Pictured: the famous Doberman sniffer dog, Tref.
Vladimir Ivanovich Lebedev (1868-1930), a criminal investigation theorist and practitioner, pioneered the use of dogs to track down criminals in Russia in the early 20th century. In 1907, the first service dog kennels opened in Riga and Peterhof. And on June 21, 1909, the grand opening of Russia's first police service dog training school and model kennel took place. In the pre-revolutionary years, the Doberman Pinscher Tref was considered the most famous police dog, helping to solve over 1,500 crimes. Just rumors of Tref's imminent arrival in a city were enough to temporarily halt robberies and murders. Criminals greatly feared the famous sniffer dog, as Tref had only one unsuccessful search to his credit — the search for Lenin in Razliv. All other crimes that Tref was involved in solving ended with the perpetrators' arrests. After the 1917 Revolution, Tref and his trainer, V. Dmitriev, remained in service with the Moscow Workers' and Peasants' Militia.