In the wake of the July 7 bombings in London, bomb sniffing dogs are being used as part of a stepped-up secrurity campaign in London subways. Standard discrimination training techniques derived from the work of B.F. Skinner and others are used to teach the dogs to detect odors emitted by explosives. These same techniques have been used with success to teach dogs to detect drugs, survivors in collapsed buildings, and landmines. Work is being done to determine if dogs and rats can be trained to detect the chemical signatures of illnesses such as tuberculosis and cancer. (BBC News)

Related links:

• Clicker trained rats sniff out land mines and tuberculosis in Africa (Behavior News)
• Dogs mistakenly trained using talcum powder instead of cocaine (Behavior News)
• Clicker training used to teach cancer-sniffing dogs.(Behavior News)
• Auburn University Canine and Detection Research Institute (CDRI)