Wanted! Dogs that are CRAZY about Balls.




Sally Behnke, Betty Boettler, Dottie Simpson

 

ARCS Scholar

Last night, Ken and I attended the ARCS September dinner meeting at the Sunset Club.  We sat with Patty & Jimmy Barrier and some of the founder doyennes of ARCS including Carol Wright, Dottie Simpson, Sally Behnke, Jan Bauermeister and Betty Boettler.  We heard a couple of our ARCS scholars speak about how important the ARCS funding has been to them as they pursue their advanced degrees.

"Casey"

The keynote speaker was Dr. Sam Wasser, Center Director, who oversees a comprehensive and non-invasive wildlife detection program of the University of Washington at the Center for Conservation Biology called Conservation Canines.  He brought "Casey," one of the dogs used to locate endangered species all over the world.  According to their brochure, "The ideal scat detection dog is intensely focused and has an insatiable urge to play.  their obsessive, high-energy personalities make them difficult to maintain as a family pet, so they often end up at the shelter with euthanasia the most likely outcome.  The single-minded drive of these dogs makes them perfect Conservation Canines.  They are happy to work all day traversing plains, climbing up mountains, clambering over rocks and fallen trees, and trekking through snow, all with the expectation of reward - playing with their ball - after successfully locating wildlife scat." 

It was fascinating to hear how the scientists find and select the dogs that they train.  They generally look in shelters and one of Sam's associates will walk among the dog cages bouncing a ball while the other associate will follow and try to engage the dogs by talking with them.  The dog that stays focused on the ball and ignores the second person that is trying to "make nice" is the dog that they want in the program.  They then train the dogs that they will get the ball once they locate the scent of the animal scat they are tracking.

This is valuable to porvide information to address conservation issues because the scientists have the ability to extract a wide variety of genetic and physiological information about species abundance, distribution, resource use, and health all in relation to the environmental pressures the species is encountering.

Fetch!