- A DOG'S SENSE OF SMELL IS 10,000 TO 100,000 TIMES BETTER THAN A HUMANS
Why Dogs
Our conservation detection dogs are agile, portable, and endlessly trainable. They are an efficient, highly sensitive, and non-invasive way to gather high-quality data.
HOW DO THEY DO IT?
Humans have approximately 5 million scent receptors in our noses; dogs can have upwards of 220 million, which is why they can detect a single teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water. Where we experience the world visually, dogs perceive a detailed scentscape.
Dogs' noses are designed so that they can smell continuously (not just on the inhale, as we do). They can determine which nostril an odor arrived in first, which helps them locate a scent in space. They even have an additional olfactory organ—and dedicated processing center in the brain—devoted just to scenting pheromones.
WHAT CAN THEY DO?
A better question would be: what can’t dogs do? Their extraordinary abilities help us collect more and better data in the field, and their potential to find conservation targets is seemingly endless.
OUR DOGS CAN:
- Detect plants, animals, and scat that people simply can't.
- Find targets up to 40 times faster than is possible with other methods.
- Give results instantly, with near-perfect accuracy.
- Search for multiple targets simultaneously with no reduction in efficacy.
For years scientists have been trying to develop an instrument that is as sensitive as a dog’s nose. We wish them luck. In the meantime, we’ll stick with our pack.
