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The Otterhound is a Supernose !

( under links you will be able to find some working Otterhound Man-Trailers)

Of cousre the humans scent organ is nothing in comparison to that of any dog. But as incredible as it may sound, there are big dfferences between the different breeds when it comes to being able to scent. The length of the snout is already a big hint on how well a dog can work with the nose: the longer the dogs snout, the better the ability to smell. In addition, there are also studies on the number of olfactory cells in the different breeds. In comparison:

Human 5 Million olfactory cells

Teckel 125 Million olfactory cells

German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Labrador 220 Million olfactory cells

Bloodhound, Otterhound 300 Million olfactory cells

For the assessment of olfactory performance those ranges are far from sufficient:
Measurements with the olfactometer showed that the olfactory ability of the dog is about a million times better than that of humans. The dog may breathe in short breaths, up to 300 times a minute, so that the olfactory cells are constantly supplied with new "material."
The main "olfactory organ" is the brain, this is where the incoming data is processed and evaluated. The dog is able to trace the direction even out of an old scent. The olfactory bulb is huge compared to that of humans: 10% of the dog's brain alone is responsible for this, only 1% in humans! Dogs taste odors via the Jacobson's organ, located in the palate. The man does not have this organ!

The Otterhound is so good with his nose and therefore awesome for all kinds of nose jobs. If by chance any of you are hunters, he will most certainly employ his Otterhound to do tracking work, but everyone else can also do something with their Otterhounds.

You can also keep your Otterhound busy with food dummies, with this it does not make any difference if you want your Otterhound to apport or if you would like to lay a scent for him to follow. You can also let him search for hidden objects. Or you could go for a walk with the children, get them to run ahead and hide, then with a scent article (a cloth or so that was held by the person) let your Otterhound search for them.
This all takes practise of course. You can visit a dogschool which offers courses on tracking. You can find lots of information on the Internet.

A special form of the nose job is the Man-Trailing. The Man-Trailing comes from America, but this country also enjoys increasing popularity. This may be a real opportunity for our breed, as more and more rescue dog teams deal with this in special field. You can of course work with any dog in Man-Trailing if you enjoy doing so, however you will find that the Bloodhound is the one that works in the premier league. This breed has been used in the past to recapture fugitive slaves/prisoners. They have the gene for "Man-Trailing" so to speak, in the blood. But our Otterhound, following the scent of the otter on land and in water, is also in the disposition of this ideal. - However, no pain, no gain. The training of hounds in this sector requires a lot of time and good training. Just because he carries the ability and the genes does not automaticly make him a good Man-Trailer, but he has what it takes to deliver top performance in this department.

How does a Man-Trailer work?

The term mantrailing derives from : "Man" and "Trail". As with the tracking the dog is working on a long leash, but this is the only thing that these two disciplines have in common!

In contrast to pursue the Mantrailer does not follow the trampled plants with his nose deep on the ground, but is rather after the individual odor particles of a person. These specific odor
particles can be lying on the ground, be caught in hedges, walls and niches, or are particularly like fresh tracks and are still in the air. Especially when you watch experienced dogs they often show this typical behavior with a high nose. They will only check with a deep nose now and then, such as at intersections and difficult parts of the trail where they will check out the ground with their nose.

The dog is trained to pick up the trail of a wanted person who fits the scent the dog is presented with on a scent article. This individual scent is for example odor which is stuck to a garment. But also objects such as cigarette butts, a gauze with a blanket, car seat or door handle, can serve as an odor carrier. With this odor carrier you must be very careful so as not to contaminate it with other scents! Plastic bags are used for safe storage. Also, screw tops are ideal, especially as copies of the scent can be made if necessary, this can be important in such cases in which it becomes necessary to employ several Mantrailers.

The individual odor is produced by the breakdown of body cells, humans lose millions of body cells every day. The individual odor is not to be confused with the body odor, for example caused by lack of hygiene! Through the decomposition process of the bacteria of the unique individual, odor is created like a unique fingerprint. Certain foods, personal care, diseases have a certain influence on the specific odor.

The dead cells are shed, carried upward in the warm air and then fall back to earth. Wind, temperature, rain and time that pass by, as well as the soil conditions, are factors that influence the odor trail.

A well trained dog is capable to follow this trail on a long tracking lead on any surface, even days later for many miles. Provided however, that the exit point of the known missing person and a scent article is available. Therein lies a certain disadvantage in the use of Mantrailers.