My WIP heroine owns a bloodhound– what a wonderful breed.

Besides the enjoyment of plotting and penning a story, I enjoy character development and “giving things to the character” that are useful to them.  In my work-in-progress, Unholy Alliance, the heroine, Tori, is searching for her cousin. (These two people appear briefly in Deadly Alliance.)  Tori’s dog, Sherlock, is retired from law enforcement.

I researched the bloodhound prior to writing Sherlock into my story. According to legend, the Bloodhound was first bred in two variations: black and white. The blacks, first developed by monks at the St. Hubert Monastery in Belgium around the 8th century, and were later imported into England by William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest in 1066 A.D. In the 12th century, many English dignitaries began using these dogs as hunting companions, referred to as “blooded hounds,” indicating their noble breeding and pure blood.

In the United States, Bloodhounds were recognized in the mid-1800s, again for its ability to trace a scent — helping their human masters track criminals or lost persons. (Once the Bloodhound locates a person, it never attacks him/her.) Today, the Bloodhound is considered a great and loyal companion.