Training dogs to detect invasive alien species in Japan: discrimination of reptile odor

The use of dogs for detecting invasive animal species has increased in Japan. Damage to endemic species by the Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis) is expanding in the Ogasawara Islands. We hypothesised that dogs trained to recognize the anole ’s odor would be useful in detection work. A healthy adult female German shepherd was trained to discriminate anole odors by using a cloth onto which we had transferred frozen body odor or frozen excrement/urine odor, along with an odorless cloth. After achieving 100% accuracy, she was trained to discriminate between body odor and excrement/urine odor of the same anole.
Source: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Source Type: research