Sniffing Out the Plants: Dogs vs Humans

Dogs from all over the US are working as a team to get rid of an invasive weed in Missoula, Montana. The Working dogs for Conservation have taken over the job previously done by humans. Called Dyar’s Woad, the plant is hard for people to identify until it has bloomed and reproduced.

The dogs, Lily and Seamus, started sniffing out the weeds in 2011. Hundreds of plants were detected prior to blooming. This year resulted in the discovery of four plants.

An interesting study revealed some surprising data about the sense of smell in dogs and humans. Discover what happened to the weed and the comparison of how humans and dogs track down scents by reading the short article here.

https://www.popsci.com/dog-sniff-invasive-species

Ellen Airhart, Meet the very good dogs who hunt down invasive species 11-10-17