#conservation dogs

"As climate change continues to rear its destructive, uncertain head, canine companions are playing a vital role.

There are conservation dogs sniffing out invasive species in nature preserves, helping to clean contaminated waterways, and even avalanche rescue dogs that save people in the great outdoors.

Most of these dogs are bred for greatness and train their whole puppyhood to work in these roles.

But a recent study from Virginia Tech wondered: Can everyday dogs do the same?

In the study, Virginia Tech conducted a first-of-its-kind experiment to see if citizen dog-handler teams can achieve species detection rates comparable to those of professional conservation dogs.

Over 1,000 dog owners expressed interest in the study, with more than 40% of them having prior experience in sport scent detection or other related activities.

Sport scent detection is a recreational activity in which dogs find hidden scents in training classes, and sometimes, competitions.

Ultimately, the researchers selected 182 canine-citizen teams across the U.S. to participate in their trial to see if everyday people and pets could effectively detect the “elusive” egg masses of the spotted lanternfly.

To eradicate the threat, it’s important to catch the egg masses early, but according to the study’s co-author, Mizuho Nita, “finding them is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

With their keen sense of smell, dogs can be trained to sniff out the egg masses without disturbing the environment. Professional detection dogs do this with high accuracy, but there are not nearly enough of them to tackle the mounting concern of the invasive species, an article for the university explained.

“What if we tapped into the tens of thousands of dog owners already doing scent detection as a hobby around the country?” the researchers asked. 

So, with 182 citizen scientists and their furry friends on board, researchers provided them with “devitalized” or non-hatching egg masses as a training aid. The participants trained their dogs at home or in small groups with the help of a local trainer to learn how to identify the invasive species.

“Anytime you can stimulate your dog, it’s good for them,” participant Bill Wellborn said, of his 7-year-old Tibetan terrier, Pepe.

“Pepe obviously enjoys it. And it’s a way we can take dog skills and training to help our community.”

Wellborn and Pepe — and the other participating teams — worked in sessions multiple days a week for several months, with dogs eventually tested in two environments. 

In a controlled indoor environment, the dogs had to complete an odor recognition test, in which they identified the box with the spotted lanternfly egg masses from multiple boxes with other items and scents.

The dogs that passed this test then advanced to a field test outdoors, where they were required to find the same scent outside, with other competing smells.

They correctly identified the egg masses 82% of the time in the controlled tests and 61% of the time in field trials. Although the field test number dropped, it’s still a better score than human-only searches.

“These teams demonstrated that citizen scientists and their dogs can play a meaningful role in protecting agriculture and the environment from invasive species,” Sally Dickinson, the study’s lead author, said in a statement.

“With proper training, dog owners can turn their pets into powerful partners for conservation.” 

For the dogs that passed both tests, 92% were successful in finding live egg masses with minimal extra training, according to the researchers.

“There are thousands of people out there doing scent work with their dogs just for fun,” Erica Feuerbacher, an animal behaviorist and a co-author on the study, said. 

“What Sally’s study shows is that this can be more than a hobby — these citizen-scientists and their dogs can be a valuable resource for fighting the spread of an invasive pest.”

The dog handlers agree.

“Being able to do the same thing for the greater good — for citizen science — adds another layer we didn’t have before,” Katie Thomas, a participant, shared about her pit bull mix, Finch.

And now, with a proven concept, the future is bright for dog owners who want to bond with their pets and do a little more good.

“This research is about more than detection,” Dickinson concluded. “It’s about empowering people to work alongside their dogs to protect the places and communities they care about.”

Rogue Detection Teams is one of the Conservation Detection Dog networks that finds dogs in rescue for conservation detection activities.

They seek out high energy, high stamina, activity obsessed shelter dogs - one of the cohort of dogs most likely to find themselves in pounds and rescue due to their suitability to work days on end.

They’ve made a post on facebook today, with each photo doubling as a bio of each dog’s history and detection strengths. These dogs find all manner of things, from endangered plants to whale poo, bats and tigers! Go take a peak and maybe even follow and support their conservation works!

RDT says:

As fires move through NSW, this koala detection dog is searching for injured survivors in the wake of the fire.

Although this is happy news to hear, a reminder that it isn’t fire season in Australia yet and these fires are not normal. Australian wildlife and environment will struggle to recover from this - even with detection dog help.

Koala detection dog, Bear, has been out and about this week looking for signs of koalas in the Cooroibah fire ground.

Unfortunately no signs of koalas were found, but ifaw -International Fund for Animal Welfare Aus. - are hopeful that survivors will be found in nearby areas.

Bear and team are on standby to be deployed wherever needed in both NSW and QLD. 🐨

📷@IFAW

I’m really looking forward to watching this. Especially Tipper and Tony!

Tipper and Tony: Bloodhounds, Endangered Species Protection

Since they began patrolling the savannah and towns around Northern and Mount Kenya, they have helped in the arrest of over 40 poachers and many other criminals, including cattle raiders. Their evidence is actually admissible in Kenyan court, making them the only member of the animal kingdom with the authority to testify in a trial.

Ricochet: Golden Retriever, Emotional Support

In 2009, Ricochet made an independent decision to jump on a surfboard with a boy who is quadriplegic. Since then, she has surfed with hundreds of individuals, and became the only SURFice dog on the planet who provides canine assisted surfing to empower and improve the quality of life for individuals with physical, cognitive, or emotional disabilities.

Henry: Border Collie, Avalanche Rescue

Henry’s regular day job in the winter season sees him accompanying Ian, a professional Ski Patroller at Whistler Mountain, at work every day, where they stand ready to respond to Avalanche Search and Rescue calls.

Halo: Dutch Shepherd, Disaster Response

The runt in a litter of ten Dutch Shepherd brothers and sisters, Halo showed some promise as a working dog soon after her birth. From the day she arrived back home, Halo met her new family, including Cat’s retired search and rescue dog, the golden Labrador Bella, and the other members of Florida Task Force 1, one of the most elite search and rescue teams in America.

Reef: Newfoundland, Water Rescue

The job to replant endless acres of forests seemed like a daunting endeavor. That is until three unusual workers took up the task. Six-year-old Das and her two daughters, Olivia and Summer are three Border Collies who have been trained to run through the damaged forests with special backpacks that release native plant seeds. Once they take root, these seeds will help regrow the destroyed area.   

A post shared by @balti_mom on Apr 16, 2017 at 6:51pm PDT

It turns out that Border Collies are an ideal breed for this specific type of job. Bounding through miles of forest terrain requires not only speed, intelligence, and endurance, but also a willingness to stay focused and not get distracted by wildlife. Border Collies were bred to herd sheep, so they’re not as likely to run after or hurt other animals in the forest.

This system is also more efficient than having people spread the seeds manually. These speedy canines can race through a forest and cover up to 18 miles a day. Humans, on the other hand, can only cover a few miles each day. These pups can scatter over 20 pounds of seeds, depending on the terrain. While robots or drones might be able to disperse seeds too, dogs aren’t as pricey to handle. Most importantly, they leave a lighter carbon footprint.

Detector dogs be helping to save bees!

These dogs are being trained differently to how my dog was trained, multiple ways to train on scent!

Ms. Preston, 45, certifies that each beehive crossing the state line is free of American foulbrood, bacteria that are harmless to humans but can spread quickly from hive to hive, decimating bee populations.

“Everything else that can go wrong with the hives is fixable,” she said, “but not that.”

Four years ago, Ms. Preston trained a dog to help her find foulbrood, figuring it out as she went along. She recently received a grant through the federal farm bill to expand her canine detection program, which could serve as a model for other states.

Unlike human inspectors, dogs don’t need the hives opened up to check them for foulbrood. They can trot by, sniffing at the comb, and tell if the bacteria have killed off any larvae. Four people working full time cover less than half of what her dog can, Ms. Preston said.

On a recent Friday morning, on the green slopes behind her home here in Jarrettsville, Ms. Preston tossed a toy around for Tukka, a young springer spaniel she had just adopted.At first glance, it didn’t look like a workday. But that toy had been sealed in a plastic bag with foulbrood, and Ms. Preston was in the early stages of training Tukka on the scent. With any luck, he will join her team before the end of the year.

“You want Foulbrood Bunny?” she asked, throwing the fuzzy gray toy across the field.

Tukka caught the toy in a frenzy, salivating at the smell of it, chewing it with delirious pleasure. “This is what I want to see,” Ms. Preston said.

Soon, she will move on to putting foulbrood inside a small rubber toy and throwing it farther, or in an unexpected direction, to see if Tukka can sniff it out. Then she will hide the scent in the training installation she built exactly for this purpose — tubes mounted close together at various heights on an industrial plastic pallet.

If the exercises are successful, Tukka will learn to find even small traces of the scent, and communicate that to Ms. Preston by pointing with his nose, then sitting down.

She trained Mack the same way, bonding with the dog through games and repetition, building up his confidence and trust, all the while teaching him the basics of his important new job. That training took nine months.

Mack was a year and a half old when she found him living in a garage. Ms. Preston adopted him on the spot and took him to Mark Flynn, the K-9 unit commander at the state’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, to get his opinion.

Mr. Flynn trains dogs to associate scents with play. “We’re looking for those dogs that’ll jump into water to get the ball, the ones completely obsessed with their toys,” he said. “Because when a dog is searching, he believes in his heart he’s trying to find his toy.”

This applies whether the dog is looking for contraband cellphones and drugs in prison cells, or foulbrood in beehives.

Many of the dogs Mr. Flynn trains are adopted through rescue organizations, exhibiting the kind of high-energy behavior and hunting instincts that make them unlikely to be adopted as family pets, but ideal for scent work.

Mack’s drive was low. “But there is this phenomenon where you can actually build up drive in a dog,” Mr. Flynn said. And through play, reward and repetition, that’s just what Ms. Preston did.

She goes home in the middle of her busy workdays to train Tukka, a rescue dog she adopted through Mr. Flynn, because Tukka requires sessions at least four times a day. It’s a lot of time, but Ms. Preston reminds herself that once Tukka is up to speed, he will help her team cover more ground, work faster and more meticulously, and protect more honeybees.

“Dogs are great because they can sniff it out at such low levels,”  Dr. Spivak said. But they are also rare in the business, in part because of the investment in training them. She has seen a dog working among hives only once, and that was almost 30 years ago.

(Read the whole article and see the photos here)

Rubble is a seven-year-old border collie — a classic working dog.

Rubble has always had a higher calling — first as a search-and-rescue dog, and now as a conservation detection dog.

Rubble and brother Uda are employed to sniff out some of Australia's most elusive and endangered native animals

The dogs were called upon by Zoos Victoria to help sniff out one of the country's most critically endangered species — the Baw Baw frog 

Dogs are often used to detect the presence of animals that live above ground. They've been used in northern Australia to detect cane toads.

But Mr Gilbert says using dogs to find a native amphibian species that lives underground is as rare as the Baw Baw frogs themselves.

"Dogs are very, very rarely used for amphibians. There's only a couple of examples worldwide that have utilised dogs and it's certainly a first for Australia," he said.

The first challenge is training the dogs.

To start with, the dogs are trained to locate the smell of a frog swab on a 'scent board'.

When they recognise the smell, the dogs drop and indicate with their nose. They are then rewarded with a treat.

After that the dogs are given limited and strictly controlled training with real frogs from the captive breeding program.

Ms Edwards says there is no actual interaction between the dogs and the frogs.

"As soon as they find that smell and do that drop they look to us," she said. "So they're not actually looking to the animal for the reward, they're looking back to us for the reward."

Zorro is a 19-week-old border collie cross springer spaniel, and is already able to find owl pellets on training walks in the forest.

The canine is being trained to sniff out large, stinky balls of bone and fur that owls regurgitate as part of human quest to learn more about one of Australia's largest and most elusive birds, the Tasmanian masked owl.

Just how many of the endangered owls are left is a mystery — it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 masked owls are living in Tasmanian forests, but a field survey this year found just 30 birds.

The pellets stink because they contain the regurgitated remains of prey that the owls eat, such as possums, rabbits and rats.

The dog's trainer Nicole Gill says the pellets have an earthy smell and "lots of fur and bones and bits of tiny animals in them".

The pellets may sound disgusting, but Zorro likes the smell so much that Ms Gill trainer has to stop the pup from trying to eat them.

Using a dog is a much easier way to find the nocturnal birds than Mr Cisterne's current method.