Beast Handler

Beast Handler
Thanks to months of exhausting training, you have developed a working partnership with a specially trained beast. Your beast partner is trained to sniff out hidden dangers, contraband and enemies, and acts as an extension of your will.
Prerequsites: Trained in Knowledge [Life Sciences] and Persuasion
Benefit: You select a specific beast partner, which must have 3 or fewer levels of the Beast, which serves you loyally as a scout and trusted companion. When your beast partner is within 6 squares of you, both members of the partnership receive a +2 bonus to Perception.

You can train your beast to seek a specific item with its scent capabilities with a successful DC 15 Persuasion check. Unlike an animal trained by someone without this feat, your specially trained beast partner always realizes it is seeking a specific object. Typically beasts are trained to seek out drugs, explosive residue, bodies (either alive, as in the case of a fugitive hunting beast, or dead in the case of a ‘corpse-dog’). Your beast partner receives a +5 bonus on Survival checks made to find one specific type of item by scent, chosen when the trick is learned.

Finally, your close bond with the beast and knowledge of its behavior allows you to provide guidance and reinforcement instantly. You may always substitute a Persuasion check for one of the beast's Survival checks made to track by scent or a its Will Defense as long as it is within 6 squares of you.
Normal:
Special: If your beast partner is slain, you may raise and train a new working beast; doing so requires 6-8 months of work.