Red Dogs vs Pink Dogs

What is a pink dog?  Some people in scent detection refer to dogs that tend to fringe alert, or alert on scent further away from the source as "pink dogs".  This comes from the idea that as scent moves further away from its source, that it gets a little stale.  That scent molecules are the freshest right when they have evaporated from the liquid essential oil into a gas that gets carried on air currents.

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​For example, imagine a hide placed where the red dot is on the picture.

​As the hide is left to sit there, it will start to form an scent cloud as the essential oil evaporates.  As the scent molecules move further away from their starting point they start to get a little older than the newest ones that have just formed.  They will be carried on air currents in a similar way to campfire smoke, and may collect in sheltered places, fabric, or vegetation.

​What we would like our scent detection dogs to do is to get as close as possible to the source of the scent, where the freshest scent molecules are, then alert us to the presence of the hidden scent.

What sometimes happens is our dogs encounter the scent cloud and indicate the presence of the scent further away than we would like.

Why does this happen?

There are several reasons that this may happen.  Some of the more common include:

• The dog cannot physically get any closer.  While not the case in this picture, had the hide been behind the couch, a dog may alert at the side of the couch, under the couch or standing on the couch indicating behind the back of the couch depending on where the scent cloud was coming out.  This would be acceptable, as the source of the scent is inaccessible to the dog, and they cannot get any closer.
• The dog has been working on a lot of inaccessible hides.  Because the dogs get rewarded for alerting on inaccessible hides away from the source, they learn that it is possible to be correct without being able to get their nose on the actual hide.  While we need them to learn this, we need them to also learn that if it is possible to get their nose closer to the hide, they need to do that.
• The dog has been working on a lot of older hides, and hasn't been working freshly prepared hides.  While the scent swabs we make can be detected by our dogs for months, if my students are trialing I recommend they work on fresh swabs prior to their trial, because the ones used at the trial will be recently made and will give off more fresh scent than a months old swab.
• Individual variation.  Some dogs seem to be a bit more predisposed to persisting until they can as close as possible to the source.  Often these dogs will detail back and forth and double check before finally settling on the spot, push through things in their way or even open objects attempting to get closer.  My dog Tilly was like this, and spent an inordinate amount of time detailing underneath a child's play table in one trial before finally freezing.  Some dogs, on the other hand, are less driven to get to the exact source, and Tristan has had this tendency his entire career.  It's as if he goes "it's here ish" and calls it good enough.

How can you fix it?

It depends on why it is happening, but here are some ideas to get started.

• If your dog is working on inaccessible hides, make sure to also practice accessible ones.  Set accessible hides yourself so you know where they are, and don't mark your dog until they are as close as possible.
• If your dog is working on inaccessible hides, also practice 3D puzzles.  Exercises where your dog needs to move around something, or work past/through objects to get to the source.  This teaches dogs to check and see if they can get closer to the source prior to alerting.
• If your dog has been working older scent swabs, make some new ones.
• If your dog tends to go close enough, work on sourcing games where they need to decide between several options that are close together which is the correct one, and 3D puzzles where they have to persist in moving through the space to get to the source.

Happy Sniffing!