Bio

“Forensic Detection Dogs”

While many people think that all dogs used in law enforcement basically do the same job, in fact some have distinctly different jobs than others. Dogs used for arson detection, for example, are trained differently than dogs used to track a suspect or to find someone lost in the wilderness, and they may have to prove themselves under different conditions. They all share certain specific traits, however. Working dogs in law enforcement are:

• Healthy
• Alert
• Trainable
• Manageable
• Eager to hunt
• High in stamina
• Not easily bored
• Focused
• Responsive to reward

Since they work as part of a team, the handler, too, needs to have certain traits, such as physical fitness, ability to cope with what is found, ability to “read” the dog, ability to work with a forensics team, and a willingness to keep learning and training

The dog’s job is to find clues for the handler to interpret. Most importantly, they rely on their noses as the chief means of detection. Humans have around 5 million olfactory receptor cells, while a German Shepherd Dog has appox two hundred and twenty million. In other words, they’re useful in this line of work because of their superior sense of smell. Dogs can make distinctions between recent and older scents, and can detect a variety of odors under many different types of conditions. Since scent is invisible, they can track and find things that no human could ever detect.Because we leave a trail of minute particles of hair and skin (“scurf”), as well as sweat and other body oils, dogs can pick up our scent. Dogs also make distinctions among scents, so they can focus on one even though others are present. They get a “scent picture” or “scent print.”