I’m not surprised that dogs are now being used to search for more and more esoteric substances. Food is always the bait, as any beagle owner will verify:
The training process is similar for almost all odors. For months, the dogs are given multiple items in succession to smell. When they come to the target odor — bedbugs or mold, for example — they get a reward. Eventually they associate the odor with the reward.
"All animals strive for food, sex and praise," Mr. Whitstine said. "We can’t give them the middle one, but we can give them the food and praise." The more odors a dog is being asked to pick out, the longer the training. Mold dogs, for example, are taught to detect about 18 toxic molds, some of which cause allergies.
Food, sex, praise: not a bad combo for managing humans either. There are downsides, of course. I love my beagles but if either one had to pick between me and a potato chip, the potato chip would win every time. And our youngest beagle-mutt, Eddy (behind Dusty in the photo), whom we rescued from the shelter, has been acting up lately. We house-trained her within a couple of weeks of getting her, but two weeks ago, she suddenly decided that she would relieve herself as a matter of course next to my desk. Maybe it was something I wrote. We used something called "Nature’s Miracle" to get rid of the smell but, like other beagles, Eddy was onto something, and we have been forced to crate her again, and to construct a little fence between the main living area and what my other half calls my "blog-cave." The scent draws her back. Or is it just beagleness?
The Dish 