Gun sniffing dogs, yes, seems there are some
The post about gun confiscation made me wonder if dogs can find guns and ammunition, only looked one place and it seems yes and are some specifically trained to do so. [:(]
Gun-sniffing dogs are trained to alert and signal to their handler they have sensed a gun, much in the same way a bomb or drug-sniffing dog will let their handler know. You have likely seen on TV or elsewhere how dogs react to finding an item they are asked to search for, which gives you a little bit of an idea how a dog is able to let someone know they have sensed the target object.
Many times on TV and in movies, we see the dog barking viciously at the intended target. Although some dogs may bark a bit, they are generally not trained to bark when they find the object, like a gun in this case. Rather, a dog is trained in two main ways to alert their handler - a passive way and an aggressive way.
https://wagwalking.com/sense/can-dogs-sense-guns
An example of man corrupting mans best friend.
Can dogs be "thrown" off the scent or the scent masked?
Gun-sniffing dogs are trained to alert and signal to their handler they have sensed a gun, much in the same way a bomb or drug-sniffing dog will let their handler know. You have likely seen on TV or elsewhere how dogs react to finding an item they are asked to search for, which gives you a little bit of an idea how a dog is able to let someone know they have sensed the target object.
Many times on TV and in movies, we see the dog barking viciously at the intended target. Although some dogs may bark a bit, they are generally not trained to bark when they find the object, like a gun in this case. Rather, a dog is trained in two main ways to alert their handler - a passive way and an aggressive way.
https://wagwalking.com/sense/can-dogs-sense-guns
An example of man corrupting mans best friend.
Can dogs be "thrown" off the scent or the scent masked?
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Just my opinion - and not based on any specific scientific training I have . . . .
"Guns" don't have a scent.
Chemicals used on and with guns do have a scent.
Dogs don't know what any particular scent means to humans. They do know what food and ummmm . . . "other dogs" smell like and they may or may not be interested in those scents.
Humans train dogs to identify a particular scent and then let the human know about that. I suppose you could train a dog to smell chocolate pie while you are training it to associate the smell of chocolate pie with . . . I don't know Nike tennis shoes. When the dog smells chocolate pie, it alerts the human that there are Nike tennis shoes in the area.
The difficult part in the whole process will be to teach the dog what "guns" smell like. Of course, that is based on what the human thinks a gun should smell like.
Anybody know what Hoppes Number 9 smells like? Again, in my opinion, when you smell Hoppes Number 9, you think of "gun". Remember when there was an air freshener that smelled like Hoppes Number 9? [;)]
Another example would be mothballs. Whenever I smell mothballs, I think of my Supply Room in the Army. I am not in my Supply Room, but I identify the smell - and the location (my collection room) with my Supply Room. I am not smelling (locating) my Supply Room. I just smell the mothballs and think of my Supply Room because that is what I associate the smell with.0 -
How quickly we forget the narcos packaging their drugs in coffee...
So the dogs could not sniff out anything else - as coffee and grounds are overpowering on the scent spectrum.
One of the things I used to train my warehouse workers - forklift drivers to do was to be on the lookout for the remnants or the smell of coffee...
As unscrupulous otr drivers would place coffee grounds or instant coffee in their trailers to cover up other strong scents like fish or detergent powder - instead of properly cleaning the trailer or swapping trailers for a fresh one.
This is not a new trick or game.
And why be bothered by gun sniffing or powder sniffing dogs???
I don't want my right to bare arms infringed - but if they can keep a gum off of a plane or stop blacks from slaughtering each other in Chicago or find pipe bombs good for them and good for us.
BTW I traveled a bunch for work and learned that I would set off sniffers (canine or electronic) because shooting left powder residue in my skin or on my clothes.
I have a letter from the TSA showing that I am an instructor and range officer and such - to avoid problems.
I was on a connecting flight in Dallas that got stopped and we had to deplane - swat and feds and Leo's everywhere - reverse screening...
Seems a state police bomb disposal tech had dumped out a bag used for training / on the job and took it on the plane as luggage for travel - and it set off baggage monitors / alerted on explosive residues...
Mike0 -
Heck, I bet a dog can smell Hoppes No 9 a mile away. Just gotta train it to react. 0 -
They use dogs in the parking lot at Disney to locate guns in the parking lot I don't know what scent they hit on but there is a few every year that gets fired for having a gun in their car 0 -
I have a German Shepard, has never liked loud noise hides during thunder storms and knows guns make loud noise it scares him
no BS If i get a gun even in a case out or have one in the room he will leave the room as I come in or anyone with a gun . I know he sees them , but
it also seems the smell maybe, the oil , cleaner or maybe trace gunpowder residue ? he picks up on, and knows there is a gun close by every time I have to coax him back in to assure him no shooting will be taking place [:0]0 -
I think they smell the gunpowder. We all know that there are microscopic fatigue crack'in barrels. I think the gunpowder smell gets in these microscopic cracks and can't be cleaned out.
As far as what I think about canines that can smell out Firearms, I think it's a great idea as long as it's not a used against innocent peoplein the future to take away a person's gun rights. They would be great for police officers in a drug bust or some other raid where somebody might have a gun hid that can shoot them0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrmike08075
How quickly we forget the narcos packaging their drugs in coffee...
So the dogs could not sniff out anything else - as coffee and grounds are overpowering on the scent spectrum.
One of the things I used to train my warehouse workers - forklift drivers to do was to be on the lookout for the remnants or the smell of coffee...
As unscrupulous otr drivers would place coffee grounds or instant coffee in their trailers to cover up other strong scents like fish or detergent powder - instead of properly cleaning the trailer or swapping trailers for a fresh one.
This is not a new trick or game.
And why be bothered by gun sniffing or powder sniffing dogs???
I don't want my right to bare arms infringed - but if they can keep a gum off of a plane or stop blacks from slaughtering each other in Chicago or find pipe bombs good for them and good for us.
BTW I traveled a bunch for work and learned that I would set off sniffers (canine or electronic) because shooting left powder residue in my skin or on my clothes.
I have a letter from the TSA showing that I am an instructor and range officer and such - to avoid problems.
I was on a connecting flight in Dallas that got stopped and we had to deplane - swat and feds and Leo's everywhere - reverse screening...
Seems a state police bomb disposal tech had dumped out a bag used for training / on the job and took it on the plane as luggage for travel - and it set off baggage monitors / alerted on explosive residues...
Mike
I've always wondered if the coffee grounds thing actually worked. I've seen a trained dog sniff out a bucket of water that had a couple grains of salt added to it.0 -
We had a gun/ammo sniffing dog, Limbo
He had more hunting trophies than I will ever have
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Dogs "see" scents like we see colors...
A much more rich and comprehensive ability.
But coffee is so strong and overpowering that it is the smuggling and criminal method of choice.
Mike0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrmike08075
Dogs "see" scents like we see colors...
A much more rich and comprehensive ability.
But coffee is so strong and overpowering that it is the smuggling and criminal method of choice.
Mike
Sort of like a fat chick in neon spandex?0 -
My ex wife had a gun sniffing shepherd back in the 1990's.
Yes, it could find guns whether they were fired or NIB (Remember, just about every gun ever sold was test fired at some point). We trained on that for a long time, and the dog was good at it.
The dog's sense of smell is so far beyond ours it's incomprehensible to us.
No, the coffee grounds, gasoline, red pepper and other masking agents don't work very well at all.
The dog was intended to go to scenes where a gun was thrown during a chase or some type of gun-related crime where a gun wasn't located. We split up in 1995, so I don't have any stats or anything to supply regarding the dog and its use.0 -
I first learned about scent masking as a boy scout (okay a weblos)
My troop visited and volunteered McGuire AFB (we helped do restoration work on shoo shoo baby and worked as test dummies dressed in padded armor trying to evade guard dogs in training / Alsatian pure breds)
We pretended to be sappers and trespassers and smugglers and escaped prisoners and they alerted on us and chased us and brought us down and chewed on us
Great civic duty for kids
Mike0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrmike08075
I first learned about scent masking as a boy scout (okay a weblos)
My troop visited and volunteered McGuire AFB (we helped do restoration work on shoo shoo baby and worked as test dummies dressed in padded armor trying to evade guard dogs in training / Alsatian pure breds)
We pretended to be sappers and trespassers and smugglers and escaped prisoners and they alerted on us and chased us and brought us down and chewed on us
Great civic duty for kids
Mike Isn't this one of those Non Sequitur things??0 -
Good information to know. I guess I should stop scratching my butt with my gun barrel. [;)] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by mnrivrat48
Good information to know. I guess I should stop scratching my butt with my gun barrel. [;)]
On the contrary. You should do it more often so that you can throw off the dogs.0 -
You can train dogs on my different scents. Pest control companies have turned to using dogs for termite detection. If it's got a scent, and is safe for the dogs to search for it you can train them to alert on it. It's just a game to them, they want their reward. 0 -
I'm not sure if the dog alerted on the "gun" but I was "sniffed out" several years ago. A friend(ish) is a deputy who handles the county's "sniffer dog" and I stopped in to visit with him over some business we had in common. The dog came to me and sat down so I figured she'd ratted me out but I waited for "John's" reaction. After discussing our business, he casually asked if I was carrying and I confirmed I was. I commented about the dog alerting and he responded that most folks wouldn't have noticed but yes, she'd picked up something.
We went on to talk about the specifics of how the dog acted. He told me she was new on the job and he was still learning about her capabilities. My pistol hadn't been fired for a while, hadn't been cleaned for at least a month, and was about as inert as a hammer so I have no idea how the dog detected it.
The only other thing that might have caught the dog's attention was the fact that I had several hundred dollar bills in my wallet. I guess we should have checked those bills for residue but I didn't think about that until days later.0
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