Trails and Trailing

1 Introduction1.1 Trail Scent This chapter is concerned with scent from a moving person, its characteristics, how it gets to the ground, how the local environment influences this “ground” or trail scent, and how this scent may be used by dogs to follow the path (trail) of the person. No distinction will be made between tracking and trailing since the dogs follow the same...

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Water Searches

1 IntroductionDogs have been successful in detecting swimmers and cadavers underwater (Eisenhauer 1971; Stanley 1981), but there does not appear to be any published information on the use of dogs to search for explosives, drugs, and other materials in water. This chapter will focus on the use of dogs to detect scent from bodies underwater although the information would also...

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Buried Sources

1 IntroductionScent from a buried source moves through the soil, ground cover, scent boundary layer, and into the air where it can be detected (Figure 1). The availability of scent in the air above a buried source depends on the properties of the soil and scent molecules and their interactions; on processes that occur in the soil, ground cover, and scent boundary layer; and...

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Above-Ground Searches

1 Search Strategies 1.1 Introduction This chapter is primarily concerned with searching, detecting, and locating sources on the ground or above it. In general, only rough guidelines can be given to handlers because weather, terrain, vegetation, and other factors can be highly variable over time and distance and can act independently and in concert to produce a myriad of...

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Scent and Wind

1 Scent Movement 1.1 Introduction This chapter addresses basic information necessary to understand scent move­ment. While a technical treatment of the subject is beyond the scope of this book, it is desirable to have a basic understanding of scent and air movement and how weather, terrain, vegetation, and any intervening medium influence that movement. This information...

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The Dog’s Nose and Scent

1 Sense of Smell This chapter is concerned with the internal and external aerodynamics of the nose involved in the sense of smell (olfaction) as they relate to training and searching with SDs. The sense of smell involves detection and perception of chemicals (odorants or scent molecules) inhaled by the dog. These scent molecules in the environment enter the dog’s nose...

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