Photo: Kochia, SW Montana. Copyright 2020 Delena Norris-Tull
Dogs as detectors of noxious weeds
Dogs trained to detect various narcotics and explosives and to track humans have provided a valuable service on police forces and the military for hundreds of years. Hunters often rely on dogs to locate target animals. A number of studies have been conducted in recent years that confirm the reliability of using dogs as detectors, and to better understand the factors that enable dogs to be trained to successfully detect specific chemicals (Lorenzo, et al., 2003). Fischer-Tenhagen, et al., 2017, determined that dogs could be trained to reliably distinguish specific herbs, even when mixed with other herbs. And they examined the training intensity and time needed for 80% success rates. Unfortunately, very few such studies have been conducted, and in each study, due to the complexity and time needed for training, only a small number of dogs have been trained (in Fischer-Tenhagen, et al., 2017, five dogs were trained).
In 2005, as part of her master’s degree, Kim Goodwin, a graduate student and later a rangeland noxious weed project specialist with Montana State University’s Extension Service, studied the use of dogs for detection of noxious weeds. She conducted a study with three German shepherds trained to detect spotted knapweed. She determined that the dogs were more reliable detectors of spotted knapweed than were humans (Goodwin, et al., 2010). In particular, the dogs outperformed humans both with smaller plants (including emerging plants which are difficult for humans to find) and plants at greater distances. The dogs’ overall accuracy was 81%, and the dogs could detect plants greater than 26 feet away. Goodwin, et al., 2010, also examined the characteristics of dogs that would most likely be successful trainees.
Goodwin later had a Labrador and a border collie trained to detect Dyer’s woad. One of the dogs had served as a cadaver dog, working with law enforcement. Alice Whitelaw, with the Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation, a Montana non-profit organization, provided the dogs for this project. This was part of an Early Detection Rapid Response project, to locate noxious weeds that are established in small amounts, which makes them easy to remove but difficult to find. Locating small populations of noxious weeds is particularly challenging in the mountainous regions of western Montana. In one location, the two trained dogs were able to locate about 40 spots that humans had overlooked. The goal is to reduce the weed population before it can get out of control. Amber Burch, weed coordinator for Beaverhead County, Montana, and Monica Pokorny, Plant Materials Specialist for the USDA‐NRCS, stationed in Bozeman, both worked with Goodwin on this project (refer to https://www.montana.edu/news/4977/sniffing-out-invading-plants-is-how-this-dog-gets-a-treat).
References:
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Dogs as detectors of noxious weeds
Dogs trained to detect various narcotics and explosives and to track humans have provided a valuable service on police forces and the military for hundreds of years. Hunters often rely on dogs to locate target animals. A number of studies have been conducted in recent years that confirm the reliability of using dogs as detectors, and to better understand the factors that enable dogs to be trained to successfully detect specific chemicals (Lorenzo, et al., 2003). Fischer-Tenhagen, et al., 2017, determined that dogs could be trained to reliably distinguish specific herbs, even when mixed with other herbs. And they examined the training intensity and time needed for 80% success rates. Unfortunately, very few such studies have been conducted, and in each study, due to the complexity and time needed for training, only a small number of dogs have been trained (in Fischer-Tenhagen, et al., 2017, five dogs were trained).
In 2005, as part of her master’s degree, Kim Goodwin, a graduate student and later a rangeland noxious weed project specialist with Montana State University’s Extension Service, studied the use of dogs for detection of noxious weeds. She conducted a study with three German shepherds trained to detect spotted knapweed. She determined that the dogs were more reliable detectors of spotted knapweed than were humans (Goodwin, et al., 2010). In particular, the dogs outperformed humans both with smaller plants (including emerging plants which are difficult for humans to find) and plants at greater distances. The dogs’ overall accuracy was 81%, and the dogs could detect plants greater than 26 feet away. Goodwin, et al., 2010, also examined the characteristics of dogs that would most likely be successful trainees.
Goodwin later had a Labrador and a border collie trained to detect Dyer’s woad. One of the dogs had served as a cadaver dog, working with law enforcement. Alice Whitelaw, with the Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation, a Montana non-profit organization, provided the dogs for this project. This was part of an Early Detection Rapid Response project, to locate noxious weeds that are established in small amounts, which makes them easy to remove but difficult to find. Locating small populations of noxious weeds is particularly challenging in the mountainous regions of western Montana. In one location, the two trained dogs were able to locate about 40 spots that humans had overlooked. The goal is to reduce the weed population before it can get out of control. Amber Burch, weed coordinator for Beaverhead County, Montana, and Monica Pokorny, Plant Materials Specialist for the USDA‐NRCS, stationed in Bozeman, both worked with Goodwin on this project (refer to https://www.montana.edu/news/4977/sniffing-out-invading-plants-is-how-this-dog-gets-a-treat).
References:
- Goodwin, K.M., Engel, R.E., Weaver, D.K. (April, 2010). Trained dogs outperform human surveyors in the detection of rare spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe). Invasive Plant Science & Management, 3(2): 113-121. DOI: 10.1614/IPSM-D-09-00025.1
- Fischer-Tenhagen, C., Johnen, D., Heuwieser, W., Becker, R., Schallschmidt, K., & Nehls, I. (2017). Odor Perception by Dogs: Evaluating Two Training Approaches for Odor Learning of Sniffer Dogs. Chemical Senses, 42: 435–441. doi:10.1093/chemse/bjx020
- Lorenzo, N., Wan., T., Harper, R.J., Hsu, Y., Chow, M., Rose, S., & Furton, K.G. (2003). Laboratory and field experiments used to identify Canis lupus var. familiaris active odor signature chemicals from drugs, explosives, and humans. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 376: 1212–1224. DOI 10.1007/s00216-003-2018-7
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