Going to the dogs

Dec. 6, 2004
Along with all the cutting-edge oil and gas technology being developed with the support of the US government areUall the cutting-edge canines.

Along with all the cutting-edge oil and gas technology being developed with the support of the US government areUall the cutting-edge canines.

Pooches have a sense of smell much more acute than that of humans—one report said "up to 10,000 times" more. But Duane Pickel, a dog trainer and former head of the Tallahassee (Fla.) Police Department, contends that the canine sense is "220 million times better" than human smell. With more than 200 million scent-receiving cells in each of their noses—compared with 5 million in a human nose—dogs on test have been able to detect 1 part/trillion of n-amyl acetate, a chemical that smells like bananas. A human can detect the substance only at 10-100 ppb.

The government uses dogs for Customs detection in airports, seaports, and border stations to screen aircraft, cargo, mail, ships, and baggage for such things as drugs, explosives, guns, illegal vegetation, shrink-wrapped currency, and stowaways.

Dogs can be trained to locate insects such as gypsy-moth larvae or termites and traces of flammable compounds used in arson.

They can determine when cows are in estrus for optimal breeding and can tell when humans have cancer cells in their urine or a skin melanoma.

Trained search and rescue dogs also are used to locate missing persons, fleeing criminals, drowning victims in less than 10 ft of water—cells float to the surface—and victims of earthquakes under piles of rubble.

The Department of Agriculture, Customs Service, and law-enforcement agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, Secret Service, and US Marshall's Service all use the K9 Corps, as does the US Postal Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Energy, and others.

Leak detection

Dogs have been used for more than 3 decades to discover gas leaks in pipe after someone got the idea to train them for the chore. In some of the early experiments an odorant that smelled like garbage was combined with natural gas in the pipelines, before the mercaptan odorant was added, and the dogs were trained to sniff it out. Those glorious mutts found pinhole-size gas leaks in pipe buried 8 ft under frozen clay, a feat the most sensitive instruments of the day were unable to accomplish.

In more recent years a Canadian firm trained Labrador retrievers to detect pipeline leaks and claimed to have had a find rate of 98% or better, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), which was attempting in 2000 to gather information on the possibility of using dogs in its waste minimization program. Scientists at Auburn University in Alabama at the time decided to evaluate the dogs' olfactory capabilities.

In tests the researchers found that dogs that were trained to find a scent similar to mercaptan could detect trace amounts of the odorant escaping through pinhole leaks even when it was diluted to 1 ppb. And in actual trials, three dogs worked for up to 16 hr/day in varied, difficult terrain, including rivers and swamps, according to the report. They were able to locate numerous leaks, many of which were so small they would not have been detected by normal methods. The dogs' ability to find leaks surpassed that of any field leak detection equipment available and was on par with the most sensitive laboratory instruments, the researchers reported.

The company, which RRC did not name, said dogs performed leak detection work for gas and oil pipelines, gas plants, gathering systems, and other industry underground pipeline operations in Canada and the US.

Effects on dogs

No report was given as to the effects on the dogs of working 16 hr/day or of sniffing natural gas, but the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) contends, "Too much exercise can be harmful to dogs." Dogs could suffer the same muscular problems, osteoarthritis, and ligament and tendon damage from overuse as athletes who overwork their muscles.

In addition, these dogs are expensive to acquire, breed, train, and keep. Other expenses include housing, food, refresher training, and veterinarian bills.