Dogs

It’s been a long time since dogs have been domesticated from their wild wolf ancestors; now they go with us anywhere helping in any way they can. From the tiny Teacup Chihuahua to the giant Great Dane, dogs are commonly known to be man’s best friend by their past of hunting by our side and keeping us company. Some even take on more modern jobs to help their human counterparts, from helping us tend to cattle on farms to working as service dogs to assist those with disabilities. The dog and handler teams were tested against a human searcher where both sides weren’t told where or how many carcasses were hidden to make sure that they were being tested as evenly as possible. Teams were encouraged to look however they wanted to find the hidden animal carcasses. They found that the dog handler team was more than five times more likely to find all the hidden carcasses than the human searchers in timed trials. More experienced dogs were found to have a higher likelihood of finding the carcasses than newer dogs, but even then, it was found that newer-trained dogs were still better at finding the carcasses than a human searcher. Four dogs between the ages of six and one were originally trained to find this out. Two dogs had four years of previous experience in detecting smells and two dogs only had a year of previous experience. The dogs were trained to direct, locate, and alert trainers to the specific odor a bird carcass gives off. They first introduced the dogs to the target smell giving a treat each time to encourage the dogs to search for the scent on their own for a reward. The dogs were also given training to avoid getting distracted by wildlife by desensitizing them, putting a focus on chickens and ducks to ensure they wouldn’t scare the birds we want to save. After two months of extensive training, the dogs were tested on their ability to find endangered Koloa carcasses. For the safety of the dogs less than 24-hour carcasses were used to ensure that the body wouldn’t get infested with botulism-containing larvae. Out of the four dogs, only two were taken to the final training test of alerting at a safe distance which was evaluated against human searching under similar conditions. When comparing the more experienced dogs with a human searcher there was an even bigger difference. Experienced dog and handler teams were seen to be ten times more likely to find the carcasses than the human searcher. There were times that on foot human searchers were able to find different carcasses easier than the dogs but overall the dogs were faster and more reliable. This could mean that with more time that the dog’s searching ability could grow even more reliable.Now scientists are trying to see if dogs are the answer to saving Hawaii’s endangered birds.



Four dogs between the ages of six and one were originally trained to find this out. Two dogs had four years of previous experience in detecting smells and two dogs only had a year of previous experience. The dogs were trained to direct, locate, and alert trainers to the specific odor a bird carcass gives off. They first introduced the dogs to the target smell giving a treat each time to encourage the dogs to search for the scent on their own for a reward. The dogs were also given training to avoid getting distracted by wildlife by desensitizing them, putting a focus on chickens and ducks to ensure they wouldn’t scare the birds we want to save. After two months of extensive training, the dogs were tested on their ability to find endangered Koloa carcasses. For the safety of the dogs less than 24-hour carcasses were used to ensure that the body wouldn’t get infested with botulism-containing larvae. Out of the four dogs, only two were taken to the final training test of alerting at a safe distance which was evaluated against human searching under similar conditio
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