IT was her first proper assignment - but Lottie the police bloodhound used all her natural instincts to prove she was a top dog.

The two-year-old sniffer dog was called out after a Hampshire pensioner went missing from his home.

Lottie did what she does best - and discovered the disorientated 90-year-old in a hedge-row after just two hours.

The hound was called in after the elderly man's daughter became worried.

She was taken to where the man was last seen, given a scent from his pyjama top and immediately took off along a muddy track near the man's home in Boldre, in the New Forest.

After sniffing around the woodland she went through a hedgerow where she found the confused man. He could have been lying in the same spot for up to four hours.

Handler Jim Noble, 44, who lives with his wife and three daughters in Fair Oak, said: "Bloodhounds are very focused animals and are ideal for this type of work.

"They provide a tangible resource for intangible situations and very much complement the work of the traditional police dog, the German Shepherd.

"Lottie went through an intensive training programme which involved tracking training and setting trails.

"She very quickly and instinctively picked it up and in trials in Cornwall won herself a well-deserved merit award."