My "Narcotics" Detection Dog

[redfeather]

 

[redhen]

Pretty cool.. I need one of those! I do foster care for high-risk teens..
I'd LOVE to have a drug sniffing dog!
Although, i'm evil.. sometimes when my dog Daisy starts sniffing a kid heavily, i mess with them... some of the kids i've had actually think that she IS a drug dog.. Muahahahahaha..

How'd you train her? I could have fun with this..

 

[redfeather]

Um... well... kinda on the fly... We had had steak that night, so I saved the bones, and the fat trimmings. I cut the fat trimmings up really tiny, and took her off away from the other dogs for some one-on-one time.

I took some paper cups, and a peppermint and a cammomile tea bag (the cammomile ended up confusing her, so I tossed it). I started by putting the tea bag and the treat in one hand, and waiting for her to "attack" that hand. Then I would open it and reward her. I also used the paper cups on the floor and had her sniff them, treat and tea bag in one, other scent in the other one. She would get the treat only if she found the reward. I can't remember EXACTLY how I did it, but I'm sure you could find lots of educational videos on youtube.

I eventually got her obsessed with that squeaky tennis ball by rewarding her for working (she actually LOVES to work, and is verrrry driven, so not all dogs may learn so fast or with the same methods). Then I stuck the tennis ball in a tuppaware container with the mint tea bags. Sometimes I would hide the sealed container, sometimes the scented ball, she always found it. Regardless, I always give her the ball when she finds the scent... Sorry I'm so confusing! It's hard to explain how I did this...

 

[Brindlebtch]

I trained one of my dogs to sniff narcotics. She was extremely toy driven, so it was very easy. I knew a county sherriff and he would put her toys in with various illegal narcotics in the evidence room, label them for me, and give them back to me after they were saturated with the smell. I had to keep the toys in a baggie so the odor would last. Played with her with the odor saturated toy, hid the toy, and she would work to find it. The sherriff later hid some drugs at the office and she found them no problem! Then I played with her and a toy. She loved it!

 

[redfeather]

That's pretty cool...

I wonder if they ever use smaller dogs (like my Nutmeg) in professional settings?