent away from the tree it will carry till either a cold thermal or shade allows it to drop. The dog can locate scent there. After that, it’s how much experience you give your dog in solving such problems.
Murphy taught me this in a problem I’d set up for others. I was going to bury a placenta and set the Ziploc it was in on a 6 inch diameter stump that was four foot tall. Some drops of blood were left on the trunk and absorbed into the wood. I tend to work my dogs in both the best conditions and the worst conditions. When in the worst conditions, I see it as a puzzle for them to solve and I’m patient with them to work it out. It’s training for future searches where law enforcement doesn’t give me the luxury of good conditions.
Anyway, Murphy got to work this problem in the afternoon when conditions were less than favorable. I wanted to see how Murphy solved the problem. Murphy worked the area on his own. I watched his nose goes up the shady side of an adjacent tree growing at an angle towards the source. Murphy then proceeded to move around the stump and tree, getting downwind in a slightly shady spot. Murphy alerted there some five feet away. Being a bit perplexed, but figuring he had something, I asked him to show me. He then proceeded to walk directly towards the stump, rose up against it, and slapped his paw right smack down upon where the blood had now dried into the wood. To say the least, I was proud. I’d watched him work both the shade and the wind to solve the puzzle.
We saw many dogs that would sit on the edge of a collapsed grave that was in sun. A cloud would pass over suddenly shading the grave and the dog would then go down into the grave to locate the scent source.
What’s the point of all this?
A smart dog handler is going to try to obtain the best scent conditions for his/her dog in an attempt to guarantee scent will be there is the scent source is there. On those occasions when conditions are adverse to finding scent, but L.E. demands that is the time to search anyway…….then the handler knows that his/her dog may not find a scent source that day even if it’s really there. I advise L.E. that I’m like the support crew for an advanced scent locating entity. Like any good support crew I know when my dog works best and when it’s likely to miss scent even if it looks like it is putting out 120 percent for me.
I set up a double blind negative for some dog teams and one handler said it best, “My dog just isn’t himself out there. I’m not sure what is going on, but he’s acting like there is no scent there.” I couldn’t say bravo at that time as she wanted to try again in a few minutes after her dog had some “quiet time.” The dog was working great. There was nothing to find. The handler was convinced otherwise and didn’t allow her dog to tell her the obvious. I’ve been on lots of searches where my detective tells me, “we got a great tip on this area. I know your dog is going to make a find.” My dog and I work diligently to prove to me that there is no scent there. When I’m coming out, I tell the detective, “I’m sorry, but my dog didn’t get scent.” The detective’s response more times than not is “well, it was just a tip. We had to check it out.” He was more than satisfied that there was nothing there.
So, diligently train your dog for the sources you agree to search for whether it be a bloody weapon or a 20-year old clandestine grave. Know the conditions that are the most conducive for your dog to be able to acquire scent. Finally, trust your dog’s training to tell you the right thing. If you walk away from a search not sure, it usually means you took on a search that was over your and/or your dog’s head for whatever reason(s).
Jim
That was an awesome place to train. I hope to experience it again some time with my dogs.