Some canine careers are focused on scent, or smelling. A dog’s nose has twenty times more sniffing cells than a human’s. Dogs may learn to smell bombs or drugs. They are even trained to find money or food.
Fruits, vegetables, meat, and other food items sometimes carry insects and diseases. Food from foreign countries could infect crops or animals in the United States. To prevent that, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Beagle Brigade. Furry, four-legged baggage inspectors sniff purses and bags at international airports. The beagle calmly sits down next to anything that smells suspicious. The hound’s human partner then checks for illegal items.
Why beagles? They’re friendly and cute. They don’t scare people as they sniff through the crowds. Beagles have amazing noses. They can sense odors better than many high-tech machines.
Beagles can work for six to ten years. A Beagle Brigade dog can remember up to fifty different odors by the end of its career. Sometimes harmless products, such as lemon-scented shaving cream, fool the dogs. But not often. The Beagle Brigade sniffs out the truth 84 percent of the time.
Dogs also use their mighty noses to go on searches to find people who are alive or dead. Dogs use their powerful snouts to smell tiny clues that people leave behind wherever they go. These clues include dead skin cells and bacteria. The clues could also be clothing fragments or hairs. Odors can lead a dog to a hidden person. This person is known as a “find.”
Search-and-rescue (SAR) dogs have tracked missing hikers in Yosemite Park. They’ve searched through piles of rubble after earthquakes and other disasters. SAR dogs aided rescue workers in New York City after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Animals hunted for survivors buried under concrete and steel.
German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, and border collies make good SAR dogs. But so do many other breeds, or types. The dog’s personality is more important than its breed.
SAR dogs must be strong and obedient. They must be very athletic and smart. Most of all, they must love to play. Trainers