What can sniffer dogs smell?

[marmaduke]

What drugs can they smell? Is it just marijuana? They can sniff out bombs too, and people, but what drugs, what drugs?

[Greedyfly]

They get trained to sniff out all drugs - my dog became a sniffer dog and he can spot anything.  Before he became a sniffer dog he found Heroin whilst out for a walk - hence why he does what he does now.

[ezapf]

Hmm. You seem very concerned.

[camille79]

I think they can be taught to sniff out anything.  I vaguely remember seeing a programme about the training which involved small amounts of drugs/explosives etc being hidden and then the dog being rewarded with treats when they found them.  The quantities got smaller and better hidden as time went on but the dog was taught that finding the drug/explosives/etc would result in a nice doggie treat. 

[marmaduke]

Yes I've since seen exactly how they do it on www.howstuffworks.com

[Marvin84]

Since a dog's olfactory sense is about 12 times that of a human... it is pretty safe to assume that they can be trained to sniff out pretty much anything...

[Laura-sakura]

I saw on Richard and Judy that they can sniff out cancer as well.

[Jamie Lewis]

Bit paranoid are we marmaduke

[country_boy]

Stash some aniseed balls here and there to keep the dog off the scent!!!

[doghandler]

I am a police dog handler and worked a drugs dog for many years, they are trained to find all known illegal drugs including the date rape drug rhohypnol (that might not be the correct spelling). We have dogs that can search buildings and vehicles and others that do people (in a line such as at an airport).

We have other dogs that can search for explosives and others that search for firearms.

You can try country boys advice with the aniseed but it does'nt work!

Dogs can identify different smells within a smell, unlike us, dogs see a mass of smells as we see a picture with lots of different images within it.

If you put down aniseed (suggested presumably because of its strong smell) the dog will smell aniseed AND whatever else is in the room. As the dog is trained to find drugs and not aniseed, it will simply ignore the aniseed and indicate the illegal substance.

Try the aniseed though - we like a challenge!!

[Marvin84]

doghandler - what about coffee? i've heard that coffeeis one of the only things that they can't smell thru? Had any instances?

[doghandler]

Never heard of that?

It is my opinion, that nothing can be used to hide a smell, because of the unique way that their nose works, identifiying different scents as opposed to a mixture.

This is certainly how it was explained to me and how I have come to believe it works, I've never heard any mention of anything that can block a smell, especially something as commoplace as coffee!

[Marvin84]

Interesting, I was probably told a porkie-pie... Thanks!

PS Dogs hate the smell of Vicks Vapour Rub - don't ask me how i know that!!!

[emma-darling]

can they smell drugs if they are in your mouth, vaginal or anal passage?