HI!
I'm Pepper.

I am a Red Bloodhound. I was born into a life of crime, so to speak. I came into this world on December 24th 1997, at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. The first few years of my life was spent training for tracking escaped convicts. In 2000, I was transferred to Yuma for duty. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of bad guys escaping from prison these days, so some of my K9 friends and I were deemed "extra" and put up for adoption.

I was lucky enough to be adopted by my present human, Alan, and brought to Parker, Arizona. Boy, am I living the life of luxury. No more sleeping in cages or kennels. I get to stay indoors when I want, and have a real bed to sleep in.

I still get to go out and look for people, but most of the time it's for lost kids or old people with somethng called "old-timers", or something like that. One of my most memorable searches was for a man who walked away from his trailer in the desert. It was Christmas Day, 2001. He had the mental capacity of a 2 year old, and had wandered away a few times before. Well, they had people and horses and jeeps and stuff looking for him all day and night, but they couldn't find him. My human and I decided we'd give it a try.

We rode a helicopter out to the middle of the desert, and were dropped off around where they found some tracks. I got to get a good whiff of his jacket, so I knew what he smelled like. I found the scent, and tracked him for several miles, until we came to a place where a bunch of trails and washes came together. The smell was all over the place, so I really couldn't decide which way to go. Then I got a strong whiff of him, and lead my human to where he was. He was so happy to see me, he gave me hugs, and my human gave me a treat. I like getting treats, and I always get them when I do a good job sniffing someone out.

A few weeks ago I got to spend the week with my new boyfriend. His name is Bones, and he lives in the mountains. I got to run and play with him, which was fun since I don't get to play with other dogs that much. We did some other stuff, too, but that stuff is too personal to talk about, if you know what I mean. Let's just say that maybe I'll have some baby bloodhound puppies in a few more weeks.

Here's a picture of Bones with his human. He's a red bloodhound, just like me. His human got him from the Alie Foundation. They're a group of people, named after a little girl who was taken in Colorado. She was killed by whoever took her, but a bloodhound found her body, and gave some closure to the family. They were so impressed by what the bloodhound could do, that they now raise bloodhounds and donate them to Police and Sheriff's Departments, so they can be used to search for lost people, like I do.

Like I said, it was real fun to be able to play with another dog. All I have to play with, besides my humans, is a cat named Sly. He's fun to play with, as long as he doesn't try to take my bone. When I first got here, I thought he looked like something I wanted to bite, so I tried it. Man, that cat has some sharp claws. I won't ever try to do that again.

Here's a picture of Sly. He may look cuddly, but he's really a demon in kitty fur.

Most of the time, we just lay around in the sun.

I get fed real good, but sometimes I get hungry when it isn't dinner time. My human doesn't know it, but I sometimes sneak some of my food when he's not looking . He'd be real mad if he found out, so don't tell him, OK?

Well. That's all I have to talk about for now. It's going to be a few weeks before I find out how many puppies I'm going to have, if any. So I'm just going to take it easy and see what happens. Please sign my guestbook, and I'll be sure to let you know when my page is updated. I'm real excited about the puppies, and will put up pictures when they get here.