May 2011. The most elusive prey, and the dog that hunts it

One very notable icon in a land that justifiably calls itself Sportsman’s Paradise, would unquestionably have to be The Hunting Dog.

Henry here is one such hunter—highly trained to use his extraordinary sense of smell to track down his prey.

But Henry doesn’t hunt duck, or quail, or deer. His quarry is infinitely more difficult to track. Because his prey—one that strikes terror into the hearts of many—is the size of a speck of dust.

Henry is one of an elite corps of dogs trained to track down—the bed bug.

Since the unexplained resurgence of this tiny tourism terror a couple years ago, all manner of weaponry has been arrayed in the effort to combat these creepy creatures, whose most notable skill (aside from sucking your blood while you sleep) is their ability to hide.

And that’s where Henry’s most exceptional skill comes into play.

“He narrows down the possibility of a million places to hide,” notes Henry’s hunting partner Clif Tomasini, owner of New Orleans based Inspector Hound, who goes on to explain why this once abandoned dog, of mostly beagle descent, may well just be the most skilled Louisiana hunting dog of all.

Henry is hired to “inspect” hotels, movie theatres, and other places bed bugs might lurk, to determine if they are indeed present and where. This is no small challenge.

“Who knows the millions of things he’s also smelling, and he’s looking for something so small. I can’t imagine what that’s like,” explains Tomasini, noting that the much larger prey of other hunting dogs also provide a much larger scent trail. “Really it’s a surgical style of hunting.”

Tomasini estimates that Henry is one of about 250 dogs around the country trained specifically to hunt for bed bugs. He learned his trade at the Iron Heart dog training center in Kansas, right alongside police dogs being prepared to smell out bombs and drugs.

“The canine brain is targeted for scent,” explains Tomasini noting that dogs can identify 118 smells a minute, but adds “Hunting dogs have natural instincts. But Henry is only as good as the training he receives.”

And, just as out in the woods or the swamps, only good as the bond between the hunters.

“If he believes in me, and I believe in him, we’re going to be good hunters.”

Have questions for Henry?  He has his very own email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text46958 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it