Book tours can be tiring, but there’s nothing like being inspired by the work of the people of The Penn Vet Working Dog Center in Philadelphia. I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon there–basically an exercise in intellectual and emotional rapture.
In general, here’s what they do: “Our goal is to increase collaborative research, scientific assessment, and shared knowledge and application of the newest scientific findings and veterinary expertise to optimize the performance of detection dogs.”
Here’s more from their website:
The dogs “prevent crime and acts of terrorism, working alongside military, police, TSA, and the Department of Defense to find explosives and narcotics. Rescue victims of accidents or disasters, using expert search-and-recovery skills. Detect medical conditions such as ovarian cancer and alert people with diabetes when their blood sugar is out of normal range.”
They collaborate “with top minds at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Department of Defense, and Customs and Border Protection, among others. Innovation in collecting and analyzing genetic, behavioral, and physical data, and integrating the latest scientific findings to optimize the success and well-being of detection dogs. Sharing knowledge broadly with the medical and working dog communities as well as animal-lovers of all ages.”
And what did you do today? See why I was so inspired? I was so lucky to have spent the afternoon with the Center’s founder, Dr. Cindy Otto, the staff and some of their dogs in training. The Center graciously put on a demonstration for me and my colleague Meg Boscov that began with Duke, the pup you see here learning the basics of scent detection. At four months of age, he was already a star, learning quickly to locate the target scent (within the wooden box), and then alert by sitting down beside it. Here he is pushing his nose into the box with the scent, right before sitting down to alert. Lots of well-timed clicking for a job well done!
Next we got a tour of how some of the scents are stored and handled, and how dogs are taught early on to discriminate between “scent and no scent” or “right scent and wrong scent.” Here’s what I call the “scent wheel” (I made that name up, apologies). The scent is carefully placed into one of the “boxes” attached to the wheel, and then the wheel is spun around in between each trial to avoid location being a cue. Alerting to the correct box gets a click and a treat. I was especially interested in learning about the dogs taught to detect ovarian cancer, not as a diagnostic tool, but as a way for researchers to capitalize on the superior noses of dogs to better understand the chemistry of cancer, and then use that knowledge to make earlier diagnoses.
Some of the dogs trained at the WDC are search and rescue dogs (it was her involvement with 9/11 search and rescue dogs that motivated to Dr. Otto to create a center that integrates applied training and research on behavior and scent detection). The facility has a large area dedicated to “rubble,” the kind of area from which us mortals would keep our dogs away from. Here’s your own search task–find the good dog Sunny in this mess of stuff. He’s looking to rescue a “survivor”.
And here’s what he gets when he finds the victim; nothing like playing tug with someone smushed inside a concrete box.
Here are some more photos: Sunny being prepped by lead trainer Bridget to search the rubble, Dr. Cindy Otto in front of the abandoned building they use for training police dogs to find the bad guy, the Center’s bathroom with a dog crate in it (how could you not love that?), hanging cans to condition pups to love pushing through noisy stuff, discs that hold the scent, and Jerry, a police dog in training, capturing the perp after using his nose to find him hiding in a maze of empty rooms.
All in all, an amazing and inspiring afternoon. If you would like to read more about the Working Dog Center, Alexandra Horowitz has an entire chapter about it in her book, Being a Dog. She spent a week there and I love what she wrote about it. Speaking of books, if you’d like to learn more about scent detection dogs and you love good writing, settle down with Scent of the Missing by Susannah Charleson and What the Dog Knows by Cat Warren. What about you? Do you do any kind of nose work with your dog? Many people have found it to inspire confidence in their dogs. You? I think it’s a phenomenal way to exercise both a dog’s brain and body, and I left inspired to do more nose work with my own dogs, especially spaniel Tootsie.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm. I’m back, that’s about all I have the energy to say. I’m bushed but grateful to all the people I met on book tour, and to all the support I got about my memoir. Maggie is still on leash restrictions, one more week until we go back to the physical therapist to see if she can have a bit more freedom. I’ve never had a dog who wanted to work sheep more than Maggie, and watching her look toward the barn, look at me, look toward the barn–over and over again, isn’t easy. Here’s hoping. But I have to sign off now, time to get the sheep sheared this afternoon. A lovely reminder that spring is really here!
Diane M says
Enjoyed your article about the Working Dog Center. I love learning about all the jobs that dogs can do. Recently, the Vancouver Hospital has engaged the services of a Springer Spaniel named Angus, to sniff out C. diff., a superbug which can wreak havoc on patients. It’s hard for us humans with our puny noses to imagine being able to sniff out something like that.
Hoping Maggie gets a little more freedom! Poor pup.
cj says
Have long been fascinated by scent dogs and their amazing ability to detect the most minute scent. Cat Warren’s book was hard to put down, and I will have to check out the other two. Your reading suggestions have always been “spot on” for me. Thank you! And thank you again for your lovely, informative, and compassionate book talk. I drove 2 hours to Boxborough and you were worth every minute. Glad you’re home safe.
BB says
Great article! I have a 5 yo GSD who loves nothing more than nose work and works at the elite level. I’m too old to do SAR, but I’d love to expand her expertise and range of detection. This article has given me food for thought and direction. Thank you.
Chloe says
I would have loved to be involved in that kind of training. Thank you for all the pics.
I must have missed your blog about Maggie! Shoot injuries; will have to re read the last entries.
Kristen says
Love this – thank you for the inside look and book references. Scent work in my house is pretty much limited to hiding and finding the treat. No lives being saved, but some minds are kept busy and out of trouble and some calories are burned. I am always so tickled when I know I have had successful communication with the dogs!
Shari Goldfarb says
My dear Emma, a wonderful black lab who passed about a year and a half ago, took up nosework after she retired from flyball. She LOVED the training…sniff a bunch of stuff and find cookies…what’s not to love? Our classes prepared us to compete in NACSW trials (she took first place in her Nosework 1 trial!!), but more than that, they taught me how to enrich all my dogs’ lives by training them to search, then hiding treats, or their dinner, around my house and yard for them to find. Dinner can mean five seconds at the dinner bowl, or fifteen or more minutes happily dashing around the yard, finding food here and there…I’m pretty sure the latter is much more interesting and fun! My guys eat raw, so we do fairly regular “Easter egg hunts” with turkey hearts in the backyard…too much fun!
Sue says
Aren’t dogs fascinating?! Sometimes I wish my greyhound could talk and tell me what she is smelling…
We really only do scent ‘games’, rather than scent ‘work’, basically hide & seek the treat, but Tiffany loves it! It’s the only way to get her off the sofa in the evening and into the garden for a toilet break before bed…
Layne says
Nose work is wonderful fun!
I volunteer at a local shelter and we do it with the shelter dogs using sliced hot dogs and a number of cardboard boxes. One box is designated as “the box” into which the hot dog bits are placed and the others are decoys. When the dog finds the target we cheer and reinforce by adding more hot dog bits as a bonus. It doesn’t take them long to catch on!
We give them a break and introduce the next dog to the game. This gives the previous dog time to think about what happened. When we bring them out for their next game they get it. The confidence and joy this game provides is amazing and heartwarming. It also wears them out like a long long walk and helps them relax. Being in a shelter is a difficult situation for them.
Vicki in Michigan says
My obsessed retriever of a corgi got gimpy when she was older. I couldn’t run her the way she used to run. We played a game where I would put her in a sit/stay where she couldn’t watch me, and I’d hide a toy. “Find it” from me meant “use your nose.” The hiding places got harder and harder (I was sitting on it, say), and she hunted longer and longer. She loved that game. She and I took a tracking class when she was 11. She loved that, too. Walk in the country and get sausage? Can’t beat that. She passed her first qualifying test on the last day of her very first tracking-class session. Then got gimpy enough that we didn’t practice, so we didn’t do more after that. She had our verrrry experienced tracking instructors, who’d always had goldens, thinking a corgi might not be a bad idea……….. 🙂
My not-quite-so-obsessed retrieving corgi would wag her whole rump when using her nose to find a thrown ball that was obscured. You never saw her do that, otherwise…..
There was no organized nose work for pets (that I was aware of) when they were too old to run (and run and run and run) — they would have loved it.
Kathy says
I am new to your blogs and I am fascinated. Thank you for your work. I have read Cat Warrens book and I am amazed by the scent work of dogs. I have an eight month old standard schnauzer named Eddy. He has lots of energy and I think quite smart. I would like to begin scent work for stimulation and play but not sure how to start. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
lee says
I am always very happy to read that science is being applied to dog training. The Working Dog Center sounds wonderful, and I’m glad you’re having some fun while on your book tour.
I will say, however, that I find it disturbing when dogs are trained to attack people–for any reason, personal protection or for military/police applications. It seems with all the weapons at humans’ disposal (rubber bullets, tazers, etc.) why must we put canines in dangerous and potentially injurious or fatal situations?
I will never forget the canine detection dog used in France to go into a room to check for bombs. Yes, it was booby-trapped. The bomb went off, and the dog died. The dog was basically used to set off a bomb. There was a memorial service for the canine officer, and then the police department acquired another dog to take the place of the fallen officer.
Dogs never have a choice about the way in which they will be used by humans. Humans have the responsibility of keeping dogs safe. Maybe this is a moral question that not everyone agrees with, but I find it immoral for humans to send dogs into the line of fire in order to save their own lives, especially with advancement of equipment and technology (robots, cameras, thermal imaging devices, etc.).
Is there some organization that could evaluate if it’s ethical to train dogs to attack? Can the way in which dogs detect bombs be changed so that they do not go so close that they detonate them? Do dogs truly need to go after a dangerous criminals?
Any thoughts are welcomed.
lee
Kirsten says
Isn’t The Working Dog Center fabulous? My friend is the Associate Director there – she has a littermate sister to one of my Leonbergers.
I am so glad I had the opportunity to listen to you speak on Sunday at the Dog Training Club of Chester County. You are an excellent public speaker!
Diane says
We took nosework classes. To Kathy – start as Layne does at the shelter. A row of empty boxes with the treat in one. But best to try to find a class somewhere if you want to be serious about it. There’s a lot to learn about watching your dog, and making sure you don’t treat too soon (as well as treating “at the source” of the scent so they don’t think 12 inches away is good enough!) Each dog signals differently – nosework is great for learning the nuances of body language of your dog and other dogs in the class while they are working scent! Although we never engaged in nosework competition, I am glad I took the class. My dog is older now and it’s a wonderful way for him to exercise mind and body.
I agree that Alexandra Horowitz’s chapter on the Working Dog Center was fascinating. You always recommend great reading material….as well as writing great reading material yourself!
Barb Stanek says
Love nose work, but not compared to how much my dogs love nose work! I take NACSW classes, and started with my 12 year old Portuguese Water Dog who had arthritis that was slowing him down for everything — except nose work! He would pull on his collar to get searching for scent!
My other two PWDs also do nose work. If I were to interview them, I think that they both would say that their favorite game to play with me is nose work!
UrbanCollieChick says
To Lee: While it is disheartening that dogs are put into dangerous situations, especially in police and military work, it is even more disheartening that we live in a world where violence occurs, in the form of anything from “small” crime, to wars. Unfortunately this is the world we live in and a reality that we cannot change today. Whether the USA vs other countries or groups play a larger role in it, is in itself a tremendous topic that could spark debate amongst world populations, and there is ultimately more than one player involved either way. Humans have been violent and will continue to be for quite some time.
In the meantime, we need every tool in our arsenal to minimize casualties. True, dogs are used, but that’s because there is nothing like them. And yes they do get sent into dangerous situations, usually with human cover from behind, but that’s because most soldiers and police, as upset as they are with the death of a K9 partner they grow attached to, would be far more upset to have to come to the door of a mother and say “Mrs. Hitchens…I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but..”
Imagine that solider adding that the mom’s son would have lived, but the K9 program was dashed due to legislation spurred by groups that protested the use of dogs in war, while humans continue to be sent into action.
UrbanCollieChick says
Patricia McConnell: I loved reading about your visit to the Penn Vet WDC. I have been thrilled with this Department for years and hope to have the chance to attend their workshops or take some classes, if I can ever get away. I interviewed Cindy Otto once for an internal USDA Safety and Health newsletter. I was writing an article on Medical Detection dogs. I got so carried away that they had to do some strict editing, but the original piece was saved online. Dr. Otto was very gracious and informative.
I started some nosework with my dog and found the entire detection dog world fascinating. It seems sometimes there is no end to the uses of a dog’s nose. There are medical dogs, human remains dogs (apparently this is the new name for the cadaver dog, or so I hear), SAR dogs, and conservation dogs. Working Dogs for Conservation did a little preliminary test work for the USDA/APHIS in tracking the Asian Longhorned Beetle, but there were some snags in the use of dogs in the field. I still wonder if they can be overcome. I believe there may be work for them in port of entry detection, but it’s not my call to make.
I will look for that book you recommend, Scent of the Missing. Sounds like a wonderful read.
Steph Rocque says
I am currently on my third SAR dog since 2003. Sadly, my first two have passed away but the relationship I had with them will never die. My newest young man is only 10 months but he is a rock star! Absolutely NOTHING in his world compares to how much he loves working with me and earning his frisbees. He loves a LOT of things and is otherwise a house pet, but when he knows its time to work…GAME ON! I am so impressed with him and couldn’t adore him more. I am constantly fascinated and amazed while watching all the dogs work. Of all the things I have done with dogs, it is by far my favorite.
The Working Dog Center isn’t far, and I have always wanted to go visit. A friend had one of her pups from her litter go to the center recently and is currently training in SAR.