But you didn't run into a past perfect in the sample below. You ran into a 'had' in front of a past tense verb, which is an unfortunately common occurrence, even among professionals. There are otherwise-well-meaning people who insist on putting 'had's in front of past tense verbs, even irregular past tense verbs, which forces the irregular past participle, making them a tad harder to detect.
But thank you for thinking of me.
.brad.25july11.
From: Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: intruding 'had's
Brad,
When I read this, I immediately thought of you (as I do whenever I run into the past perfect)
As it happens, a team of animal behaviorists led by Jenny Ryon at Dalhousie
University had explored this very question of canine's penchant for perfume in 1986. Their study
wasn't with dogs—to the best of my knowledge, no controlled studies on
scent-rubbing with domesticated dogs have ever been done—but with a very close
relative instead: the wolf (Canis lupus). Any comments?
.
.