They can be big, they can be small, they can be safe, they can be dangerous. Today we're talking about dogs and more specifically their ability to smell. I'm Mimi Fots and this is Hello from the Van. Alright, alright, alright. Dogs can do a lot of different jobs. When I say working dog, what comes to mind? You might think of a dog that works at a train station or an airport or a police dog. You might think of a guide dog or a diabetic dog. There are a lot of different jobs that dogs can have. And almost every single one of these dog jobs comes down to a very special ability smell. Dogs have between 1,000 to 10,000 times the smelling capabilities of humans. This depends on size and breed and capabilities. This is mainly due to the part of their brain that's responsible for processing smells. This part of their brain is 40 times larger than the same part in human brains. This means that dogs simply can't smell things that we cannot. This makes them a valuable asset in detecting things that humans need detecting, but simply cannot detect. It's not just what they smell, it's how they smell it that matters. According to a 2021 study, quote, during sniffing, the inhaled air in the dog's nostrils separates into two distinct physical pathways. The upper flow path takes approximately 12 to 13% of each breath. It goes straight to the olfactory region where odor molecules are deposited and accumulated, preventing them from being exhaled. Basically, when a dog breathes, some of the air goes straight to its brain. The scent molecules then stay there, and those molecules aren't immediately exhaled. They stay in the brain and are processed. This allows the dog to create data points and associate those molecules with different things. It's not just, oh, I smell another animal, it's I smell another animal. Mmm, it's an opossum. Ah, I can tell from my data points that this possum has babies and they're on the move. Dog's brains have pathways that our brains simply do not. If you've ever taken a dog on a walk and wondered why the dog must stop and smell just about every tree along the way, it's because a dog smells to gather information. It's the same way you and I Google things. They smell things. While you might be bothered by your dog constantly stopping to smell things, just know that it's the same as you going to work. Your dog is checking its P male. Stopping your dog from sniffing is like someone taking you to the park and then saying you're not allowed to look around. You must only look straight ahead. It's inherently stopping you from gathering information about your surroundings. Smell is how dogs communicate. It's how they see the world, and it's important to them. But with this super sniffer, what can dogs be trained for? The list is expansive and ever growing. Here's some things that dogs can find bed bugs, useful for hotels. Cancer, money. Think about like large amounts of money being carried by passengers in airports that need to be declared by customs. Dogs can find that. Endangered animal species, explosives, firearms, gourmet truffles. This is a type of fungus, think like a mushroom almost. Dogs are really good at finding those. Humans. Dogs are real good at finding humans. Invasive species, ivory, minerals, mobile phones, mold, plants, animals, produce, agriculture, SIM cards for cell phones, termites, diabetes, cardiac problems, USB drives. Dogs are incredibly helpful, especially in cases of wildlife and conservation efforts. Let me give you a little example. In the early aughts, so around the early 2000s, the state of Montana was fighting an invasive species of plant called napweed. This plant was destroying crops and soil. The University of Montana started the world's first spotted napweed canine detection program, and those dogs were able to sniff out napweed rosettes in a field with a 98% success rate. They found napweed in fields where humans didn't even know it existed. Being able to detect and find nap weed in these fields was huge for the state of Montana and saved them millions of dollars. All of these different things that can be found or searched with the nose are considered the work of detection dogs, dogs that use their nose to perform their task. And under this umbrella of scent work dogs are what are called medical alert dogs. They can do things like detect allergens in the air or in foods. There are dogs that can detect things like gluten in even baked food, even trace amounts. In that same vein, we also have diabetic dogs. These dogs help alert their handlers to changes in blood sugar, either too high or too low. There are seizure alert dogs. These are dogs that smell a difference in the chemicals that are being emitted from their handler's skin and body, and then alert the human to a coming seizure. There are cardiac alert dogs, who, according to Donna Arnett, PhD, and also the past president of the American Heart Association, quote, alert dogs can help to predict the onset of a physiological event, such as hypoglycemia, primarily through their keen sense of smell. It is believed that the dogs are alerting to VOCs, volatile organic compounds that the dog detects in the sweat or in the breath. The dogs may pick up on very subtle postural cues in their human that serve as an alert marker. Cardiac alert dogs can also be trained to alert emergency medical personnel, retrieve medications, and even retrieve a drink for their handlers. But we're not done yet because dog noses are so powerful, they can also be used to help with search and rescue efforts. Search and rescue dogs, this can technically be a part of detection and scent work, but it's a more advanced level of dog work. You see, search and rescue dogs work under very different conditions than, say, an airport dog or a cardiac alert dog. This is due to the fact that they work in much larger areas. Take, for example, avalanche dogs. These dogs work with ski patrol to help find skiers after avalanches and then help dig them out. Basically, these dogs are working under huge conditions in rather large kind of stressful situations and do their job incredibly. Dogs are amazing, and humans have figured out how to use their special abilities to help us when we need. Now, speaking of these special abilities, you may see working dogs when you are out and about. It's important to give them space, especially because there are two different types of working dogs, and it's important for parents and kids to know the difference. Not all working dogs are the same. See, there's two important categories, and one category is legally protected in the United States, while the other is not. There are service animals. Service animals are protected by U.S. federal ADA law. ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act. And it's an act that gives those with disabilities access to areas where they should be allowed, naturally. But working dogs are included in this act as they are an extension of their handler. Now here's the deal. Under ADA law, only dogs and in some very, very rare cases, miniature horses are covered under service animal law. The second category of working animal are assistance animals. In this category, they are not legally protected by ADA law, and it can be anything like it could be a dog, a cat, a bird, a pig. These animals are normally not as well trained, usually provide mental health support, and are commonly called emotional support animals. Again, they are not protected under US federal law. There's a big difference between a service dog and an emotional support dog. Service dogs are allowed in places like grocery stores, restaurants, airplanes, etc. Well, emotional support dogs can be legally denied entry to these places. But how do you tell if a dog is a service dog or an emotional support dog? Some people will say, well, does your dog have papers? This is not a thing. There is no standardized legal paperwork that is required for service dogs. There is also no such thing as a service dog registry or certification. If you see an ad that pops up online that says certify or register your service dog, that is not a thing. It is not legally required and it's just a way to take your money. You see, due to the many jobs that a dog can be trained to do, there's no standardized training, courses, paperwork, or legal requirements beyond just a few. And we're gonna cover those. Also, service dogs are not required to wear service dog vests. If you are thinking that a dog with a vest makes it official because it says service dog, it does not. Those vests are available on Amazon. Anyone can buy them. In fact, a lot of people with untrained dogs will buy those vests in order to skirt federal law and give some legitimacy to an untrained dog. So, yes, legally, what does a service dog have that an emotional support dog does not have? The answer is training. Lots and lots of training. Dogs that have jobs have um, well, they have things that they're required to do. They must be under control by their handler at all times. They have to have complete control of their bowels, meaning that they do not poop or pee indoors or when they are not allowed to. They also must be safe and controlled around humans, children, including babies, animals, and other dogs. Under ADA law, even a trained service dog can be denied entry into a legally protected space if that dog demonstrates that it is unsafe for other patrons. Think barking, lunging, growling, or if the dog cannot control its bodily functions. Legally, an establishment is only allowed to ask two questions of a handler. One, is this animal required because of a diff's ability? And two, what work or tasks has the animal been trained to perform? You can ask, hey, uh, you need this dog? Cool. Uh, what's your dog's job? What's it do? And that's about it. I have recently run into a lot of untrained dogs lately. One woman we ran into at a store had two small Pomeranians in her shopping cart. And when we walked by, my children minding their own business, the dogs lunged at my children. These are not trained dogs, and they definitely were not performing a task. Also, even if they were performing a task, their lunging makes them unfit for legal protection. And then last week, I was in a store where a man walked in with his dog with a service vest on, looking quite official. The dog was well behaved. However, it promptly defecated all over the floor when it got to the clothing aisle. Again, not trained enough to be legally protected as a service animal. In short, while registration and certification are not required by law, there are still standards for behavior that must be met. To round out this episode, here are some fun but random dog facts. Dogs are banned in Antarctica and have been since 1994. This is due to a disease that dogs can carry called canine distemper. This disease can affect the respiratory tract of seals and other wildlife, so they have effectively been banned from Antarctica. Australian shepherds are not actually from Australia. They're from America. A dog's noseprint is similar to a human fingerprint in that all dogs have a very unique and distinct noseprint that is different from all other dogs. Remember our episode on yawns being contagious? Well, a human yawn is contagious across species. Studies have shown that a human yawn can trigger yawning in dogs that witness the human yawning. The country with the most pet dogs is the United States, coming in at over 75 million pet dogs across the US. While some dogs may be taller or heavier, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, a mastiff named Zorba was the world's overall largest dog ever and was described as being the size of a small donkey. Zorba weighed 343 pounds and measured over 8 feet from nose to tail. Oh, and smallest dog name was Miracle Millie. She was a chihuahua. She's born in 2011 and was a minuscule 3.8 inches tall and weighed one pound. And with that, I'm Mimi Fotz, and this has been Hello from the Van