Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
It was a simple study at one level: no drugs or explosives planted anywhere. Instead, the
researchers placed little pieces of red construction paper and told the handlers that those
markers indicated either drugs or explosives. When handlers saw a red piece of paper falsely
marking a scent location, they were much more likely to say that their dogs had signaled
an alert. Conscious? Unconscious? Perhaps both. What was interesting was that the handlers
were more distracted by those misleading pieces of red paper than their dogs were by the Slim
Jims and tennis balls stashed in various corners. Lit and her colleagues recorded literally hun-
dreds of false alerts.
Lit's study was not a dog study; it was a human-nature-with-dogs-added study, and it
highlighted the need for a strengthened training regime. It also pointed to the problem of
expectations. If we go in expecting to find something, the chances are higher that we will. We
all have confirmation bias. How much better it is when we can get our dogs to confirm that
bias as well.
After reading Lit's study, I began incorporating more negative searches in my training with
Solo. The first few times I did it—searching an entire abandoned aviation building without
a single hide—Solo yowled in protest, trying to get at the tug toy in my pocket on the way
out. He was mad. Here he was, surrounded by sheriff K9s and guys in uniforms who love to
play tug. And no hides? My pocket got stained with resentful saliva on the way out, my thigh
a bit bruised. He didn't false alert. It was a start.
The next time, the negative search would have to be blind: I wouldn't know there weren't
hides out. Then double blind, where the person with me wouldn't know if there were hides
or not. At some point, I might graduate to the equivalent of pieces of red construction paper
and not react in a knee-jerk fashion. One step at a time. I did call home as we left the training
area. David put a cadaver hide out in the yard, so as Solo and I walked from the car to the
house, Solo's head flipped. He ran toward the scent. Look! Cadaver after all! Give me my toy
now. He was pleased. I was pleased that I hadn't needed to give a specific command for him
to find the hide. Mike Baker had told me at the beginning of training that Solo should be
prepared at any time to define the game without waiting for my specific command.
The study by Lisa Lit and her colleagues is not the only detection study that has shown
less-than-stellar results and pointed to the need for strengthened training regimes. Larry My-
ers of Auburn University did an extensive, not-yet-published study of twelve dog-and-hand-
ler teams who work full time at detection.
“It was a simple test,” Myers said in his straightforward way. “I was afraid it was going to
be too simple.” He randomly placed scent samples in brand-new pizza boxes. He stayed out
of the room where the boxes were placed so he wouldn't unconsciously cue the handlers. he
reliability of the dog-and-handler teams ranged from one team's dismal score of 30 percent
reliability to another handler who had 97 percent reliability. That highest score belonged to
