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Article: Scent school. (how dogs are trained to use their sense of smell to find illegal drugs and weapons)
- Article from:
- Jack & Jill
- Article date:
- March 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dogs are well known for their keen sense of smell. Some dogs now use that talent to help police officers search for hidden narcotics and weapons.
Bubba, a German shepherd, works with City Marshall Don Gray, of Ingram, Texas, on drug searches. Now two years old, Bubba was certified at age one, placing twenty-first in a national competition that year.
But how do dogs like Bubba learn which scent to sniff? They go to Gray's scent school!
Gray chooses dogs that are quick and eager learners. Then he teaches them to identify and locate scents. He says that Labrador retrievers learn the fastest, but he has also trained German shepherds and a Queensland heeler ...