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February 2, 2026
MEDFORD – Christal Mueller – owner of Wrinkled Ridge Bloodhounds – said when most people think of K-9s, they likely think of German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois.
However, she said bloodhounds deserve a spot in that conversation, too.
“German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are awesome K-9s, but so are bloodhounds – they’re just not thought of as law enforcement dogs in our area because it’s more of a southern thing,” she said.
Mueller – who co-owns Wrinkled Ridge (1073 Cedar St., Medford) with her husband, Jordan – said each K-9 breed offers distinct skills.
“German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois are great apprehension dogs – they’re going to catch the ‘bad guys,’” she said. “If I were a ‘bad guy’ and had a little bloodhound running after me, I might turn around and laugh at him. They’re more known for their scent work – they have phenomenal noses and can find things with ease. Bloodhounds are used more for search and rescue efforts.”
Mueller said bloodhounds have 300 million scent receptors, which is more than any other breed.
She said their sense of smell is so reliable that their findings can be used as evidence in court.
Partnering with the Medford Police Department
Mueller said Wrinkled Ridge recently helped the Medford Police Department add Boone to its force, with Chief Chad Liske serving as his handler.
“This is Medford’s first K-9,” she said. “Chief Liske is training Boone for search and rescue, but he’s also the department’s public relations dog. He’s been to daycare facilities, schools, etc. – the kids love Boone.”
Though search and rescue is the biggest reason why Boone is now a member of the police department, Mueller said she thinks the wrinkled pup can bridge the gap between law enforcement and the Medford community.
“Chief Liske takes this cute-looking dog that’s not scary to show kids, children with special needs and adults,” she said. “All you see is smiles on their faces. I’ve told Chad that he needs to do a Facebook page for Boone. He’s gotten so much interest.”
Mueller said Chief Liske told her the Medford Police Department had been trying to add a K-9 for several years.
“I ran into a co-worker at the golf course and asked what I needed to do to place a dog,” she said. “The police department was originally looking at getting a German Shepherd or a Belgian Malinois, and they were leaving their options open for a drone as well. Chad contacted me the following week, and we got to talking about it.”
After a series of meetings, Mueller said Liske asked about Boone being a part of the police department.
“It was quite a [complex process] to go through, [but] it was approved,” she said. “We ended up doing a full donation of Boone to the police department. It’s going to help them with their K-9 program to get funds, and it’s also going to help us drum up a little more support – it’s a win-win for both of us.”
Mueller said Boone has already begun his training, recently completing a track using clothing from Chief Liske’s daughter.
“It was a fresh track because it’s mid-winter, and it was pretty warm that day,” she said. “I think he gave Boone her sock [to get the scent], and he found her in like 169 yards.”
Other possible partnerships
Mueller said the Medford Police Department partnership is just the beginning, with other collaborations in the works.
She said she recently spoke with an officer from New York who is training bloodhounds for multiple departments.
“He’s been a police officer for 20 years and now is training these bloodhounds – he gets contracts,” she said. “He’s looking at filling contracts for both 2026 and 2027 to be used for bomb detection.”
Beyond traditional tracking, Mueller said bloodhounds excel at digital tracking as well, with the ability to smell scents up to 30 feet deep in water.
“For example, if someone is in the water below, or if a cell phone or computer was thrown off a bridge into 30 feet of water, they can smell that out,” she said.
Gidget, who Mueller said they’ll breed again this spring, already has an offspring working in “unusual ways” in Pennsylvania.
“He sniffs out bugs that are eating away at trees,” she said. “The number of things these animals can do is amazing. There is definitely a bright future for the breed in Wisconsin because there aren’t a lot of bloodhounds in the state.”
A love for animals
Growing up in the Medford area, Mueller said she’s always been an animal lover – getting her first dog when she was in fifth grade.
“As I got older, dogs and animals always had a special place in my heart,” she said. “In my adult life, my husband and I like to hunt, so we wanted another tool to help with tracking our deer.”
Mueller said that’s when bloodhounds became their breed of choice.
“We got our first pair – Digger and Sasha – about four years ago from a reputable breeder in Indiana whom I followed for more than a decade,” she said. “She has more than 30 years of experience. Her dogs are used in law enforcement, the Department of Corrections and wounded deer recovery. The breeder has also been a mentor for our program for the last three or four years.”
Mueller said Digger – who has since passed away – had a phenomenal sense of tracking.
“That’s how we kind of got started with Wrinkled Ridge Bloodhounds,” she said. “We first got the pair of bloodhounds to help track deer.”
Mueller said Wrinkled Ridge Bloodhounds first started offering deer-tracking services in the area in 2024.
“We actually do not charge for our deer-tracking services – it’s based on donations,” she said. “If we have to travel further, we ask for some gas money, but it’s good work for the dogs – they love having a job. We have three trackers right now, and they all do phenomenal work. It’s a little side gig for my husband, as he does most of the training and tracking.”
Great family pets, too
After using bloodhounds for deer tracking, Mueller said she and her husband realized the breed also makes excellent family pets, which led them to start breeding.
“Who doesn’t love a big old sack of wrinkles?” she laughed. “When you’re older, you don’t like wrinkles, but now my mom says, ‘I wish my wrinkles were that cute.’”
Though training can be challenging due to their stubborn streak, Mueller said the dogs possess a natural skill that sets them apart.
“After we started with Digger and Sasha, that’s when we thought it was a good idea to start breeding bloodhounds,” she said.
Mueller said she wants to bring the true working bloodlines back to the dogs.
“A lot of the lines now are getting more ‘foo-foo,’ but it’s what’s between the ears that matters for us,” she said. “I stick really strongly to those working lines, which are phenomenal. They’re the biggest and best lines in all of North America.”
Though Digger has passed, Mueller said his lineage continues through one of his offspring, preserving the strong bloodlines.
“In talking with my breeder friend, who has been doing this for 34 years, she still actually had Digger’s father, Folsum, so we acquired him as well,” she said.
Mueller said they also recently acquired a couple more females for breeding.
“We went to Indiana and picked up a couple more girls, so we are going to be registered with USDA this year and getting on board with the county licensing and stuff,” she said. “Obviously, you have to give the dogs time to recover between litters, but with what we have for females, we’re hoping for about four litters a year.”
Mueller said the dogs are “definitely well taken care of” at Wrinkled Ridge Bloodhounds.
“There are a couple we keep in the house, and I have my mom dogs stay in a heated garage with indoor/outdoor access,” she said. “With the larger adults, I have a couple outside that are in an insulated lean-to with kennels on the inside and outside.”
Helping the puppies adjust to new homes, Mueller said, is one of the ways their nine-year-old son, Sawyer, contributes to Wrinkled Ridge Bloodhounds.
“The pups [have been] exposed to a nine-year-old since the day they’re born,” she said. “A gal from Tennessee who purchased a puppy from our last litter said she can’t thank us enough for the work our son has done with the pups. We also do early neurological stimulation, and it gets that pup headed in the right direction.”
Because they don’t allow the public to come on site and play with the puppies, Mueller said that early neurological stimulation and time with Sawyer help immensely.
“Having that stimulation with a younger child helps the puppies get off to a well-rounded start,” she said. “Chad also has children as well, and he can attest to that exposure. It helps them go into those daycares and schools and interact with the kids.”
For more on Wrinkled Ridge Bloodhounds, visit wrinkledridgebloodhounds.com or find it on Facebook.
