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Detection Research

Field Demo at Kiesel Park

The Field Research Unit conducts research and development (R&D) in an effort to support canine detection technology. The Field Research Unit's R & D efforts are unique in that it assesses and quantifies the olfactory capabilities of dogs using the principles of operant conditioning. This research focuses on how interactions between an organism and its environment influences its behavior and affects its process of learning. The Field Research Unit is able to scientifically examine issues and challenges associated with the dog's ability to detect substances using its sense of olfaction.

The Ten Position Circle
The Field Research Unit of CDRI provides support to several federal agencies and private industries through its R & D efforts. The Field Research Unit is capable of addressing a wide range of practical issues and problems faced by detection dog agencies such as: the development of efficient odor discrimination training methods and procedures, assessment of response gradients and generalization issues, and examination of the durability and maintenance of odor discriminations.

 

The field research training area is located on Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine campus. Conducting canine field research in this controlled environment (fixed setting) allows us to conduct multiple training sessions with multiple dogs each day and collect a lot of data in a relatively short period of time. A portion of the field research is conducted in a fenced enclosure containing two separate training areas. Each training area consists of a circular training array, one containing twenty marked positions forming a 12.8m diameter circle, the other containing ten marked positions forming a 7.18m diameter circle. Each position within each circle consists of a cement cinder block. Several containers, which hold odors for the dogs to sample, are placed into the cinder blocks. Containers hold target odors, non-target odors, or can remain empty (blank). The dogs are trained to approach each block and sniff the top of the containers.
Dog approaching block
Figure 1.
 		 Dog beginning to sniff odor
Figure 2.
 
If target substance is present in a container, the dog is trained to alert (sit); if a non-target substance or blank is present in a container, the dog is trained to continue walking around the circle to the next position. This controlled operational procedure allows us to assess and examine a variety of issues, such as the durability of multiple odor discriminations, generalization issues, and training and deployment methods.
Dog sniffing block
Figure 3.
 		 Dog alerting to odor detected
Figure 4.
 
A few of our dogs are trained to search operationally, which allows us to take information learned within the controlled field settings and apply it toward operational search dogs. This enables us to investigate generalization effects or training methods in real-world scenarios, thus providing agencies with information that can be directly applied to operational dogs within their organization or agency. Alternate search sites are used when projects require the dog to perform more complex tasks in an operational environment. Several locations (including businesses, university property, open fields, parking lots, and residences) available around the Auburn/Opelika area provide more realistic search scenarios.