By Janet McAfee
Amazing dogs can locate missing people, they can detect bombs while serving alongside our military, and they can detect hard to diagnose cancers. They comfort the sick and the lonely and they can transform the suffering of psychological trauma victims. Archaeological evidence of canines and humans buried together 14,000 years ago illustrates how long our close bond with them has been. In Europe and Asia centuries ago, dogs helped shepherds protect their flocks of goats and sheep from predators such as bears and wolves.
In recent years, we have discovered that dogs have an amazing sense of smell. They are used in police work and at airports to sniff and search for drugs. With growing pressures on the environment and many wildlife species on the verge of extinction, dogs are taking on new challenges.
Trained detection dogs and their handlers are now assisting in global conservation efforts. Dogs are able to locate tiny, elusive, or rare endangered animals and plants in large areas with a very high degree of accuracy in rough terrain. With their super noses, conservation dogs were able to find the scat of the endangered San Joaquin kit fox in a project operated by Working Dogs for Conservation. This evidence led to a new protected species area in California’s San Joaquin Valley for the foxes.
These conservation heroes do not need be to a specific breed, some of them were once homeless dogs in shelters. The best conservation dogs are high energy and have an obsessive play drive (sometimes the reason for their owners’ relinquishing them). This energy, play obsession, and ability to focus make them ideal for this field of work.
Pictured here is 10-year-old Spots leading a herd of goats into a pasture. In this region of Namibia, goats reside the same region as predator leopards and jackals live. Spots guards his herd and if a predator approaches, he barks loudly and gets between the goats and the danger. Not only does Spots save the lives of the goats, but he reduces humans need to kill the endangered predator animals.
Success for the dogs depends on the teamwork between the handler and the canine partner. Training to be a handler takes about two years at the Rogue Detection Team organization. Handlers must be physically fit and able to tolerate extreme weather while they learn to think like a dog, speak like a dog, and become intuitive and flexible. Work settings include environments that are often remote, rugged, and inhospitable.
Can your dog become a conservation canine? While this is a specialized area, it is possible for people and their pet dogs to assist in environmental projects as citizen scientists. In Australia, a group called Canidae Development (canidaedevelopment.com) trained volunteers with their own dogs to detect the scent of tiger quoll, the largest surviving marsupial in the country. Quolls have declined due to habitat loss and the introduction of predator foxes.
In our modern world, canines often lose the jobs they were historically meant to do. They might no longer have sheep to herd or animals to hunt, and there is rare opportunity to use their amazing sense of smell. Scent detection classes can help stimulate their sniffing skills while they use their noses to hunt for a favorite toy or food. They search vehicles, indoor and outdoor settings, containers to be exposed to a variety of distractions and air flow. Of course, their success is followed by a favorite treat.
These activities help strengthen the bond between humans and their dogs. They help dogs to think independently and improve their mental well-being. Some dog trainers now utilize nose work in training dogs that are high energy, aggressive, or reactive.
This is an activity almost any dog can do and enjoy. Their humans benefit too because nose therapy gives them a greater understanding or what a dog is really about and how they perceive the world.
