Texas Health HEB goes to the dogs for a day

Photo from the DFW Tracking Club website

On Sunday, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford will play host to dogs partaking in a tracking test event through the American Kennel Club.

Dogs, accompanied by their handlers, will be put through the paces of a track following the scent of an individual. The hospital provides use of the campus for the test.

Dogs who pass the test enter a pretty elite group, said Debra Lyons, one of the organizers of the event who described it as “probably the hardest dog sport there is.”

Only 7 percent of the canines who try succeed. And in the state of Texas so far only four dogs have passed the test – three here at Texas Health HEB in years past and one at Rice University. Dogs who succeed can then go on to help in search and rescue type situations.

For more information, you can visit the DFW Tracking Club’s website.