follow a scent

Scent detection canines searching for a suspect can look past all the other odors they encounter to follow a scent trail left behind by the person they are pursuing.

The dog liked to go off and follow a scent, but she usually always returned when called, Ms Belton said.

John McGann, a neuroscientist at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, who wrote an influential review paper in Science arguing that poor human olfaction is a myth, says, “Even in cases where you say, ‘OK, a dog can follow a scent trail through the woods and find a person.’

Unlike scent hounds, such as beagles, they lack an instinct to follow a scent to lead them back home.

It is illegal to to hunt foxes with a pack of dogs, but hunts can still follow a scent or trail.