Expert Perspectives on the Performance of Explosive Detection Canines: Performance Degrading Factors

Farr, Brian D.; Otto, Cynthia M.; Szymczak, Julia E.

doi:10.3390/ani11071978

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…A recent study of 17 experienced explosive detection canine practitioners in the law enforcement, military, federal, and private sectors highlighted the following traits as being associated with success: “hunt drive” (motivation, a high level of energy, focus, and the ability to ignore or recover quickly from distractions), stamina to continue working, and the ability to generalize odors (e.g. identify explosives that are similar but not identical to those used in training) 33 . At the same time, behavioral tests, descriptive vocabulary, and other aspects of explosives dog selection are inconsistent between working dog organizations 34 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome scanning of behavioral selection in a canine olfactory detection breeding cohort

Eyre

Zapata

Hare

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Research on working dogs is growing rapidly due to increasing global demand. Here we report genome scanning of the risk of puppies being eliminated for behavioral reasons prior to entering the training phase of the US Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) canine olfactory detection breeding and training program through 2013. Elimination of dogs for behavioral rather than medical reasons was based on evaluations at three, six, nine and twelve months after birth. Throughout that period, the fostered dogs underwent standardized behavioral tests at TSA facilities, and, for a subset of tests, dogs were tested in four different environments. Using methods developed for family studies, we performed a case-control genome wide association study (GWAS) of elimination due to behavioral observation and testing results in a cohort of 528 Labrador Retrievers (2002–2013). We accounted for relatedness by including the pedigree as a covariate and maximized power by including individuals with phenotype, but not genotype, data (approximately half of this cohort). We determined genome wide significance based on Bonferroni adjustment of two quasi-likelihood score tests optimized for either small or nearly-fully penetrant effect sizes. Six loci were significant and five suggestive, with approximately equal numbers of loci for the two tests and frequencies of loci with single versus multiple mapped markers. Several loci implicate a single gene, including CHD2, NRG3 and PDE1A which have strong relevance to behavior in humans and other species. We briefly discuss how expanded studies of canine breeding programs could advance understanding of learning and performance in the mammalian life course. Although human interactions and other environmental conditions will remain critical, our findings suggest genomic breeding selection could help improve working dog populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome scanning of behavioral selection in a canine olfactory detection breeding cohort

Eyre

Zapata

Hare

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Dogs lacking the physical fitness required for their tasks risk diminishing their ability to perform them or becoming injured while performing them. Compared to pet dogs, fitness is of even greater importance for working dogs as insufficient fitness may result in failing a task and subsequent injury to their human (and animal) teammates or another human (1)(2)(3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional measurement of canine muscular fitness: refinement and reliability of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center Sprint Test

Farr,

Gabrysiak,

Traylor

et al. 2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Working, sporting, and companion dogs require muscular fitness to perform their daily tasks, competitive activities, and operational functions effectively and with a low risk of injury. There are currently no methods to measure the muscular fitness of dogs who are not debilitated. Sprint performance is highly correlated with muscular fitness in humans, and various sprint assessments are used to measure performance for sporting and tactical athletes. The Penn Vet Working Dog Center Sprint Test (ST) is a 25 m maximal effort sprint from a down position and was developed to be a low-cost measure of muscular fitness suitable for field use. The purpose of this project was to describe the refinements to the ST, detail the performance and measurement protocol, evaluate the measurement inter-rater and intra-rater reliability, characterize the acceleration profile, and explore the inter-day reliability. Both naïve and experienced raters demonstrated excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. The acceleration profile of the dogs in this study was similar to that of average adult human sprinters and demonstrated the role of muscular fitness in performance over this short distance. Finally, a small group of dogs showed moderate inter-day reliability and provided initial performance data to inform future studies. The ST appears to be a reliable measure of canine muscular fitness and could be used to assess performance in healthy dogs and guide the return to sport or work of debilitated dogs.

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Expert Perspectives on the Performance of Explosive Detection Canines: Performance Degrading Factors

Cited by 2 publications

References 34 publications

Genome scanning of behavioral selection in a canine olfactory detection breeding cohort

Genome scanning of behavioral selection in a canine olfactory detection breeding cohort

Functional measurement of canine muscular fitness: refinement and reliability of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center Sprint Test

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