NORTH DAKOTA ( KXNET ) — You’ve heard the song “Me and You and a Dog Named Blue.”

Well, there really is a dog named Bleu in North Dakota and that dog specializes in finding people who have lost their way.

On Thursday, Bleu, along with fellow bloodhounds Judge and Loris were getting some practice at a park in Minot.

Those K9s are used by the North Dakota Highway Patrol as part of their man-trailing program.

The dogs can be used to find seniors who may have dementia, missing children, and as part of criminal investigations.

Troopers say man-trailing dogs can pick up a specific scent and follow it to find who they’re looking for.

In the practice, one neighbor in Minot volunteered to be found by the dogs.

“So we can present them with a specific odor, say it’s from a hot or a glove, and the dog will trail that odor that belongs to that person that was wearing that hat only,” said Steven Mayer, a State Trooper & K9 Handler for the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

When the dogs smelled their way to the “missing person,” they got a treat.

Trooper handlers offer the service to city and county agencies around North Dakota if they need help finding a missing person or when looking into criminal cases.

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