Scent Theory

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Scent Theory
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WHY DO WE CARE?

• Dogs see the world through their nose
• Scent is 3-dimensional to them
• Our job is to put them where they can best detect
  scent

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The Nose Knows
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Canine Olfactory System

• Olfactory Sensory Cell Estimates
• Man5 million
• Fox Terrier147 million
• German Shepherd220 million

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CONTRIBUTORS TO HUMAN SCENT COMPLEX
Adipose
Bacterial Action
MEOH H2SO4 Volatile Fatty Acids
K, Cl, Urea, Ca Mg, PO4, HOH
Human Scent
Sebaceous
Eccrine
Sebum, Squalene
Volatile Fatty Acids Amines
Respiratory Tract GI Tract
Apocrine
Other factors Genetic, Diet, Environment
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HUH?
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What is scent to a canine?

• Dying/dead skin cells laden with bacteria
  called rafts
  
• These rafts are shed from the skin as well as the
  respiratory and digestive tracks
  

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Skin Rafts

• Approximately
• 40,000 per minute!!!

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• If one gram of butyric acid was made to
  evaporate evenly in all the rooms of a ten story
  office building, a man would barely be able to
  perceive its existence by standing in one of the
  rooms. However, if the same gram of butyric acid
  was diluted to fill the air above the entire city
  of Hamburg, the dog could still perceive it at an
  altitude of 300 feet.
• William Syrotuck
• Scent and the Scenting Dog, pg. 13

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How is scent dispersed?

• The scent is heaviest at the source and dispersed
  away from the victim in a cone
  

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Influences on Scent Dispersal
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Environmental Influences
Make rubble
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Environmental Influences

• Temperature
• Wind strength and direction
• Humidity
• Sun

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Temperature

• Hot
• Cold
• The temperature of victim versus the temperature
  of the environment
  

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Wind

• Strength
• Direction

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Humidity

• High
• Low
• Rain

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Sun

• Clear
• Overcast
• Night

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Day-time Patterns
Night-time Flows
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Structural Influences
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Structural Influences

• Building architecture
• Elevator shafts
• Closed stairwells
• Windows
• Breached Floors/Walls

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Structural Influences

• Scent flows well in
• Broken rubble
• Light framing
• Brick

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Scent Flow and Detection

• The FEMA canine is trained to indicate the
  presence of a live victim by performing a focused
  bark alert at the point in the rubble where the
  strongest live human scent is emitted.

Bark, Bark
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DETECTIONVSLOCATION

• Dogs are SCENT detectors NOT victim locators!

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Scent Flow - Channeling

• Solid Slabs
• Large Chunks

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Scent Flow

• Solid Slabs
• Large Chunks

Bark bark!!!
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Scent Source Detection

• Be able to interpret your dogs alert
• Document
• Debrief
• Handler to STM
• Handler to Handler

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Scent Flow - Funneling
Bark Bark!!!
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Scent Flow - Pooling
Bark Bark !
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Typical Collapse Patterns

• Lean-To
• V
• Pancake
• Cantilever

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Lean-To
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V
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Pancake
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Cantilever
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Whats This?
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Use Your Scent Knowledge

• Identify scenting conditions
• Surveyors tape, Puff bottles/talc mirror scent
  pattern
  
• Interpret pattern of alerts
• Send canine from position which maximizes
  probability of detection
  

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Considerations

• Hazardous materials
• Live vs. Dead
• Number of Victims Found
• Distractions

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Questions?