New Research in Detection ‘Sniffer’ Dog Training Could Increase Success Rate
17 March 2025
Written by: Hannah McGowan
Research undertaken by a team of animal behaviour experts at the University of Lincoln, UK, has revealed a game-changing approach to training sniffer dogs, which could revolutionise the field of dog detection.
Widely used for a variety of detection tasks, detection dogs can scent the odour of volatile substances including explosive materials, drugs or wildlife, as well as certain diseases. Given this critical role in security and public welfare, the dogs’ reliable and accurate performance is essential.
Historically, detection dogs have been trained using a sequential – or single-odour – method which involves training the dog to detect a target odour in isolation, with additional odours learned consecutively. While sequential training can be an effective means of learning individual odours, it may not be optimal for identifying target odours when mixed with other substances.
The study, conducted using odour detection methods with pet dogs at the University of Lincoln with support from the Defence Science Technology Laboratory, makes recommendations for trialling moving away from traditional sequential training methods which present a target odour alone until the dog has learned it before moving onto the next target.
The innovative ‘intermixed’ approach is where a detection dog is exposed to multiple different target odours within a single training session, giving the dog an opportunity to identify various scents concurrently, instead of one at a time in a sequential manner.
Anna Wilkinson, Professor of Animal Cognition, explained: “This novel training approach made dogs better able to alert to slightly different versions of their target odour, something that is really important in working dogs who will come across lots of variation to the targets whilst working.”
Findings from the study demonstrated higher rates of olfactory generalisation in the intermixed group, which would indicate greater success in real-world scenarios, where there might be multiple variants of odours present. This approach contrasts with traditional sequential training methods, which may limit a dog’s ability to adapt to new odour challenges.
The research underscores that it may be beneficial to shift training practices to ensure that detection dogs can meet the evolving challenges they face in the field.
The study is published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology and is available to read online: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/com0000390.