No abstract

The present article aimed to study the physiological and behavioral effects on the olfactory performance of police dogs, after everyday stress situations that occurred before to the execution of the task of detecting drugs and explosives. The effect of stress was studied from the simulation of confinement of these animals to the detection of drugs or explosives, at different transport times, using three types of confinement in transport boxes, 30 minutes (30 minutes), 3 hours and 30 minutes (03'30 ") and 5 hours and 30 minutes (05'30"). In order to evaluate the affected cortisol levels of the stress conditions (confinement) in the study subjects, it was necessary to make noninvasive saliva collections. This procedure is efficient in the case of dogs, since it is easy to use and does not cause significant changes in the physiological state of the investigated dogs. The results presented demonstrated the appearance of stress and behavioral changes, indicating a decrease in the olfactory performance of drug detecting dogs and explosives.