X
November 2015 - Nose, Nose, Anything Goes

by Richard W. Millar, Jr.

Once upon a time, when our kids were young, they had a couple of favorite television shows that they were always promoting. The problem was, they only marginally knew how to talk, so neither my wife nor I could figure out what in the world they were jabbering about.

Richard would go on and on about “Charlie Hemple” and how much he liked [him]. We would scour the TV Guide in vain for The Charlie Hemple Show, trying to figure out just what it was that intrigued him so much. I suppose I should digress and mention what is probably obvious: television shows in those days had none of the risqué elements present in recent times. Perhaps some Rorschach aficionado could find something dirty in a test pattern, but that would be as bad as it could get.

Finally, he came running to his mother one day to say that Charlie Hemple was on. “Charlie” was revealed to be none other than Shirley Temple. (He had an eye for the ladies even then, but again I digress.)

We were never so lucky with our daughter Kelly’s then favorite, which she called “No No the Hunt.” Today we still don’t know what the name of that show was, and recently she could only confirm “No No the Hunt.” We did learn it was a cartoon show featuring a dog as a detective with a Sherlock Holmes style hat, and, for all I remember, a pipe. The dog relied on his sense of smell to solve the mysteries of the day, intoning “Nose, nose, anything goes.”

Today, of course, dogs are widely used especially in law enforcement for tracking and locating drugs, bombs, and all sorts of things. Including things you would never suspect.

Like computers. With pornography.

I didn’t believe that either, but one Jared Fogle, who, unbeknownst to me, was well known in Indiana and wider as a pitchman for Subway, learned that the hard way, so to speak. He recently pled guilty to sexual misbehavior charges, which, at least in small part, was due to a Labrador Retriever named “Bear.”

Bear, I have since learned, is one of four or five dogs that are trained to sniff out electronics. Perhaps, I should be more specific before some of my readers take their dogs on a one way trip to the pound or throw their computers off the Newport Jetty: he can only find devices—not what’s on them.

Apparently, some chemist with extra time on his hands tested various computer components and found they had a common chemical compound, and, from there, all that has to be done is train dogs to home in on that chemical smell. Who knew?

And so it was that Bear was able to sniff out and find a thumb drive that had eluded police who probably had otherwise completely torn apart both Mr. Fogle and his home.

Bear’s success has increased his market value, and he was reportedly recently sold to the Seattle Police Department for $9,500 whilst Mr. Fogle has gone to the pokey.

The reports I read did not indicate where Bear’s nose found the thumb drive. If he is like any other dog, I’m guessing the first place he’d smell ...

Richard W. Millar, Jr. is a member of the firm of Millar, Hodges & Bemis in Newport Beach. He can be reached at millar@mhblaw.net.

Return