Temperature and Scent affects Working Dogs

Earth Cycles and Scenting

Temperature and Scent

working a pup

Mantrailing dogs and other scenting dogs do best during certain times of the day due to weather conditions and natural earth cycles. These factors are present in every training exercise and on every actual search incident.

With practice these natural influences can be used to your dog’s advantage or disadvantage depending on the following aspects that are related to how the wind, rain and air temperature transports the scent your dog follows.

The Science of Scent is quite complex and for easier understanding I’m going to stay away from the scientific side of scent and discuss, in layman terms, how scent is affected by the weather. This can be a confusing but interesting topic.

To begin with, Earth cycles influence the air temperature of day and night, the speed of the wind and how rain storms are formed, which in turn, affect the scent particles your dog will follow.

Air temperature affects the work of a search dog in more ways than only the dog’s performance when it is to hot or cold outside. We all know the heat of the day can make us feel less active or and more active. The hotter the temperature the less we want to work. The same is true of our dogs.

Day and Night Temperatures

Wrinkledpups daisy

The earth breaths in a regular cycle each day as the sun heats the day beginning with a cool crisp morning then warms to high temperatures in midafternoon and decreases to cool again at dusk.

This earth cycle is extremely important to a serious mantrailing dog handler or scenting dog because as the earth cycle repeats day after day, the scent particles and surfaces all around us dry up and loose the freshness of dawn heating throughout the day then cooling to re-moisten and expand overnight.

Throughout the increasing heat of the day, water and moisture in the scent particles evaporate. The surfaces and the scent become dry. Similar to how a surface will become dry in the sunshine so does the scent particles on the surface of everything around us.

Moisture and scent particles are absorbed by surfaces and objects during this drying out period of the day then later released or replenished with moisture when the sun begins to go down and the day cools off.

This means during certain times of the day, the particles of scent will be more difficult to detect due to the loss of moisture in everything. Scent particles are still there but shrunk in a sense and can be detected under certain circumstances.

This aspect is naturally adjusted in the dog by increased panting and the production of more saliva and a wetter nose.

This is why search dogs and tracking dogs should be kept hydrated at all times and well watered in order to produce a wet nose. Always carry water and wet your dog’s nose for better scenting ability in hot dry weather.

Mild temperatures will affect the dog’s nose less but more with distance. For instance, when a dog begins to dehydrate after tracking for several miles the nose will dry up and scenting ability begins to drop.

At this point a dog may lose the scent, go off track or stop trailing or tracking the trail or scent not because the trail has disappeared but because their nose is dry.

As the Earth breathes in this natural cycle every day, and scent dries up, the particles are absorbed inward on surfaces. When the temperature cools, the scent particles are released.

This is why wild animals are not as likely to hunt or seek food during the heat of the day; they lay and wait for the cooling cycle to begin in the late afternoon.  When the day starts to cool off moisture is released from the earth and all surfaces expand releasing scent particles giving them help in the hunt.

As the day temperature cool and night falls, you can feel the moisture come out of forest and grasslands, and see it in gardens and lawns as dew in the morning.

The ground outside actually inhales all day in one long breath then exhales overnight in oxygen. Just like we and our dogs breaths so does Mother Earth.

Trees and plants absorb the air around us during the day and release oxygen at night replenishing the earth as part of the earth’s cycle. Scent particles are in the air, trees and plants.

The day’s temperature plays a role in how quickly the scent particles will be released or if they stay dry making them move more easily on the wind. The surface comes into play when the surface changes from grass, dirt, pavement or a table top.

Each surface will absorb or reflect different amounts of scent particles and other microscopic particles, such as bacteria, dust and other contaminates. As the day turns to night and continues to cool more and more surface particles are moistened, expanded and released as the pores everywhere open giving wild animals trails to follow and hunt.

Overnight the earth is refreshed as moisture inhaled during the day is exhaled and condensed again into night dew and fog holding scent particles. This is the best time to work a scenting dog.

Winter temperatures slow the day heat cycle until the moisture in the air reaches the freezing point at which time the scent particles become frozen in place and dogs are able to detect the person’s trail because as the dog breathes on the frozen scent pool and moves through the trail the ice thaws out under the dog releasing scent for the dog to smell.

I use this natural earth cycle to my advantage when working dogs by starting sessions or lost person trails as the day starts to cool off.

If the heat of the day is going to be over 85f degrees it’s best to Wait to work a scenting dog until the afternoon begins to cool, usually between 3 and 4 pm.

I’ll work a Bloodhound all night with lights, taking a rest break every 2 hours for 20 minutes on long trails or difficult incidents.  I stop working the dog on very warm days when the day begins to warm in the morning (10-11am) then wait, rest, sleep until afternoon (3-4pm) when the day starts to cool. We start all over searching again until we finish and make the find.

 If we work all night then we’ll sleep and rest in the heat of the day.

Incredible Sue

There were many days Bloodhound, Sue and I worked in extreme heat of 105f plus, she never lost a scent or trail even on the hottest driest days.  She taught me about wetting the dog’s nose.  She would always find a water source, usually off the trail and out of sight, like a hidden stream or small creek in the brush.

All of a sudden she would turn off the path we would be working and jump into the brush where a creek or spring would be. There she would stick her whole nose and muzzle deep in the water and blow bubbles. She’d pull her head out of the water, shake, splash a little on her belly with her front paws then go back to work on the path we were on.

Bloodhounds love to wet the nose. All of my Bloodhounds would put their whole muzzle into the water up to eyes, nose, lips and all then they blow bubbles. It’s great fun to watch in a lake when the dog goes under water walking on the bottom, ear floating and nose blowing bubbles. They can go quite a long way under water this way.

Sue taught me to always keep your scenting dog’s nose wet on the trail by watering your dog often or wetting your hand then patting the dog's nose with the wet hand. A hot dog will not and should not drink very much water until they cool off or they can colic.

I only give a hot dog a few drinks of water from the palm of my hand until they cool down and are not panting hard. If I have extra water I’ll put handfuls of water under the dog’s front legs and on the stomach to cool them off quicker. Behind the ears and inside the hind legs are other good cooling spots.

I'll be posting soon and about how the wind affects scent on the trail.

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Weather and Scent

Now that I have covered the basic scenting dog lessons that show you how your family dog can learn how to find you or a loved one,  it would be helpful for you to learn how the weather affects the scent your dog will be following.

Learning how climate changes affect scent will lead to you reading your dog better which makes this an easier task for both you and your dog.

Tracking, trailing and air scenting all have one common factor that must be taken into consideration at the beginning and during each attempt to locate a missing person.

The weather affects everything on Earth. Especially the way scent is dispersed and scattered by the wind, heated and cooled by day or night temperatures or diluted and spread by rain and storms.

Your dog has a natural ability to understand climate changes and how they affect the scent the dog is following or they would not be able to hunt. Your dog will follow the scent as the weather manipulates and disperses it to settle in places that only a dog can find.

Scent can settle and move through cracks in rocks, under doorways, through overhead vents and auto filter systems or be sucked up and inhaled by the Earth herself during the natural cycle of the day.

In order for us humans to read our dog’s actions that relay what the dog understands about the scent work they are performing we must learn about how the weather affects the scent or our dog knows more then we do.

Once you understand how the weather affects scent then you can use the weather to your advantage when tracking and help your dog to be able to work quicker and smoother in locating a lost person.

This knowledge saves valuable time when people’s lives are in danger.

Here's one of my posts that will teach you a few of the fundamentals of how scent behaves. First will be a discussion about how the Earth takes a breath every day just like we breathe so does the world we live on.

The effects of the wind and scent, then temperature changes, followed by rain and scent; concluding with how different storm situations will affect the trail you and your dog are on.

When you are out with your dog notice how your dog behaves when the weather changes or in different weather conditions and take these actions into consideration while you are training.

Many times when a dog appears to have made a mistake in training we do not take into account how outside influences might affect performance.

Take time to look around and feel the wind, the air temperature and ask yourself; is it humid out? Or which way is the wind blowing from?

Then notice how your dog works in this weather, take notes and if you work in every type of weather as a good search dog should, after a few weeks, the notes will show you different things your dog did at different points along the search.

You will learn how to read your dog in different weather conditions and see in your notes that your dog did indicate or change how they worked when the weather changed.

From there on, when you are working in that weather you will know what to look for in your dog’s behavior and Congratulations, you are reading your dog!

What is a Family Disaster Dog?

What is a Family Disaster Dog? 

A family disaster dog is your family pet of any age, breed or size that learns how to help you and your family in the event of a missing loved one, a natural disaster or other emergency.

This type of training for dogs has not been done before and this is the only web site of its kind that teaches you how to train your pet to be your own search and rescue dog. Please pass this valuable information onto friends and loved ones.

After the earthquake hit Japan, I realized what a great asset our family dogs could be if they were to learn a few search dog skills. 

Having trained quite a few volunteer fire fighters with their pets in person while I was active with my Bloodhounds I know these skills can be learned very easily by anybody at home after they are given some instructions. 

As a writer, I decided to write the book, Family Disaster Dogs then I realized the book would take time and I wanted to reach more people worldwide with these lessons so everybody has a chance to teach their dogs to rescue them. 

At the same time, I feel that these lessons are priceless.
I can't put a price on saving peoples lives and the credit should go to the dog not me.

For those reasons, this site was born to offer on-site free lessons to the world over that instruct dog owners how they can use their family pet in times of distress.

When we think back over history we can see how dogs have helped people since the beginning of time and there is no reason why your dog can't learn a few simple skills to help you today.

Your family dog does not have to graduate from a full course to be able to help you, they don't need to be young or learn a whole set of skills to be able to come to your aid but every skill you learn together might save your life.

The best part is that most of these lessons I posted here come naturally to our dogs, just watch the old television show called "Lassie"  and you will see what I mean.

All you need to learn is how to ask your dog to help, how to follow your dog and how to pack your dog with emergency supplies in what is called a go-bag or bug-out bag.

The amazing benefits are that your family disaster dog can help rescuers by saving time because your dog is on location at the time of the incident.

Professional Search dogs have to be called-in to service and often arrive from out of the area because there are very few available dogs.

Waiting for rescuers and outside help takes time but your dog is there already, by your side, tail wagging and ready to help.

Additionally with this training, at least one family member is trained in the basic SAR techniques with the family dog so they can help their own family and friends while awaiting outside response.

Another benefit of having your dog trained to help you in an emergency is that if your neighborhood is cut off from outside help (which happens) then you can help your own loved ones and neighbors.

Just think, if all the neighbors have dogs then you can form your own search and rescue team just like a neighborhood watch group.

This site can help you in all areas of setting up your own dog and friend's dogs to assist in any disaster or missing person incident.

If a loved one wanders away and gets lost, you can ask your dog to find them.  If your family is camping, take your dog.

Very few people get lost with dogs with them and if anybody wanders off the trail then you can ask your Family Disaster Dog to go find them.

All you have to do is read the lessons page and pick a lesson to learn with your dog and have fun with your pet.

For instance, if you were to play hide and seek with the children and your dog without reading the lesson.

You are unknowingly training your dog to find and rescue your family.

That is how easy this training can be.

Coming next will be advanced lessons in search dog skills, along with survival dog skills where you can learn how your dog can help you survive after a disaster when you might be cut off from resourses.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Just A Dog - I hope that someday people can understand that it's not "Just a Dog". it keeps me from being "just a man" or "just a woman" -

Please Read the Story at the Link Below

Just A Dog - I hope that someday people can understand that it's not "Just a Dog". it keeps me from being "just a man" or "just a woman" -

Have a Great Dog Day!