Sniffing Dogs and Their Training

Do you ever speculate how dogs find criminals in a passenger ship? It's simple: by sniffing. They are called detection or sniffer dogs. Trained to spot people and substances, through their senses, such as explosives, illegal drugs and blood; almost always the sense of smell, which is two thousand times much stronger, and fifty times more sensitive than that of a human's. In addition to sensitivity, a dog's sense of smell is picky.
It can discern a specific scent; meaning it can distinguish cheese in a fish and vegetable market a thousand miles away from where it is standing. Hunting dogs that search for game and search dogs that search for missing humans are in general not considered dogs. However, there is some mystification with cadaver dogs, only taught to spot human remains.
As to not make a fuss, they are trained to learn two types of alerting: the passive and the aggressive. Drug dogs are more aggressively alert, which means they will do what it takes to got to the place where the drugs are. On the other hand, there are several cases where this form of alert would be bad news. Placed in a situation where bombs are included, scratching can be very devastating. In these instances, a passive alert is used.
A good example for this kind are the beagles used by the Department of Agriculture where the dogs are trained to sniff out fruits and vegetables that are not allowed to come into the country. The Beagle Brigade, as how they are called, sniffs people's suitcases while they remain in lines at airports and border crossings. In other countries, several are also are used in emergency search actions. Because no one desires a dog digging in their things, the USDA beagles have been taught to basically sit down when they are able to smell it.
Trainers have come up with a strategy for dogs employed to sniff out drugs. In peculiar instances, they seem to eat them when they have found the prohibited substance. Is it because they are addicted to those drugs themselves? In fact, the dogs have definitely no interest in drugs. What they are essentially looking for is their much loved toy. In an article found in discovery.com, the "toys" that are mostly often used are white towels. Since dogs like to play this spirited game of tug-of-war, they have generated the "White Towel Game" idea.
To begin the training, the handler only plays with the dog using a towel, which has been washed carefully to seem null and with no scent for the trainee. In a while, a bag of marijuana, for instance, is rolled up within the towel.
After playing for a while, the dog starts to recognize the scent of the drug as the smell of his favorite toy. The handler then hides the towel, with the drug, in a variety of places. Whenever the dog sniffs out the drugs, he digs and scratches, trying to acquire his toy. He soon comes to realize that if he sniffs out the smell of drugs, when he finds them, he'll be rewarded with a game of tug-of-war.
As training continues, different drugs are positioned in the towel, until the dog is able to sniff out a host of prohibited substances. The same system is used for bomb-detection dogs, except for a choice of chemicals used to manufacture explosives are placed in the towel instead of drugs.