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| Echo uses nosework skills to find some anise in a suitcase. |
Okay, so I couldn't resist the cheeky title of the post. But we're not talking cosmetic surgery or remodelling canine noses here - we're talking about a "job" that utilises the already existing, pretty-awesome-thanks-very-much canine olfactory system.
Dogs are known for their acute sense
of smell, which is why they’re employed in all sorts of roles from
drug-sniffing to search and rescue and even cadaver detection. But did you know that just about any dog can learn to detect scents?
We spoke canine scent experts Fred
Helfers and Marion Brand about the concept of “Nose Work”.
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| Fred and Lexie. |
Fred Helfers
is a retired police detective with over 30-years experience training dogs while
working in law enforcement. Can you tell us a bit about his background?
Fred has actively worked two drug
detection canines during his 28 years in law enforcement and has expanded his
knowledge of detection canines by training canines and handlers in the fields
of insect detection, natural gas detection and accelerant detection.
Fred operated a
professional detection dog training kennel and training facility for police
officers, training drug detection and accelerant detection canines and their
handlers for over 20 years. Fred’s
passion and recognized expertise in training detection canine teams has led him
to conduct training seminars and classes throughout United States, Canada,
Australia and Brazil.
He is the past president of the
Washington State Police Canine Association and the founding President of the
Pacific Northwest Police Detection Dog Association. He recently
retired as President of PNWK9 but remains in the position of President
Emeritus. He is also a member of the
Scientific Working Group on Dog and Orthogonal Factors.
Fred has judged numerous detection canine
competitions from the Word Police and Fire games (Detection Canines) in
Vancouver, Canada; to the National Invitational K9Nosework® Trials in Santa
Rosa, Ca. Over the past 32 years, Fred has
trained literally hundreds of professional canines and their handlers. Along
with being recognized as a master trainer in detection canines Fred is a certified Nose Work
Instructor for NACSW.
Wow. So how
did he become involved in training dogs to detect odours in the first place?
Fred became involved in handling and
training detection canines after observing drug dogs in action on the southern
boarder of the US. He presented a written proposal to his agency in 1981 and
became the agency’s first drug dog handler. A few years after that he was
approached by other law enforcement agencies to train detection dogs and
handlers in the Pacific Northwest. The
rest is history…
How does a
dog's sense of smell compare with a human sense of smell?
The dog’s sense of smell is said to be,
on average, many thousands more powerful than a human. The average human has
about 5 million olfactory sensory cells, the average dog has about 220
million olfactory cells. [Ed. That explains the pitter patter of little paws down the corridor everytime I open the fridge].
If we can't
smell what they smell, how can we train them in this skill?
Most everything in the world gives off
some type of scent. While it is true that there are many sources of odour that
humans cannot smell, we know through laboratory testing an item is emitting
certain gases etc.
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| Fred and Daisy in a class. |
In the training of detection canines
utilizing a source substance is generally enough to start the imprintation of
an odour source with the dog. In the
world of K9 Nosework® the odour sources that are used are essential oils. Those of course humans can smell.
What sort of
jobs do highly-trained scent detecting dogs do?
The amazing world of canine scent
detection is forever opening new doors to mankind. Detection dogs can be
trained for explosive, drug, natural gas, insect, search and rescue, human remains, cancer, diabetes reaction
etc… If a substance has an odour,
dogs can be trained to detect that odour.
Can you tell us a bit about your own dogs?
Over the past 30+ years I have trained numerous dogs and handlers…too numerous to recall all their names etc. (My working dogs who taught me much in the field of the detection of odours are Sammy, Corky, Lexi and Casey (drug detection). Others of note would be Blaze and Maggie (Accelerant detection) and Dancer (Insect detection). Many of these dogs worked for 8-10 years before being retired.
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| Marion's dog Bravo sniffs out birch in a tree. |
Why is
"nose work" taking off as a hobby?
The fantastic sport of Nosework that
is gripping the pet / sporting dog world introduces the “everyday” dog and
their handler to the world of scent detection. This sport
teaches the dog to use its nose to find a specific scent or odour and then tell
the handler that they have found the odour source.
Nosework
encourages the dog's natural ability to hunt using its olfactory system (nose)
and is done in a manner that the dog has a lot of fun. Unlike tracking and other scent work, the team
is not limited by access to certain areas. Nose Work can be done anywhere,
anytime!
Any
dog that has a nose can succeed in this sport [Ed. I wonder if that includes dogs with lymphocytic-plasmacytic
rhinitis?]. Dogs of all shapes and
sizes have done tremendously well; even those that are fearful and reactive.
Unlike
other sports, only one dog works at a time in a class. So, dogs that may normally have a hard time
working in a class thrive in the Nose Work environment. A lot of dog owners who may have been active
in Obedience or Agility based sports and can no longer physically compete in
those areas are attracted to the sport of nosework.
What do the
dogs get out of nose work?
Generally speaking, Nosework dogs work
for a food treat. Therefore Nosework
utilizes the dogs natural hunt drive to survive. To most dogs this comes naturally and dogs
that are introduced to the sport of Nosework soon start to thrive and excel at
this sport. Nosework provides exercise,
relieves boredom and stimulates the relationship between dog and handler. All
positive attributes for a healthy, well balanced dog.
How can
people learn more about training their dogs for scent detection?
The best way is to find a good trainer
/ instructor. Currently the only Australian trained in K9 Nose Work® is Marion
Brand of K9 Nose Time. She is available for workshops around Australia and
teaches classes in a variety of locations around Sydney. Marion also guides and
supports the K9 Nose Work® classes at Helping Hounds in Melbourne’s Mornington
Peninsula. For more information Please
contact Marion at k9nosetime@gmail.com or jennifer@helpinghounds.com.au
There are also several websites
dedicated to Nosework or scent detection activities for your dog. www.funnosework.com
or www.k9nosetime.com
or www.nacsw.net
Thank you Marion and Fred for your time.
