Most dogs in Altadena have three major interests: Sleeping, squirrels and recreational barking.  Trust me, I know.  You won't see my dogs, or most of the others in Altadena, packing a lunch pail and heading off for the office. But there are exceptions.

Meet AnnaBelle.

You may think a dog who won't sit, shake or stay just isn't trying hard enough, yet AnnaBelle is one of the hardest working dogs in the country. She tracks and finds bad guys, and lost guys, and any other kind of guy or girl who needs finding.  AnnaBelle is a working Bloodhound.

Joined by her owner/trainer/handler Dennis Slavin, and at the invitation of law enforcement including the FBI, the two travel coast-to-coast to sniff out trouble. And then they return, often on the heels of their success, to Altadena and the family that loves them, Peggy Laisaar, little Ace Xander, and a couple of dog companions.

Back to the sitting, shaking, and walking calmly on a leash--working Bloodhounds are specifically spared the tricks we find so handy in the canine household. That's because tracking dogs must lead, and to lead they must pull – and they must lead and pull decisively. Their success depends on an innate and then carefully cultivated ability to trust and follow their instincts.

Intensive training is involved, just not the usual sort. Bloodhounds learn to identify the freshest trail, or a perpetrator's house, or sift through rubble of an exploded car or tank to find the scent of the one who actually built the bomb.

Such vital training leaves no time for party manners.

Understandable, I told Dennis and Peggy, as I pushed AnnaBelle off my shoulders for a third time. Not all our local heroes play a mean game of Frisbee. Some just save a life. 

Check out the video below to see AnnaBelle practice her tracking.

Ok, for this initial post, I meant to set the bar low and use one of my dogs, but they were sleeping. So instead I set the bar impossibly high. But I'm looking for all manner of pets for a weekly feature. Smart, athletic, funny, pretty, odd, or just really, really loved. So who's in your house and backyard? Are they awake? (That last one's negotiable.)