Dogs in the Service of Humans

Another specialty area is water search-and-rescue dogs. A drowning victim who is trapped underwater continues to release gases and scents. The smell travels upward to the water's surface, where the dog can detect them. The dog must be able to ride in a boat and alert his human teammates when he picks up a scent. .
             The city of Ghent, Belgium started the first successful police working dog program in 1899. Ever since then we have found it very useful to use dogs in law enforcement. There are many different types of law enforcement dogs. Many of the dogs ride with the officers every day to wherever they are going. They protect the officers and are able to perform certain tasks if need be.
             Other dogs are trained in specialty areas. Narcotics detection dogs are specially trained to "sniff out", or detect narcotic substances. These dogs are used for organizations like the U.S. Customs Service, and the U.S Border Patrol. The German Shepard is well suited for narcotics detection because of its intelligence, stamina, and ability to work with humans. These characteristics are more important than its keen sense of smell in this type of special role. Drug sniffing dogs are also used to help reduce student drug use and cut the availability of substances on public school campuses. .
             Dogs are also specially trained to detect many types of explosives. Some of these include: black powder, TNT, Flex-X, C-4 plastic, and a gel explosive. The dogs seek traces of specific vapors that are emitted by the solvents and chemical components in explosive devices. Explosive detector dogs, sometimes called bio-sensor dogs, must be extremely intelligent, patient, and should have a sense of smell 40 times better than a human's. German Shepards are good dogs for this type of work. It is far more beneficial to use dogs for this kind of work because it saves time, it is safer, and the dogs have over a 95% accuracy rate. (Law Enforcement Dogs, Emert, Phyllis Raybin) .