What makes the most Advanced Mobile Detection System in the world work?
Without getting too technical there is a difference between Air-Scenting vs. Ground and Object-Scenting for mobile detection dogs. As I like to say, “the nose knows.” Let me provide a quick overview:
Air-scenting involves sampling odor molecules in the air, as opposed to on the ground or from objects, where the dog searches for the target odor by sampling the air currents in order to identify and work an odor to its source. An advantage of air-scenting is the ability to cover more ground in a shorter amount of time and allows a dog to locate some static targets more efficiently and directly by using air currents instead of following a path.
There is a continuum between air-scenting and ground-object-scenting as all odors are generally airborne. The difference is in the degree to which a dog attends to open airspace vs. its tendency to attend to and interrogate the ground or objects for target odors. All dogs are capable of air-scenting and can be further fostered through training. Breeds that naturally exhibit air-scenting are often selected for such tasks. Not all dogs are created equal, and our Kinetic Detection Dogs exhibit behavioral characteristics associated with dogs bred and trained for person-worn or concealed-carried tasks, air-scenting ability assessed at an early age can be predictive of dogs’ future placement into a specific detection dog discipline.
Click to learn more about Kinetic Detection Dogs! What are they? What do they do?
If you missed Part 1 yesterday, have a read here: KEDD & EFC Tech Innovation on Campus & stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow.
