How Does a Police K-9 Sniff Out Drugs?
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Where's My Toy?
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When a police dog is searching for drugs, he is actually using his sense of smell to sniff out the hiding place of his favorite toy. Does this mean dogs like to play with drugs? No. Dogs have no interest in drugs; they do not eat drugs or particularly enjoy the smell of drugs. They do, however, love their favorite toys and are trained to associate the smell of drugs with their toy. And what is this wonderful toy that dog trainers use? Most often, it is simply a white towel.
The White Towel
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Police dogs are active, and one of their favorite action games is tug-of-war, and the best way to do this is to use a towel. Trainers begin by playing with the dog and a scent-less towel. Soon, marijuana is rolled up in the towel. The dog will eventually associate the scent with the towel. Soon the trainer moves on to hiding the towel, with the marijuana inside, and having the dog sniff it out. Once the dog finds it, he gets rewarded with another game of tug-of-war. As training continues, different drugs are placed in the towel until the dog can recognize them all and associate them with the towel.
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Alerting the Trainer
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When the dog has sniffed out his towel, he digs at it to retrieve it. This digging and pawing at something is called an aggressive alert. Some police dogs are allowed to do this when they find drugs. Other K-9 units are trained to simply sit down when they've found the drugs. This is called a passive alert.
Police dogs spend 24 hours a day with their handlers, who are usually police officers. In addition, they spend eight hours every other week in training, to keep their skills sharp. Dogs learn in part by routine and repetition, so ongoing training is vital in order to keep them at the top of their game.
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Resources
- Photo Credit http://people.howstuffworks.com/police-dog6.htm
