[ShippingandDelivery] Drug sniffing dogs & training: How sensitive are the dogs to "narcotics"?

I was recently in an airport for the holidays and happened to be in a line that had a drug-sniffing dog run past us.

I am around (and usually covered in) cannabis all day most days, whether tending to or trimming it, and when I was taking this flight I hadn't had time to wash clothes beforehand, so all of the clothes in my bag were utterly contaminated with cannabis plant residue (so much so that when I got off the plane and my buddy picked me up, he could smell it and thought I had brought bud with me on the flight!).

The dog ran right past everyone else without a second sniff, but ducked his snout in right in front of my bag, but then went right back to his trot running down the line of passengers without alerting its human counterpart. I don't recall what brand of dog it was, but it came in a small form factor!

This begs the question... how sensitive are drug sniffing dogs to the actual substances they're sniffing for? I can only assume the dog was smart enough to actually know there wasn't enough quantity of dope to bother alerting. Are dogs trained this way, or was this dog an anomaly, and is this information useful at all in determining how to more efficiently ship packages? - ie. it's helpful if I don't need to bother changing clothes and taking a shower before I can properly prepare a package for mailing...


Comments


[19 Points] k9atemybuds:

It was most likley a bomb dog trained to sniff bomb making chemicals and residue. They don't cross train so it will be on one duty or another. To answer your other question their sense of smell is amazing.


[18 Points] None:

[deleted]


[6 Points] tedsosby:

This might have been an anomaly. Drug dogs are very, very good at what they do. They smell scents by peeling through the layers; there have been cases where the drugs (cannabis or otherwise) have been hidden under layers of vapor rub, coffee, and ground pepper and they have still been able to sniff it out. Whereas humans can only really smell the strongest odor emanating from a source, the drug dogs can sift through all the individual layers and then alert the owner for a controlled substance.

I would take that situation with a heavy grain of salt: with each case of a drug dog failing to detect, there are plenty more where they have busted the owner, despite several failsafes.


[5 Points] sharpshooter789:

Dogs have to be instructed to search for something. Moreover, that dog probably a bomb sniffing dog.


[3 Points] iScarfLarf:

Some drug dogs are not that good at their job. Others are extremely good.

I've done the same thing, walking past a police k9 with weed in my cargo pants pocket right be the dog's face. Ol' dog face did not notice anything out of the ordinary.


[2 Points] rappercake:

They don't usually have drug dogs at the airport, they're mainly there for bombs and shit like that. Your biggest worry at the airport should be the TSA/people element, not the dogs sniffing you out.


[1 Points] c21h23n05:

Bomb dog....


[1 Points] 0xb44d:

drug dogs are only trained to sniff out one substance - be it explosives, cocaine, pot or any other drug

in interacting with people they are used in a similar way lie detectors are - to gague your emotional reaction to being sniffed out. most people give off visual cues that they are nervous and the cops pick up on this. At a festival I saw one dog pull aside people who had X, coke, LSD and GBH - which is fucking impossible

It is a nice way to get around providing probable cause for a search, since a dog suggesting a substance can be used. The police can just make up whatever the dog's hint is since only they know what it is (there is no legal oversight for dogs providing probable cause, they can't sign their name so they aren't exactly filing out affidavits)


[1 Points] dell_arness2:

Probably was a bomb or produce dog.


[1 Points] mindfulmu:

Yeah, also they are the perfect prop for a "random search"
Kinda a douche cop move but if they want to search you they'll go past you and do a little move where the dog will "indicate" then if you call them on it they'll hit you with "did you go to "dog handling academy?". The move is a little jerk of the leash so they sit or a little tap on the jaw or something.
That being said each dog is trained for a different group. Explosives, Cash, drugs and now the most fearsome all the "media sniffing dog" this fucker smells hard drives and flash drives and cds. Dogs are cool, dog handlers are douches of the maximum caliber.


[1 Points] DinglebellRock:

Studies have proven that only about 1/3rd of trained drug sniffing dogs can actually identify drugs. The other dogs simply respond to handler cues.


[1 Points] Vendor_BBMC:

How sensitive?

About 17 or 18 units


[1 Points] None:

They use beagles in some air ports for detecting banned agricultural imports.


[1 Points] None:

I got arrested with prescription drugs, after dog alerted to weed. Weed was smoked day before next to the same suit case as pills.


[1 Points] RubxCuban:

Most every dog in an airport is trained to sniff out bombs, not drugs.


[1 Points] None:

Dogs are truly amazing and a perfect example how mankind has had an impact on evolution and an even more amazing example on how mankind has driven natural selection and developed the perfect breeds. Their sense of smell is amazing, I couldn't think of any other words but that. My dogs (who aren't even trained) can smell weed on my hands and on me after I smoke, so I'm sure ones that are trailed could smell it real good and know exactly what's up.

Now, I know a trick on how to fool dogs but I'm not sure if I should post it here since an A+ vendor on Agora told me how. But yes, there are ways to fool the dog(s) senses.


[1 Points] throwahooawayyfoe:

Drug sniffing dogs are very sensitive. They're trained for example to alert to the odor from the presence of fresh cannabis plant material, but to ignore odor from the residue of smoked material. In your case, the dog did exactly what he was trained to do. He smelled the smoke and resin on all your clothes but ignored it and kept going because he knew that wasn't what he was supposed to be alerting at. That being said, seeing as you were getting on the plane and not off, it may very well have been specifically a bomb dog, not a narcotics dog.