Dogs Who Sniff Out Poop for Science

It's pretty common knowledge that dogs can sniff pretty well. Trained dogs are used for all sorts of different jobs that include sniffing, such as sniffing for people and for drugs. Well, you can add one more job to that list: sniffing for poop or as biologists like to call it scat.

The Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington has a special study program that they are currently doing involving trained dogs that sniff out certain animal's poop. These animals that are being sniffed out are mostly endangered species such as right whales, bobcats, jaguars, anteaters, and grizzly bears. By sniffing out the poop of these animals, the biologist can analyze the findings and learn more about the animals' lives. From just the feces, the biologist can find out about how many of the animals live in that area, what their diet is, and what stresses they may have in that region. The biologist never have to actually see one of the animals to study them. They only analyze the animal's poop droppings. The findings can greatly help the scientists to employ conservation tactics and help ensure that these animals continue to thrive in the environment.

The dogs that The Center for Conservation Biology use are put through the same kind of training that dogs who sniff out drugs are. The poop-sniffing dogs go through an intense training to be able to correctly identify a certain animal's feces. The training involves a reward method and the dogs are trained to be able to follow commands from anybody and not just one person. There are currently approximately 20 or so dogs that are trained for this job. Moat of the dogs come from animal shelters or the humane society. The average training for these dogs is about 6 weeks until they are ready to go out in the field and work for the biologist.

These dogs that sniff out poop have been all over for trial studies and then for the actual study for the Center for Conservation Biology. The dogs have even been sent on boats to find the poop of right whales. Right whales are among one of the most endangered species and since they are ocean animals it makes it harder for biologists to find and track them. The thing about the poop of a right whale is that it will float to the surface for awhile before it sinks back down into the ocean. When it floats to the surface, the poop-sniffing dog is able to smell it and identify it for the biologist. The dogs have also been sent to Brazil to track certain endangered animals in the Emas National Park.

These dogs are being used both on land and water to help save other animals. These dogs deserve more than just a dog treat for all they do and they never get the recognition for it. They are just happy playing fetch with their tennis ball and doing their job of sniffing out poop.

Source: http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/Feces-Save-Species-Dogs-Brazil.aspx