These dogs are valuable assets to world security and can be trained for both passive alerts and aggressive alerts to achieve powerful psychological effects. However, there are a number of other types of detection dogs being used today in strange but ingenious ways. But just because these dogs aren’t tracking down criminals, drugs, weapons or bomb materials doesn’t make what they do any less important – or any less fascinating. See for yourself:

*Fruit Dogs

The wrong piece of fruit introduced to a different (and/or fragile) ecosystem elsewhere could have devastating effects. And though there’s not too many fruit smugglers out there, many tourists inadvertently transport fruit from one country to another. To prevent this government agencies worldwide have trained and deployed fruit-detecting dogs at airports and border crossings to prevent any “accidental” smuggling.

*Cash Canines

Serious drugs or weapons deals are associated with serious cash, so police agencies have trained specialized cash detection canines. These dogs are able to differentiate between small amounts of cash and large, suspicious amounts and alert passively on the latter. This is also an effective tool in the fight against money laundering, which is often associated with drugs, terrorism and organized crime.

*Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite

Bed bugs are a serious problem in many parts of the world and it can be extremely difficult to eradicate them permanently. The reason for this is that the primary sources of the bugs are nearly impossible to detect.

Of course, this doesn’t apply to the powerful nose of the dog, which can be trained to detect and pinpoint bed bug concentrations that can then be targeted for extermination.

Currently there are between 200 and 300 of these specialized canines in use worldwide. Eradication efforts using bed bug detection dogs are often significantly more successful than traditional extermination practices, with demand for these dogs increasing each year.

*Trifling with Truffles

In Europe and other parts of the world pigs are used to hunt for truffles because of their superior sense of smell. Unfortunately, the temptation of the truffles is often too much for pigs and as a result they may eat a lot of what they’re trained to find.

However, canines can be trained to exercise far more restraint and therefore many truffle hunters would argue that the dog is a more useful tool in this regard. Additionally, dogs are able to work a search pattern much more quickly than a pig, resulting in a larger yield for each hunt.

In Summary – Dogs are capable of sensing what we as humans cannot sense or develop technology to detect. This makes detection canines an indispensible part of the communities they serve and a formidable foe to anything they might be tracking – even if it’s just a bed bug.

There are a number of suggestions and requirements that should be considered before serious training work begins. Both handler and canine should start these preparations early in order to determine if work as a therapy dog is the right goal to pursue.

A good therapy dog gets its roots from a well-informed and observant owner. Before any training begins a handler must know exactly what to expect from the veterinarians and evaluators that will ultimately award or deny certifications. He/she should have a strong understanding of the testing requirements for each level of certification because this will determine the types of training that must be used to meet them.

Other preparations include acquiring an appropriate insurance policy and understand what the risks of therapy work are and how to mitigate them. Becoming a member of groups associated with canine training, therapy or rescue work can help to create a support community where education and valuable resources can be obtained. Some groups are able to directly certify dogs and in a number of cases may also be able to organize therapy visits for you and your dog.

When it comes to your dog, getting ready for therapy work is primarily about exposure training. Therapy K9s must be bombproof. They must not startle easy at sudden movements or loud, unexpected noises. They must be patient and calm and willing to obey and hold commands even in uncomfortable situations. In order to be ready for this work, you must expose your dog to everything you can think of that it may encounter while working in the field. This includes:

*Other dogs/animals
*Excitable people
*Traffic
*Direct approaches/eye contact
*Sudden noises
*Medical apparatus and other machinery
*Sirens
*Small spaces
*Crowded rooms
*Children
*Bright lights
*Uncomfortable or strange flooring – grates, ramps, cold tile, etc

Once you’ve properly socialized and exposed your dog to these situations with favorable reactions, the next step for many people is to obtain a Canine Good Citizenship certification. In fact, many certifying therapy dog groups require it. This first stage of testing will determine if your dog possesses the basic behaviors, obedience and intelligence necessary to become a good therapy canine. For anyone wishing to become a certified handler/therapy dog team, a CGC certification is a significant initial training achievement.

In Summary – Once your dog is certified by passing the Canine Good Citizenship test, you can then proceed with full therapy dog training specific to the therapy certification level you’ll be seeking.

Senior dogs that do not get enough exercise are prone to obesity which drastically reduces life expectancy. Older canines that don’t get the right veterinary care can be subject to hearing, vision and dental problems early on. And senior dogs that lack mental stimulation are likely to become depressed or even develop disorders like separation anxiety. Understanding how to care for an older dog is critical to ensuring that the twilight years of their life are as comfortable, interactive and happy as can be.

Mental Fitness for Older Canines

Physical fitness and nutrition are likely the two most publicly-recognized needs for older dogs, but few people consider that senior dogs need mental stimulation as well. All dogs love to work in some way – most breeds were literally bred to work. Whether this work is ratting, canine search and rescue, herding, guarding, tracking, retrieving or any other task, the need to work is so deeply ingrained in most dogs that “retirement” can have a negative impact on their mental state. In order to keep your older dog mentally fit, consider the following:

*Allow working dogs to continue to work (but at reduced capacity for their age and condition)
*Regularly ask your dog to perform tricks
*Hide things and let your dog find them
*Play games with your dog
*Socialize your dog: let him interact with people and other dogs

Physical Fitness for Senior Dogs

Each senior dog’s age and condition will determine how much exercise they need, so it’s important to discuss this issue with your veterinarian. Coincidentally, the activities used to exercise your dog and keep things fun are identical to the activities required to keep your older dog mentally fit: playing fetch, hide n’ seek, socializing at a dog park, and so on. Of course, taking your dog for regular walks at a pace appropriate for them is perfectly acceptable as well.

Diet for Older Dogs

As dogs age their metabolism slows down just like humans. They digest slower and absorb fewer nutrients. They may require supplements to help with arthritis, coat and skin issues or other problems. Feeding your older dog the highest quality food you can afford is crucial to keep them in optimal condition, but every dog has different needs. Talk to your veterinarian about what’s best for your senior K9.

In Summary – The most important thing that you can do for your aging dog is to provide regular veterinary care that places an emphasis on the teeth, joints and cardiovascular system. Regular checkups and a good senior diet and exercise plan can add years to your dog’s life, and life to his years.

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Certain dog breeds have dispositions and physical characteristics that are consistent with water rescue needs. This includes breeds that are enthusiastic in the water, have webbed toes, powerful chests, and multi-layered coats. Dogs that are able to withstand extremely cold temperatures are often best for this job. Accordingly the most common water rescue dog breeds are Newfoundland, Labrador retriever and Golden Retriever.

Training for canine water rescue takes advantage of a dog’s natural drive to retrieve. By encouraging the behavior and progressively modifying the retrieval items, methods and tracks (paths), most dogs that perform this job are really more at play than working. This means that water rescue dogs must have a great deal of energy and enthusiasm for water activities.

In most cases a water rescue dog will work in tandem with a handler or trainer who is also a water rescue specialist. The handler can opt to allow the dog to perform the rescue on its own, or the handler can work with the dog to share the physical fatigue of rescuing a heavy person, multiple persons, or performing a rescue that requires a lot of time in the water.

In order to obtain certification at an advanced level, a water rescue dog must be adept at launching from a boat or from shore on command, and in many cases without the issuance of any directive at all, relying solely on its own intuition. Some dogs are also trained to launch from helicopters. Once launched the dogs must either carry some type of aid to the victim, or the dog must physically tow the target to safety on its own.

Exceptional water rescue K9s are trained to identify a distressed swimmer among a group of people in the water and bring aid to them. Certification at this level also includes the ability to rescue three individuals in one session, either two at once or all individually. In many cases the dog must also be able to rescue victims that are partially or entirely submerged.

Canine water rescue training usually requires three years of intense work. Certification and training information can be obtained from Rescue International.

Trailing: By definition trailing uses a hound (in most cases) to locate a specific odor, or generally a specific person. Trailing dogs pick up the scent of skin cells and other particulates that fall to the ground as a person moves or is moved. Trailing canines are not deterred by contaminants or terrain. They will track an individual scent through heavily trafficked areas, areas with animal scents and carcasses, and across pavement, woodland, through structures, mountainous areas and even near and in the water.

There are two critical items that a handler and trailing hound must have in order to be operative:

1.) An uncontaminated article containing the target scent
2.) The last known location of the target

Without both of these a trailing hound cannot do its job unless it has also been trained to track or air scent.

Air Scenting: Air scent dogs pick up the smell of human particles in the air and track them by moving in the direction where the scent is the strongest. This is useful when searching for a target when you do not have a scent article or last known location. However, air scenting is limited because the dog will pick up any human scent in the area; therefore these type of dogs generally only work well in certain conditions. Air scent dogs are also limited by wind patterns, temperature, terrain, and contaminants such as smoke from forest or brush fires.

Tracking: Tracking K9s follow a physical trail a person has left behind. These dogs are often called upon to provide immediate support when a target has only recently disappeared – especially in the case of escaped or fleeing criminals. These dogs work by locating the immediate physical trail and following it while identifying any new objects along the way. As the person sheds skin cells, clothing or other items, the dog “inventories” the scent of those items and uses it to create a broader spectrum of the overall scent of the target.

Because the tracking dog identifies and tracks new items along the path of the individual, it can also do the job of the trailing hound. However, trailing hounds are rarely trained to track, and air scent dogs are almost never trained to track or trail. However, air scent dogs are often trained to provide protective and other law enforcement type services.

Rescue dogs trained to work in high altitudes or in avalanche-prone environments must be hardy enough for the job. They must be physically able to continue working quickly even in the most deplorable weather conditions. For this reason breeds like the Belgian Shepard, Labrador Retriever, Australian Shepard and the Border Collie are most often used.

Training begins at 3 months of age. Puppies are encouraged to find their owners or handlers who are increasingly buried in snow. By 9 months of age the dogs should eagerly engage a search pattern and cover approximately 20 times the ground that dozens of human searchers could cover in the same amount of time. Nose to the ground, K9 avalanche dogs seek out any human scent that rises from the snow.

When a scent is found, trained dogs must bury their heads in the snow to determine how close the source is. If the scent is stronger under the snow the dog will begin to dig rapidly and efficiently. If the smell is weak – as in superficial scent left by previous searchers – the canine must re-engage its search pattern.

High altitude and avalanche rescue dogs that are also trained to seek out and recognize trauma or cadavers are often best for this highly specialized job because they will be able to detect the smell of human flesh, blood and injuries where even the most sophisticated probes and infrared cameras cannot. In the case of multiple burials spread over a wide area, these dogs have been known to pinpoint and help uncover people alive that were buried for up to two days, and sometimes at depths of 10 to 12 meters.

Most avalanche rescue dogs are trained for 2 years before being dispatched for full or part time work. However, many will only be involved in actual rescues a few times in their career. This is because most ski resorts and warden services employ avalanche teams that use explosives and careful trigger-point skiing techniques to purposefully cause avalanches. Trained avalanche dogs will accompany these teams in order to provide immediate support in case of emergency during an avalanche trigger or exploratory mission.

Unlike tracking hounds, cadaver dogs are not trained in odor-specific identification. Cadaver dogs work with Human Remains Detection teams to locate deceased individuals under buildings, buried in the ground, hidden within buildings, vehicles or other structures, suspended remains, and remains that are underwater. This requires an extensive set of specialized skills on both the part of the cadaver K9 and the handler.

Basic training involves exposing the dog to the odor of human remains repeatedly, while attempting to elicit a response of high attention and alertness. When the animal displays a state of alert when exposed to the odor, he should be rewarded according to basic Pavlovian principles. Over time the dog must also be exposed to odors that are biologically similar to human remains, such as animal carcasses and rotting garbage. Reward should be given when the dog does not display a state of alert with these odors.

When basic cadaver dog training has been completed, advanced training that consists of recreating actual human remains situations and working the dog in these circumstances begins. This canine training must be reality-based in that the dog cannot be exposed to human remains odors with every training session. Some sessions must be tempered with animal remains, and some with no remains at all. This mimics real-world situations where a cadaver dog may not find any human remains.

Cadaver dog handlers must also receive specialized training in forensics, human biology and anatomy, decomposition rates among various mediums and environments, and crime scene investigations. Both handler and dog must be able to work a scene with as little disruption to the environment as possible because a human remains scenario often develops into a criminal investigation. The three cardinal rules for both handler and K9 must be observed: leave nothing at the scene, take nothing from the scene, and leave the scene the same way entered. For cadaver dogs, this means being trained to show passive indicators where the scent of human remains is strongest.

There are several prominent organizations worldwide that certify and test cadaver dogs as required by law enforcement agencies, including the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association in the US, and the National Search and Rescue Dog Association in the United Kingdom.

Canines are an animal that instinctively group together in familial packs where individual members are rarely alone. For domesticated dogs, owners and their families are the pack. But while some dogs don’t appear to be too troubled by being left alone, others become distressed and exhibit destructive behavior in an effort to rejoin with their “pack.” Owners often return and punish the dog for the destructive behaviors, causing the animal more stress and anxiety relating to separation.

Separation anxiety in dogs can quickly spin out of control. Dogs that are anxious or distressed by this condition might chew at walls, windows, furniture or carpets, urinate or defecate indoors, chew at their hindquarters or feet, spin in circles, bark incessantly and a host of other negative and destructive behaviors. Attempts to control or “train” this behavior out of a dog fail because it is a reaction, not a vindictive or revenge-type behavior. Dogs are simply not capable of that kind of abstract thinking.

If your dog is constantly underfoot, displays frantic and excessive greeting or departure behaviors and is destructive when you are away, chances are great that the animal is suffering from separation anxiety. There are a number of things that you can do to help your dog:

*Don’t make a big deal out of leaving or returning: the jingling of keys, donning or removal of outdoor attire, well-intentioned hellos and goodbyes and other behaviors like this only serve to cause severe anxiety for your dog. Instead, remain calm and quiet, and only pay attention to your dog if it is also being calm and quiet. When you attempt to “soothe” your dog who is acting anxious you are actually only rewarding the anxious behavior. Don’t do this.

* Don’t punish your dog for separation-related behaviors. Instead, reward your dog for remaining calm and build positive associations with your departures and returns.

*Don’t crate a dog with this condition- many dogs have been known to seriously injure themselves while trying to escape from a kennel. Instead, reserve a specific room that the dog can be confined to that offers comfort but few opportunities to be destructive.

*Talk to your veterinarian about treatment for severe separation anxiety. Over the counter relaxants are available as well, including herbal remedies that can be found at health food centers and pet stores.

In Summary – Finally, be sure that your dog gets plenty of exercise- this is an often overlooked but crucial part of keeping your dog physically and mentally healthy.

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