KENYA Training Bloodhounds in
BY LINDA PORTER
Two dog trainers and former law-enforcement officers find
challenging tracking conditions in the African bush.
STARED OUT THE BACK of our Land Rover, watch-
ing the iron gates embedded with bullets disappear in
the dust as we drove down the dirt road leading away
from what had been our sanctuary for most of the summer
of 2009. As our driver slowed, I turned and watched as a
huge bull elephant passed slowly in front of our vehicle,
flapping its ears and eyeing us cautiously. As we drove on,
my mind drifted back to the beginning of our adventure.
I
My husband, John Lutenberg, and I own and operate a
tracking and trailing dog school in Cañon City, Colorado,
where we specialize in training Bloodhounds. Our time in
Kenya started with an e-mailed request for help from a
continent away. The e-mail from the Mara Conservancy
read, “We are looking for someone to help us purchase and
train Bloodhound tracker dogs for our anti-poaching unit in
Kenya.” I e-mailed a response and received a reply almost
