 Get Twitter buttons |
The Sniffer Dog
Dogs who are trained to seek out various objects using their sense of smell has come to prominence recently with the awarding of a PDSA Dickin Medal (the animals’ Victoria Cross) to Treo, an eight-year-old black Labrador working with the 104 Military Working Dog Support Unit in Afghanistan. He was the twenty- seventh canine recipient of the award.
Trained ‘sniffer’ dogs fall into two categories – 1. Proactive dogs i.e. those trained to search for drugs, currency, human bodies or explosives in buildings, open areas or vehicles and 2. Passive dogs who are trained to search people.
Dogs have been trained to seek out an incredible variety of objects. Apart from the obvious ones mentioned above, they have been used, particularly in the U.S.A., to seek out a particular species of mussels that is being introduced into the country and is having disastrous effects ecologically on the environment of the native species
They have also been used to detect the nests of a particularly threatened bumblebee thereby aiding in its conservation.
In prisons they are used to detect illicit cell ‘phones.
Most recently great inroads have been made in medicine by training dogs to sniff out cancer, diabetic hypoglycaemia and a drop in cortisol levels heralding Addison's disease crisis.
Any dog can be trained but German Shepherd Dogs, Cocker Spaniels and Labradors are the most common. Harder to train but as efficient are Dobermans and Collies. Training starts between 10 to 14 weeks old.
Olfaction (the sense of smell) originates in most vertebrate mammals in the nasal cavity where there are specialised sensory cells. There are two systems involved in olfaction – the main olfactory and the accessory olfactory. The triggers, which activate the system, are called odorants. Smells are sensed in the olfactory epithelium by olfactory neurons. Dogs have a far greater olfactory sensitivity than humans. In humans the olfactory epithelium is about 10sq.cm (1.6sq.ins) while some dogs have 170sq.cm (26sq.ins). The dog’s olfactory epithelium also has a hundred times more receptors per sq.cm.
It has been estimated that dogs in general have an olfactory sense 100,000 to 1,000,000 times more acute than humans and ‘scent-hounds’ 1,000,000 to 10,000,000. Bloodhounds have the keenest sense of smell – 10,000,000 to 100,000,000 more sensitive.
An acute sense of smell and hard training produced an incredible result in one drug search. The handler noticed that the dog was persisting in staying in a particular spot but was seized with a violent attack of sneezing. Upon investigation a package of cocaine was discovered which had been thoroughly coated with peppercorns! Even that did not deter the dog!
Related links: Karen and Coco's story
Treo's story
Related links: Karen and Coco's story
Treo's story
| Debbie Connolly Bites Back |
| Jane Common - Getting Around With The Hound |
| Kate Bendix - Taking Itch Out Of Your Bitch |
| Subscribe to our newsletter and you'll receive regular emails keeping you up to date on our latest news, special offers and exclusive member only deals! |
