NEW ORLEANS — Just like in the song by The Mountain Goats, CrimeCon decided to bring in the cadaver-sniffing dog. One of the most popular features at the true crime convention in New Orleans was a K-9 demonstration by trainers who teach dogs how to sniff out bodies, drugs and explosives.
On the second floor of the hotel where the convention is held, attendees sat down in a circle to listen to Joseph James, one of the handlers with Professional K-9 Solutions, a company that trains dogs for the military and law enforcement.
During each of his several demonstrations each day, James spoke about the year and a half of training each dog receives and how the animals progress from simple games of fetch to searching for specific scents over large distances.
For drug-sniffing dogs, he said, toys were bathed in the scent of common compounds found in marijuana, heroin and cocaine (among other common drugs) before he and other handlers play with young puppies. As the dogs grow up, the play turns into games of fetch, which get harder and harder. Similar strategies are used to teach other dogs how to find bombs or missing people.
Eventually, the dogs are able to find the scent over long distances and have the discipline to show others exactly where the smell is coming from.
Events like CrimeCon are perfect for teaching people about how the dogs he teaches operate, James said. Without chances to interact with people, many only see the dogs on television, being used by police to find a body or chase down a suspect.
The dogs aren't always used to find criminals, James said.
"If a mother thinks her kid has drugs in the house and doesn't want law enforcment involved, we can actually come out and be a part of that without actually getting law enforcement involved," he said.
With CrimeCon in particular, James was able to answer specific questions from the public about what the dogs can and can't do.
"It's great for the general public to know and understand," James said.
"People think that these dogs are only used in a law enforcement capacity and that's not the case."
At the end of his talk, James brought out a pair of dogs he has been training, showing off their skills by hiding baggies full of specific scents in hollow cubes and allowing the dogs to choose which one had the correct scent.
Every time, the dogs stuck their noses into a hole in the right block.
