Dogs Trained to Sniff Out Termites

Dogs Trained to Sniff Out Termites

http://news.yahoo.com/sniffer-dogs-join-fight-protect-koreas-heritage-155933193.html

English springer spaniels that were trained to detect explosives and drugs were retrained to sniff out termites. The dogs are being used to save South Korea’s cultural heritage. The dogs were purchased from a police dog training school in the West Midlands by the Samsung Detector Dog Centre. The trainers let the spaniels smell termites, then hid the insects and let them practice searching until they were retrained. If termites can be seen by the human eye, there has already been too much destruction, and most of S. Korea’s historic sites are constructed of wood. Gyeongbokgung, the grandest of Seoul’s five main historic places has 13 main buildings spread over 84 acres. It only took the two spaniels three hours to sweep the whole of Gyeongbokgung. They are trained not scratch the wood but sit rigid to indicate the area of termite infestation. When they make a find, they get to chase a ball as a reward. The Cultural Heritage Administration needs more dogs on the job and the second generation needs to be trained soon. With the climate becoming warmer and more humid, the number of termites in Korea may rise.