This book unites cutting-edge research related to various aspects of dog olfaction. It includes rich expertise about detection dogs with application perspectives, and expands beyond. In four clearly arranged sections, readers will discover specialist contributions on: the fundamentals of olfaction, anatomy, comparative olfactory neuroscience and dysfunction methodological reflections on canine olfactometry and essential implications for practice, comprising dog selection for scent detection, handler bias and signal detection concepts the connection with dog behavior, cognition, welfare, and learning and training methods diverse application examples of dog olfactory capabilities, such as disease detection for diagnostics, infectious disease surveillance, forensics and ecological conservation The unique and exciting link between science and practice makes this book a valuable read not only for researchers, but also for practicing veterinarians and professionals in the fields of canine detection, chemical sensing, working dog behavior and welfare.

The value of the canine nose is well-documented, and working dogs are being utilized for their olfactory skills in an increasing number of fields. Not only are dogs used by police, security, and the military, but they are also now used in forensic science, in medical detection of disease, in calculating population trends of endangered species and e

Detection canines have been utilized throughout the world for over a century, and while numerous attempts have been made to replicate the canine’s ability to detect substances by mechanical means, none has been as successful. The olfactory system is a highly intricate and sophisticated design for chemical sensing, and the olfactory capacity of many animals, including canines, is considered unmatched by machine due to not only their great sensitivity and superior selectivity but also their trainability and mobility. These unique features have led to the use of such animals as "whole-animal" biosensors. Amplifying the benefits and diminishing the limitations of detection canines' interdisciplinary research is crucial to understanding canine olfaction and detection and enhancing this powerful and complex detector. The past 50 years have produced vast advancements in animal behavior/training technology to develop canines into more proficient and reliable sensors, while scientific research has provided tremendous support to help practitioners better understand how to utilize this powerful sensor. This book assembles a diverse group of authors with expertise in a variety of fields relating to detection canines and the chemical sensing industry, including both research and operational perspectives on detection canines. It illustrates how science enhances our understanding of how canines are employed for solving some of the world’s leading detection challenges.

Comprehensive Overview of Advances in OlfactionThe common belief is that human smell perception is much reduced compared with other mammals, so that whatever abilities are uncovered and investigated in animal research would have little significance for humans. However, new evidence from a variety of sources indicates this traditional view is likely

As an unabashed dog lover, Alexandra Horowitz is naturally curious about what her dog thinks and what she knows. As a cognitive scientist she is intent on understanding the minds of animals who cannot say what they know or feel. This is a fresh look at the world of dogs -- from the dog's point of view. The book introduces the reader to the science of the dog -- their perceptual and cognitive Abilities -- and uses that introduction to draw a picture of what it might be like to bea dog. It answers questions no other dog book can -- such as: What is a dog's sense of time? Does she miss me? Want friends? Know when she's been bad? Horowitz's journey, and the insights she uncovered from studying her own dog, Pumpernickel, allowed her to understand her dog better, and appreciate her more through that understanding. The reader will be able to do the same with their own dog. This is not another dog training book. Instead, Inside of a Dogwill allow dog owners to look at their pets' behaviour in a different, and revealing light, enabling them to understand their dogs and enjoy their relationship even more.

Alexandra Horowitz’s runaway bestseller Inside of a Dog began a movement among dog owners to not just quietly accept and enjoy the presence of the pooch at their sides, but to wonder at that dog, and let him show us how he sees the world, and what he knows. What the dog sees and knows comes mostly through his nose, and the information that every dog has about the world based on smell is unthinkably rich. It is rich in a way we humans once knew something about, once even acted on, but have since neglected. By smelling, tapping into this sensory resource that we have but that we largely ignore, the dog has become an informant. To a dog, there is no such thing as ‘fresh air.’ Every gulp of air is full of information. In Being a Dog, Horowitz, a research scientist in the field of dog cognition, explores what the nose knows as never done before by taking an imaginative leap into what it is like to be a dog. Under the tutelage of her family dogs, Finnegan and Upton, Horowitz sets off on a quest to make sense of scents, combining a personal journey of smelling with a tour through the cutting edge and improbable science behind the olfactory abilities of the dog. From revealing the spectacular biology of the dog nose, to following a tracking dog being put through his paces and trying herself to become a better smeller, Horowitz covers the topic of noses – both canine and human – from surprising, novel, and always fascinating angles. As we come to understand how rich, complex, and exciting the world around us appears to the canine nose, Horowitz changes our perspective on dogs forever. Readers will finish this book feeling that they have glimpsed or sensed or smelled into the fourth dimension, literally breaking free of their human constraints and understanding smell as never before; that they have, for however fleetingly, been a dog.