Elementary Inspired Dog Names

The Sherlock in the show, “Elementary” may be good at finding clues but Sherlock the dog has a secret weapon that makes him even more pawpular than the famous detective. Sherlock is a Cocker Spaniel who spends his days (and sometimes nights) helping investigate fires with the London Fire Brigade in Southwark, United Kingdom. In fact, Sherlock has a 100% accuracy score in detecting flammable substances in over 200 incidents every year. 

At five years old, Sherlock is one of three pooches at the London Fire Brigade who are specially trained to sniff out the causes of fires, which keeps down expenses and speeds up the process. Sherlock has been with the department for three years. He works alongside his handler, Paul Osborne, a fire investigation officer and certified hydrocarbon dog trainer. Osborne has been with the fire service for about 20 years, and he enjoys the job as well as working with Sherlock. 

According to Osborne, Sherlock is trained to find traces of 10 flammable substances from gasoline to acetone even after they have burnt or evaporated. These are the known target substances, but Sherlock has been known to find other substances that he was not even trained to find. In fact, this pawsitively amazing pup is even able to sniff out the evidence of arson over a year after the fire happened.

This Sherlock may not smoke a pipe or wear a hat, but he can detect things that no human being would ever be able to find. And he does have his own fashion statement; a set of four special booties that protect his paws from glass and other dangerous debris. Sherlock is focused and fearless when on duty and will head straight for the danger areas as soon as they get the shoes on his feet. According to Osborne, Sherlock does not like the shoes and walks funny when wearing them, but they are important to keep his feet safe. 

At one incident, Osborne and Sherlock arrived to find that four police officers had been sprayed with gasoline by the man they were attempting to save from the house fire. Sherlock was not scared; he ran in and showed the officers where the man was so they could save him, and then put him under arrest for assaulting officers of the law. Without Sherlock, this dangerous man may have gotten away. Even though Sherlock is all business at work, he is a mischievous pooch at home with Osborne and his family where he gets into everything, eats socks, and rummages through the flowerbed, proving that he is really just a fun-loving pup at heart.