These clumsy dogs, mobilized to search for the missing, have an incredible sense of smell.
Mobilized the day before on the trail of a lost senior, Jupiter is already back in training, in Nîmes, this Saturday. At 8 years old, this 52 kg Saint-Hubert is the only tracker dog in the canine brigade of the Gard gendarmerie. “These calm dogs, enduring with the hunting instinct, have an exceptional sense of smell, much more developed than that of other breeds. “details the master of Jupiter, Major Bruno Mourier, at the head of the brigade. For the dog equipped with his ”National Gendarmerie” bib, an easy exercise is carried out on the premises of the police academy, where a playful gendarme has hidden somewhere. In a short period of time, Jupiter must then find the soldier hidden on the site – huge! – made up of countless buildings. Sitting at the major’s feet, the animal takes deep breaths into a cool bag firmly held around its nose for a few seconds. A bag containing as at the beginning of each intervention, a personal effect of its target, here a metal pin. In a few minutes, never lifting his nose from the ground, Jupiter, concentrated, rushes across the site to lead his master directly to the target, yet hidden hundreds of meters behind brushwood. Immediately, the animal places its paws on the shoulders of the found gendarme, to signify to the major the end of the mission and the hour of his reward. Congratulatory treats and caresses, essential to motivate the animal that can be mobilized at any time at the request of local authorities or other departments. tail wagging, Jupiter already seems ready to leave, tomorrow, in search of a lost child or a criminal on the run.
