Purpose-bred Dogs

By Amy Fernandez

The entire purebred philosophy is predicated on the concept of refining canine genetic plasticity into hundreds or possibly thousands of ideally functional types. It’s worked since prehistory and I firmly believe that the human/canine partnership was the linchpin of our success as a species. But that’s not what prompted my story. Last Saturday morning my neighborhood got a real life reminder of what dogs are all about. It’s almost a cliché when the hapless dog walker stumbles on the murder victim, but yet again, and in true Hound tradition a pair of Ridgebacks got that scent and they were not letting go.

Tailored breeding is a marvelous thing, but it’s never perfect. Some hunting dogs refuse to hunt and some herding dogs have zero interest in their family heritage. Usually, that’s a disappointment. But occasionally there is an unexpected silver lining to that deal.

So last Saturday morning, Glenn Van Nostrand, a longtime Forest Hills resident was out for a morning walk with two Ridgebacks, Phillip and Iris, around 8:00 AM. Like many dog owners around here, their usual destination was Forest Park. That morning Phillip and Iris had another agenda.

Since the Rhodesian Ridgeback was AKC recognized in 1955 there’s been some discussion about whether the breed belong in the Hound Group. Although that issue long ago ceased to have relevance, breeders still debate its genetic heritage as a Sighthound or a Scenthound. After last Saturday morning Mr. Van Nostrand is firmly on the Scenthound side of the question.

Just to prepare you, this story is no walk in the park. On their usual route to the park, at the corner of Metro and Union Turnpike, as Van Nostrand later reported to the Post, he thought the wheeled Bauer Hockey duffel bag had simply been dumped as trash. However, Philip and Iris knew better. They became so agitated; their usual park run went right out the window. They picked up a disturbing scent and they would not be deterred. That’s when he looked inside.

As he quoted to the Post “These are scent hounds. They see the world through their noses.”  Well these two sure did. Unsuspecting Mr. Van Nostrand, out for pleasant walk on a beautiful April morning finally decided that his dogs were making a valid point. He opened the bag to discover a foot. “To me it looked like a mannequin. I didn’t think anything of it.” However, Phillip and Iris had more questions. So, he peeked again. “Oh my goodness.”  At that point, he called 911 -which was the second call to come in that morning about the suspicious duffle bag at this major intersection.

Of course when the cops showed up a few minutes later and belatedly tuned into this grisly scene Mr. Van Nostrand was required to go down the 112^th and provide a full report. But first he had to take Iris and Phillip home. But they weren’t done. Sighthounds or Scenthounds, they led him to another evidential spot about 100 yards away which turned out to be a puddle of the victim’s blood. Several officers followed them and all along that messy trail which led right to the victim’s home.

By then, the neighborhood was swarming with police backup including several K9 units. There was no need to take them outta the van. Phillip and Iris, regardless of their precise Hound heritage, they got the job done that day.

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=230554

Posted by showresults on May 3 2022. Filed under Current Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.