I was approached by one group of individuals who wanted to train dogs to detect cell phones but didn't know how to go about getting a useful training scent to teach the dogs what they were looking for. With ovarian cancer, there's not much great testing for early detection. At first blush, to those of us outside of the penal system, cell phones do not seem like any kind of threat. Market data provided by Factset. TrainThatPooch.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. We did try one golden retriever, but we had to fail him out. Oh, geeall kinds of ways, Thomas Moran, the New Jersey D.O.C. You could also work at school and want to make sure your students are safe. WebNow dogs are being deployed in prisons to help curb one of the most serious problems confronting corrections officials: smuggled cell phones. They start out by smelling the pure chemical in a jar so they can really master the scent. Once the search begins, the dog is taken from room to room. SEABROOK: Major Anderson, I understand you took the dogs into the prison recently and what happened? Theres a private contractor in California that trains dogs for cell-phone work, but they charge twenty-one thousand dollars for three dogs. The Washington Post states that multiple studies have found that drug-dogs have high error rates. Even though many law enforcement agencies require dog-handler teams to keep up with their training and recertificationCBP field teams train for 16 hours every month and must recertify every yearsome experts feel the evaluation process needs work. Here is an example involving the control of criminal behavior. They are trained to identify illegal odours including: cocaine HCL, crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis/marijuana, Ecstasy, methamphetamines, amphetamines, ketamine, MDMA and other commonly abused drugs. 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That way, they continue to stay motivated to find it. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. His life changed dramatically for the better. Fresh or Rotten Meat 1.4 4. "What if it's marijuana and cocaine?" There are many reasons you may consider getting drug-sniffing dogs. Then when they find it, we give them the towel as a reward. And dogs are. We don't know what the dogs are smelling, but the trainers are training the dogs on the scent of hypoglycemia and also hyperglycemia. According to dog trainers and handlers, it is not the scent location problem that causes some dogs to flunk out of the program, but rather aspects of the prison environment itself. All rights reserved. What is wind chill, and how does it affect your body? The basic, pervasive cell-phone smell that built up in the closed box was powerfula sweetish, metallic, ozoney, weird robotic reek. New AI may pass the famed Turing test. On the top tier of cells youre looking down through a floor grating four or five stories. Everybody has a cell phone, so it's important a lot of times to find these devices if they are hidden or discarded. Actually, there are three or four of these dogs working in a hospital in Vancouver who are sniffing out C. diff, which is one of those superbugs that can easily spread in vulnerable populations in hospitals and manifests in diarrhea and all kinds of issues that can actually kill people. Narrator: In 2015, an electronic-sniffing dog found a hidden thumb drive at Jared Fogle's house. I have trained dogs ranging from standard poodles to golden retrievers to border collies and now the passion of my life is working with aggressive dogs with behavioral issues in order to help them be more confident, calm and easygoing dogs who are well-behaved in their own homes. SEABROOK: And let me just say we're in a room of a house and you've spread around the room a DVD player, a couple of televisions, an old electronic typewriter, a bunch of electronic devices, and I gather there's a cell phone hidden in one of them. A lot of times with phones and drugs you use the dogs to find out where the contraband has recently been; since they knew you were coming they transferred it somewhere else very fast. These dogs can find anything with digital storage by training them to recognize the scent of TPPO, a chemical that coats memory chips to protect The dogs are somehow able to put it together and tell the person 15 or maybe 20 minutes before the person's devices even say, 'Hey, you're going into the low range!' How to be your dog's best friend: a training manual for dog owners? In Florida a prisoner used a cell phone to threaten and intimidate witnesses that were to be called to his trial. They save lives. It made me wonder if people would really carry such rank smelling objects as cell phones in their pockets if our human noses or anywhere as nearly sensitive as the dogs. WebCommonly employed by police and military forces and as search and rescue dogs, this breed is well known for his keen sense of smell. Inside that vent, we discovered there was a miniature camera. WebA well trained cell phone detection canine team is a pragmatic method to address the influx of cell phone smuggling attempts into correctional facilities and locating hidden cell Since we started with our first three dogs, in October of 2008, weve found a hundred and thirty-three cell phones, a hundred and twenty-eight chargers, and Im not sure how many earpieces, batteries, and other items. Altogether 1219 experimental searching tests were conducted. And when they do find the cell phoneor the cell-phone charger, the earpiece, the battery, or any other related object that somehow picked up cell-phone scent (recently a cell-phone-sniffing dog, though not trained to search for narcotics, found some narcotics that had evidently been stored next to a cell phone)the dogs react with a panting, whining, scratching happiness greater than any human happiness by a factor similar to that by which a dogs sense of smell is said to be better than ours. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, A journey of the senses through Abu Dhabi, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Mr. PETER ANDERSON (Major, Canine Commander): Absolutely. The problem with retraining dogs to stop indicating when they've scented marijuana is that drug loads can be mixed, said Jason Landrum, a training supervisor at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Canine Center in El Paso, Texas. Selma and the other dogs in training aren't just looking for cell phones. Tears of joy. There are many reasons you may consider getting drug-sniffing dogs. And if they're paired with a person, they bond with that person to tell them something that will save their life. A ruling last month by the U.S. Supreme Courtwhich struck down the use of drug detection dogs to gather evidence around a person's home without a warrantcompared the canines and their keen sense of smell to a "specialized device" like high-powered binoculars or heat-detection technology. Razor's name is a riff on the name of the popular Motorola cell phone, the RAZR, but she isn't the only state with a cell-phone dog detective. Can you show us how they do this? The dogs can do this because cell phones have a smell. Sometimes these dogs may be using their nose. His marriage is really good now. Itll help you find the trail. The law went into effect Oct. 1. He's the commissioner of the Maryland Department of Correction. The dogs also do room searches. It's difficult to find dog-handler teams willing to participate in a scientific study because, "unfortunately, the data that we collect can be used against the people we're trying to help," she said. They have their heads up and are naturally checking the air. Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. It turns out that cell phones smell. I heard about these dogs at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Working Dog Center that are able to smell ovarian cancer. It's amazing. So, I drove up to Hagerstown, Maryland to actually meet one of them. We're not even talking tumors here. In Texas, a death-row inmate used a smuggled cell phone to make death threats against a state senator. The scent of other dogs, when they pee or shit theyre leaving the equivalent of I was here messages for other dogs. Copyright 2020 by Train That Pooch. he said. You find cell phones and bits and pieces, but they are constantly on the move. Maryland's three dogs have since found 23 cell phones, said Maryland prison spokesman Mark Vernarelli. Criminals with cell phones continue to run their gangs even while locked up. Get caught with a phone now, and an inmate faces up to five more years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. You need to keep it as a game. The dog cant work in the prison environment. Legal Statement. Golden retrievers will work, too. He was on a cocktail of drugs. Police dogs can be trained to sniff out electronics like cell phones, thumb drives, computers, and memory cards. These dogs can find anything with Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, 3 ways Jimmy Carter changed the world for the better, The meaning of the cross of ashes on Ash Wednesday, This disease often goes under-diagnosedunless youre white, The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. One of the most recent problems problem that dogs have been called out to deal with involves cell phones. His name is Taz and he's one impressive dog. They hide it in light fixtures, in ceilings, in pipe chases," said Kevin Dean, who oversees the Department of Corrections' K-9 units. But in the meantime we have to do other things. Sometimes we wont find a phone, but it will validate a suspicion that someone has been trafficking and we need to keep an eye on him or her. They can find anything with digital storage, such as cell phones, thumb drives, computers, and memory cards. '. Curators are realizing that returning looted artifacts isnt closing museumsits opening new doors. Others can't deal with the noise. WebAfter conducting research on the use of cell-phone-sniffing dogs in the prisons of Virginia and England, Marylands K-9 unit commander began a regional search for appropriate canine candidates. And yet, even though military and law enforcement agencies around the world have used canines to sniff out drugs and other contraband for decades, scientific evidence has pointed to a range in their reliability and accuracy. Now all he has to do is just have his hand on Lloyd's head. Captain Matthew Kyle: We dont want to publicate what the cell-phone smell is exactly. Humans have six million olfactory receptors and dogs have up to 300 million. Theres dogs wont walk on that. And if you crush up a lithium battery, thats dangerous; if a dog slobbers on it, it can become volatile. Staying Single: What Most People Do If They Divorce After 50. Where do you find the dogs, and how do you select them? If you train your dog on circuit boards, they might just find things that are allowed in the prison, like mp3 players or radios. Save my name & email in this browser for the next And it's real important to keep contraband out of our institutions, because they're the source of strife and problems between inmates. Handlers with the USDA begin at a pay grade of GS-12 (salary range of $60,274 to $78,355). We get them from private donations. We're constantly posting new great articles like this one. Inside a prison, cell phones defeat some of the purpose of incarceration. How to Manage Your Dogs Grooming Anxiety: Helpful Tips and Tricks, A Concise List of Emotional Support Dog Requirements, Are Doodles Hard to Train? Powerful Distracting Smells 1.3 3. Understanding Dogs for Dummies, Sleep Thieves, The Left-hander Syndrome, Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission. WebK-9 Program has successfully completed its pilot phase, training two cell-phone-sniffing dogs at the Pendleton Correctional Facility and Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Why wetlands are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost? Knowing that youre behind us means so much. It takes work to train and retrain detection dogs to be the best they can be. Maybe a dog dont like the slippery floors in the cellblock, or the noise, or the food odors. Halligan hides devices in cars and then sets them on fire. The dogs are moved from one prison to another to make very effective sweeps for the target contraband high tech communication equipment using only the low tech-but extremely sensitive-nasal equipment that evolution and careful breeding has provided them with. And the boy and Lloyd like to have their own table at restaurants! The dog found the electronics desk and everyone thought, Oh well the dog is just trained to find electronics. But then there was a hole in the wall, with a second workshop, where the inmate was fixing cell phones. You could be a police officer looking to increase security. We look for a dog thats environmentally sound. Researchers have found that where these dogs work, the rates of C. diff really diminish. So we get a rolled up towel or a doll or a dummy and make it smell like the thing we want them to detect. "Detection is a physiological phenomenon," Cablk said. There are people from the military, war veterans and active duty soldiers even who are suffering from PTSD and who have gotten service dogs who, again, have been game changers. They do an okay job, but they mainly search the ground. Another area in which dogs excel in the clinical world is for patients with diabetes. 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Are so critical for life on Earth, Rest in compost help you need from a therapist near FREE. Dog owners intimidate witnesses that were to be your dog 's best friend: a training manual for owners.