A Beagle's Purpose

Preacher Rocks it as a Pet Tracker!

I love dogs! And more than that, I love training people to train their dogs. However, I don’t help train dogs in unimportant things like, oh I don’t know, teaching them to come when called, to not dig holes or chew things, or in general how to BEHAVE WELL. One look at my two lap dogs would prove that obedience and behavior-related training is just NOT my schtick!

No, I train dogs to track lost pets. Well, I used to do this full time. But lately, due to Substack and other writing projects, I’ve had to cut back on how much time I can spend on K9 training. Thankfully, my co-director, Judene Dyer, has taken the lead on our K9 training program (so our K9 pet tracking training IS still available).

This story is about one of the few K9 students that I still have time to work with. He is a Beagle named Preacher.

Look! The Preacher that WALKS ON WATER! (Preacher killing it at a recent dock diving competition) (Photo credit: Gretel Player Photography)

Preacher is handled by Balynda Brown, one of Missing Animal Response Network’s lost pet recovery specialists (i.e. “pet detective”). I met Balynda back in 2018. She was a struggling gymnastics coach who has a passion for training dogs. Balynda was (and still is) involved in showing dogs (Rat Terriers and Poodles), dog sports, and obedience training. But when she heard about my work in training dogs to track lost pets, she knew she wanted to train her Rat Terrier, Bravo, in this line of work.

Balynda and Bravo spent well over a year in our MAR (missing animal response) K9 training program, faithfully training several times a week. She did not use Bravo on lost pet cases until we knew that both she and Bravo were ready. As a result, Balynda and Bravo have done an amazing job of recovering many lost dogs and cats in North Carolina (and beyond).

MAR K9 Bravo - tracker of lost pets (Photo Credit: Lenore Hedemark, “Just a Kid With a Lens” North Carolina)

The story of Preacher will resonate with anyone who has lost a dad they deeply love. Balynda’s dad was a preacher. He was also a show dog handler of terriers. When I interviewed her for this story, Balynda told me that her dad said that when he retired, he wanted to get a Beagle. Not to show, but just to “pal around with.” But her dad’s life was cut short. After that, gymnastics, terriers and poodles consumed Balynda’s life, at least until the day she realized that she could give Bravo a meaningful job. Most recently, Balynda realized that she needed to start training a new dog in pet tracking. She needed a “back up” dog, just in case something happened to Bravo. That’s when a Beagle puppy came into her life. She named him “Preacher,” in memory of her dad and his desire to one day have a Beagle.

Preacher the puppy - how could I NOT share this photo? (Photo credit: Balynda Brown)

Last month, Bravo became ill. During surgery to remove his spleen, the vet discovered the potential of cancer. Today there is still no word on Bravo’s diagnosis and his future as a pet tracker, but Balynda has kicked Preacher’s pet tracking training into gear. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Preacher’s progress. Since he’s been training (off and on) for the last year, Balynda has started using Preacher on cases. He’s only worked two cases so far, but guess what. On his second case, Preacher tracked the scent of a lost dog and the owner called Balynda to say they had a “sighting” of their lost dog in the same area where Preacher indicated the dog had been! I am so pickin’ proud, and inspired, by Balynda and her love for her dogs and her dad.

I can’t tell you how much I MISS running behind a search dog. But many years ago, I made a commitment to stop my own pet tracking work in order to develop a training program where I could train OTHERS, like Balynda and her dogs, to do this work in their own community. Although my K9 training services are coming to an end and I slowly shift my focus to writing Substack (and writing new books) I live vicariously through the MAR K9 training videos like the one I posted below. And not just the dog training stuff, but also the plethora of amazing lost pet recovery cases that my students solve. We have lost cat recovery teams, lost cat consultants, dog trappers, and others who are doing amazing work through our network. I plan to share more of those incredible recovery stories here, in my weekly Substack posts.

In honor of Balynda and her burning, eternal love for her dad and her dogs, I want to share just one of Preacher’s many training videos. It is 12 minutes long, but SO worth watching, especially if you love the sweet melody of a hound baying as much as I love it!

Enjoy!

** UPDATE ** Not 6 weeks after posting the above story, Preacher had his first “walk up find” and SAVED THE LIFE of an elderly, near-dead 15-year-old dog named Sadie! You can read that story here: