manner — by examining their scat. We pioneered ways 

 to measure hormones in feces that indicate reproductive 

 health, as well as emotional and nutritional stress. We also 

 developed methods for confirming the species, sex, and 

 individual identity of the animals based on DNA in the 

 scat. Over time we've refined our techniques, and now, 

 from scat alone, we can acquire a fairly comprehensive 

 picture of the distribution, health, and well-being of many 

 species without even having to see the animals. But how 

 best to find the scat? 



While attending a talk, in 1997, on the use of hounds for 

 hunting, I was struck by the idea that detection dogs might 

 provide a solution. I approached Sergeant Barbara Daven- 

 port, the lead narcotics-dog trainer at the Washington State 

 Department of Corrections, for help developing a method 

 to train dogs to find grizzly-bear scat. She readily agreed, 

 and before long my team of biologists was training along- 

 side police officers and prison guards who were learning 

 to handle drug-sniffing dogs. Soon thereafter, Davenport 

 and I had developed methods that would form the basis of 

 the CCB's training program for scat-detection dogs. 



Selecting the right dogs is critical. They must have an 

 extraordinarily strong love of toys, ignoring all distrac- 

 tions — cats, other dogs, wild animals, even food — -just to play 



fetch. As with Frehley, 

 we rescue most of our 

 dogs from the pound, 

 where they often wind 

 up thanks to their ob- 

 sessive personalities. 

 We commonly screen 

 more than 250 dogs 

 just to find one with 

 the right qualifications. 

 That's the lucky dog 

 that gets the dream job: 

 tromping through the 

 woods, sniffing poop, 

 and playing ball. 



A new dog quickly 

 learns that it gets the 

 coveted ball whenever 

 it detects scat from the 

 correct species. Next, 

 I it learns to sit by the 

 I scat, as a visual cue for 

 E its handlers. Finally, 

 it masters finding scat 

 h i dden outdoors. 

 Properly trained dogs, 

 working with human 

 handlers, can detect 



Gator, an Australian cattle dog, leaps scat trom as & r as one " 

 for his favorite toy, a reward for third of a mile away, 



finding a scat. and can simultaneously 



detect scats from several target species while ignoring scats 

 from all nontarget species. The handler must keep the dog 

 in view as they move through the environment and must 

 recognize the dog's split-second behavior change when 

 it first detects a target scent: excited by the prospect of a 

 ball, the dog shifts direction and speeds up, wagging its 

 tail (if it has one). Those behaviors evaporate if the dog 

 loses the scent. The handler must quickly assess why — a 

 shift in the wind, an obstacle — and help the dog find the 

 scent again. 



When a dog and handler work well as a team, they can 

 find a great many scats from numerous individuals of one 

 or more target species, distributed over huge areas. The 

 samples provide a rapid snapshot of the animals' numbers, 

 density, habitat and dietary preferences, ranging patterns, 

 physiological health, and more. All of that information can 

 be correlated with environmental disturbances. 



Unlike inanimate sampling devices, scat-detection dogs 

 learn and improve over time, and they can cover an area 

 more thoroughly. They also have far less collection bias. 

 Stationary devices typically use lures, which can alter animal 

 movement or selectively draw animals based on gender or 

 dominance rank. Dogs, on the other hand, locate scat where 

 the animals left it naturally. Compared with radio track- 

 ing devices, the dogs provide data on a broader spectrum 

 of individuals at a fraction of the cost — and without the 

 disturbance of capturing and immobilizing wild animals. 



IN 1999, MY PROGRAM BEGAN its first major study 

 using scat-detection dogs, which served as a trial of our 

 methods. We examined the effects of human land use on 

 grizzlies and black bears in a 2,000-square-mile area of 

 the Yellowhead Ecosystem in western Alberta. Canada. 



50 



natural history October 2008 



