Hello everyone, I am done with my novel but still have one big problem, my hero have to escape from sniffing dogs, so I did a little research and I found some ways to hide the human smell, but I am not sure it they really work such as pepper or lemon spray, I found animal urine spray too but obviously my character can't use this product, it will bring so much attention. i need your opinion in this case, the novel is YA fantasy. If there is no solution I will element the dogs, or perhaps invent a spray myself!
I think you might want to invent a spray. That way you can make sure you do what it wants and no one will call into question if it actually works.
G Great answer, I wasn't very sure about it because I don't want the reader to think that I choose the " easy way " to save the plot.
You need to have foreshadowed it. If you introduce the invented spray right when the character needs it, then yes it's contrived and too convenient. But if it's established that such a spray exists, then the reader will be waiting for the character to use it (and pissed off if the character doesn't lol). In Aladdin, it was established firmly from the beginning that as a genie, you are trapped in the lamp. The resolution of the whole plot was centered around that when Aladdin tricked Jafar into wishing to become a genie. In Wreck-It Ralph, Venelope is a glitch and again, the whole story was centered around that really, how she sorta loses control and changes positions without meaning to. Right at the climax when Turbo had her racing car trapped with his and she's about to crash, she "glitches" and escapes. Another thing was the bugs, that they're drawn irresistibly to the light, which is what kills them in the end. It's no longer convenient if it's been established that such a thing exists in the universe. However, if in either one of these films the genie thing and the glitch thing hadn't been established, then the resolution would come off as cheap.
From where and who is your character trying to escape hound dogs from? A prison, police, a gang? This somewhat matters in what you use. Rivers tend to throw off scents because you can run down them and create false crossing points. Another great way to fend off these dogs is sensory overload. A pepper spray can or CS gas can be too much for them to handle.
As EFmingo said, a good way to get rid of dogs is sensory overload. I think there was an occasion when an criminal used cocaine to throw off the dogs chasing him . The problem is tele most dogs are very well trained
You are right But, My character will escape from the seaport, I found myself stuck because the dogs prevented her from crossing the capital’s gate earlier, so that was a major point to write three adventures that are very important to the book. I thought in the end of the novel that, if the dogs were waiting for her in front of the capital’s gate, they will be waiting on the seaport, so why she didn't use the spray in the middle of the novel and used it at the end? I am kind of confused when to introduce the spray
Sniffer dogs are slightly overrated. They are portrayed by Hollywood as infallible, almost as if they are given human sensibilities. I hate to be obvious, but sniffer dogs are most easily defeated by distance, so steal a car.
Loool Your comment made me laugh, you mentioned a great point to start a new adventure in the book! Thank you
If it's a seaport, I can imagine there is a lot of fishy smells around... maybe they can disguise themselves that way. LOL Or perhaps they can "go by water" for as long as they need to. I think I need more information to be useful here...
Another thing that might work is a crowded street. When I think of scent dogs, I think of them trailing someone through the woods. They're going to have only one or a few human scents to follow. Now imagine the dog trying to sort out one scent here:
Decoy beef jerky. The protagonist sees the dogs coming their way, reaches into their pocket, and throws a handful of tasty treats to the ground like a smoke bomb. It's the perfect crime.
With very high security and long-distance between the 2 countries, going by water with a boat will be impossible. if you remember the movie " Argo ”, my character will go the exact way, the only difference is, the world I created has no airport in it. A very interesting point you said about fishy smells, If only the event took place in summer, as I remember from my few visits to the sea that smell isn't that clear during winter, right? This is how I imagined the scene.. My character disguised as a guy, because the police only looking for a woman, so in front of the main gate the police will check out IDs of women, even if they will check out hers, she already has fake documents, my only problem with the dogs that are accompanied police in front of the main gate. It is a war state and tickets are so expensive, so only wealthy people travel, for that reason the seaport is not crowded with passengers. Now she was fine until I added the dogs, she absolutely hates me for doing that lol
I read a book a long long time ago in which a young girl has to smuggle something in a basket. There are dogs and guards everywhere and one of them sniffs at her basket, which has meats or some kind of foods in it, which the guards assume that's what the dogs sniffed and not whatever the girl had hiding at the bottom of the basket. They let her go. So maybe your character does something similar, carries fishes or something smelly in a basket or small cart which she claims to either bought for lunch or to sell later. The guards will assume the dogs are reacting to the food smell and not the character herself.
So is she trying to get into through the city gates then? Perhaps there is an alternate way into the capital/city? Make her go through the sewers... she'll really hate you then.
We leave a trail from our sweat and skin rafts, and if the dog is close enough, our breath is lingering enough for the sniffer to acquire. Maybe a special hooded suit with a breathing mask would work for your story. My personal belief is that dogs take in more than the olfactory senses. I have a strong suspicion that they also recognize a frequency or vibrations that are residual to the escapee’s travel. Here is a portion of an article from Underdog. One of the greatest sleuths in canine history was a Kentucky bloodhound called Nick Carter. His dogged persistence led to the capture and conviction of more than 600 criminals So potent is the drive to track, bloodhounds have been known to stick to a trail for more than 130 miles.
Why don't you establish some spray or tool that is relevant to the main plot of the book, that just happens to also be useful against the sniffing dogs? Don't introduce such a thing at the very beginning - let them get caught by the sniffing dogs first. Introduce it only afterwards.
What kind of area is it? If they are in the woods, have the hero find an abandoned campground and hide in the latrine. Less graphic would be have them run up or down a river bed so the water washes their sent away. In urban setting, have them parkour between fire escapes and dumpsters, keeping far enough off the ground to leave no scent trail. If their clever, have them improvise a 'scent bomb'- take a paper coffee filter, fill with ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, mustard powder, and garlic and tie shut with a rubber band. Throw that in the dogs face hard enough to burst and it will screw up their sense of smell for awhile.
Here's an interesting site. They offer lots of means of confusing dogs, but the main one is simply being fit and keeping going—especially over rough terrain, like deep woodland. A fit person who moves fast will outlast both dogs AND handlers, apparently. Lots of other tricks can work temporarily, but many of them take time to set up. https://www.secretsofsurvival.com/survival/how-to-evade-and-escape-tracking-dogs.html
Darn everybody to the good ones. 1. Find bear. 2. Shake paws, and fist bump. 3. Hash out the situation with bear. 4. Add incentive of bloodhound burritos. 5. Bro-hug bear. 6. Keep moving, bear now has your back. Well in reality, and a bit more on the desperate end (and a wee bit gross), but finding fresh predator urine, and rubbing it on the body might put off a dog if it is from something bigger than said dog. Kinda ripped the idea from the second Jurrasic Park movie. Finding a stream and moving with it, might be a good idea, as dogs can't smell under water, though you will have to stay mostly submerged for this to work. Ok I'm out of ideas. Good luck.
This would depend on the setting that this situation is taking place in of course. But, either masking your scent or creating a distraction would work to throw dogs off of your characters trail. Setting a fire comes to mind. Not only would this destroy their ability to smell, it would allow you to write an interesting account of how your character escaped.
Water. Moving though a deep river dogs may be reluctant to go through or staying in a shallow stream where your scent maybe lost in the water. And trying to move in the direction of the wind so your scent wont blow towards them.
