We all know that dogs have an excellent sense of smell. We see them utilizing it day after day, whether it’s sniffing around on a walk or meeting someone new. Dogs are capable of finding just about anything with that sensitive nose. It makes sense we use them for so many incredible things like drug and weapons detection and search and rescue.
But what about some less conventional things that dogs’ noses are used to detect? Here’s a quirky list of some impressive things that they can sniff out!
Bed Bugs – Ew! Have you ever seen those nasty things?! Hopefully not…but if you do, you can call on some dogs! Exterminator companies have started training dogs to detect bed bugs so they can start getting those little creatures out of your house for good! This is especially important when you’re looking to buy or rent a new home – dogs will let you know beforehand whether there are some extra tenants that need to be removed.
Underwater Remains – Yes, that does mean human remains. Most of us are aware that dogs are trained for both live find search and rescue and cadaver finds. We’d always rather have them save someone, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. When things get ugly, sometimes bodies are underwater. But our dogs have the amazing ability to find them no matter where they may be. SAR groups will take their trained dogs on boats over bodies of water, and believe it or not, the dogs will indicate above water where the remains are hiding below.
High Blood Sugar – Thinking of Diabetes? You’re spot on. Dogs are able to detect, using that nose, when blood sugar levels in the body of humans are becoming dangerously high. This is especially helpful for children with Diabetes who don’t always have a parent around to help monitor, like at school. These dogs can be used as service dogs to help keep their owners safe and healthy.
Cancer – It has been discovered that cancer cells actually have a distinct smell of their own. This has incredible benefits to us, and dogs have been trained to alert on the strong smells of certain lung and breasts cancers. These unique scents often flow up through the patient’s breath, and the dogs are able to indicate.
Whale Poop – Yes. You read that right. Dogs have been trained to detect whale poop. Riding on boats much like their SAR partners, these special dogs assist scientists and marine biologists on locating whale feces. Scientists analyze animal feces for a variety of reasons, but whale poop is harder to obtain as it doesn’t stay floating for long. Dogs, however, are reported to be able to locate a sample over a mile away.
Electronics — Only a handful of dogs have been trained to sniff out things like hard drives, memory cards, and flash drives, but they’re able to help find evidence to convict cyber criminals and child predators.
