Sure, you know that dogs have a much better sense of smell than humans, but do you know why? Here’s some trivia to impress your friends: when dogs breathe in through their nose, a flap separates the incoming air. Part of the air goes in for respiration, while the other part goes into the olfactory (smelling) sensors. Humans have just one section for all functions of the nose.
The special structure of a dog’s nose is one of the many advantages that our K9s bring to the table in their daily duties. Sniffing out targets is a complicated and serious business and, as you might expect, the scent of a substance travels with the direction of the wind. Factors such as wind velocity and air temperature can also have an impact on their efforts.
These photos show our wildlife officer K9s giving the final alert (a passive down) on fired shotgun shells. All three dogs are now able to indicate to their handler when they find items containing raw or burnt gunpowder. This will be a great help to wildlife officers in the field for collecting evidence.
Learn more about the ODNR Division of Wildlife’s K9s: http://ow.ly/PiUE30hdQww #ODWK9
