Is Training Sniffing Dogs Difficult?

Do you ever speculate how dogs catch criminals in a passenger ship? It's simple: by sniffing. They are called detection or sniffer dogs. Trained to identify people and substances, through their senses, such as explosives, prohibited drugs and blood; almost always the sense of smell, which is two thousand times much stronger, and fifty times more sensitive than that of a human's. In addition to sensitivity, a dog's sense of smell is selective.

It can detect a specific scent; meaning it can recognize cheese in a fish and vegetable market a thousand miles away from where it is standing. Hunting dogs that search for game and search dogs that search for missing humans are in general not considered dogs. However, there is some uncertainty with cadaver dogs, only taught to reveal human remains.

As to not make a fuss, they are trained to learn two types of alerting: the passive and the aggressive. Drug dogs use an aggressive alert, where they dig and paw at the location where they sniff the dugs. On the other hand, there are some instances where this style of alert would be bad news. Placed in a situation where bombs are included, scratching can be very devastating. In these instances, a passive alert is used.

A good case for this kind are the beagles used by the Department of Agriculture where the canines are trained to sniff out fruits and vegetables that are not allowed to come into the country. The Beagle Brigade, as how they are called, sniffs people's bags while they wait in lines at airports and border crossings. In other countries, a few are also are used in emergency search procedures. Because no one desires a dog digging in their baggage, the USDA beagles have been trained to simply sit down when they are able to smell it.

Trainers have come up with a stratagem for dogs employed to sniff out drugs. In odd situations, they seem to eat them when they have found the prohibited substance. Is it because they are addicted to those drugs themselves? In fact, the dogs have totally no interest in drugs. What they are in reality looking for is their favorite toy. In an article found in discovery.com, the "toys" that are typically often used are white towels. Since dogs love to play this spirited game of tug-of-war, they have generated the "White Towel Game" plan.

To start the training, the handler just plays with the dog using a towel, which has been washed with care to appear null and lacking scent for the apprentice. In a while, a bag of marijuana, for instance, is rolled up within the towel.

After playing for a while, the dog starts to recognize the odor of the drug as the smell of his beloved toy. The trainer then hides the towel, with the drug, in different places. When the dog sniffs out the drugs, he digs and scratches, trying to acquire his toy. He presently comes to discover that if he sniffs out the smell of drugs, as soon as he finds them, he'll be rewarded with a game of tug-of-war.

As training progresses, various drugs are placed in the towel, until the dog is able to sniff out a host of illegal substances. The same process is used for bomb-detection dogs, except a choice of chemicals used to manufacture explosives are positioned in the towel instead of drugs.