Influence of gender, neuter status, and training method on police dog narcotics olfaction performance, behavior and welfare

Fattah, Azhar F. Abdel; Abdel-Hamid, Shereen El.

doi:10.5455/javar.2020.g464

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We did not find a significant effect of sex and neutering status on either of the two metrics, similar to some earlier studies [33][34][35]38 . However, Abdel Fattah and Abdel-Hamid 39 , while testing more than 100 detection dogs, found that males and intact dogs performed better in olfactory search tasks than females and neutered dogs respectively. This may be explained by the difference in the samples in the two studies, trained German shepherd narcotic detection dogs versus untrained family dogs of various breeds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Success in the Natural Detection Task is influenced by only a few factors generally believed to affect dogs’ olfactory performance

Salamon,

Baranya,

Zsiros

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Research into dogs' olfactory ability is growing rapidly. However, generalising based on scientific results is challenging, because research has been typically conducted on a few specially trained subjects of a few breeds tested in different environmental conditions. We investigated the effects of temperature and humidity (outdoors), age, test location, sex, neutering status, and repeated testing (outdoors and indoors) on the olfactory performance of untrained family dogs (N = 411) of various breeds. We employed the Natural Detection Task with three difficulty levels, from which we derived two performance metrics: Top Level and Success Score. Temperature (0–25 °C) and humidity (18–90%) did not affect olfactory performance. Young adult dogs surpassed other age groups in reaching the Top Level. Sex and neutering status showed no discernible influence on Top Level and Success Score. Dogs performed better in both metrics when tested indoors compared to outdoors. In the test–retest procedure no significant learning effect was observed. We confirmed on untrained companion dogs that olfactory performance declines with age and rejected some factors that have been previously hypothesised to significantly affect dogs’ olfactory success. The influence of the testing environment was notable, emphasising the need to consider various factors in understanding dogs' olfactory capabilities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex did not affect olfactory performance in most studies (companion dogs [33][34][35] ; working dogs 7,38 ). However, in the case of narcotic detection police dogs, males and intact dogs were reported to perform better in detecting the target material than females and neutered ones 39 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Success in the Natural Detection Task is influenced by only a few factors generally believed to affect dogs’ olfactory performance

Salamon,

Baranya,

Zsiros

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Scent‐detecting dogs have been used to identify specific odours for a long time (Allen & Bennett, 2021; Moser et al, 2019; Simon et al, 2020). Despite the fact that the trainability of dogs may depend on sex, for example with respect to drug detection performance, males appear to perform better in drug detection training than females, neutered dogs of both sexes were shown to be less trainable than intact animals (Abdel Fattah & Abdel‐Hamid, 2020). Decreased learning abilities in gonadectomized dogs is associated with and may be explained by the high anxiety levels in these animals (Flannigan & Dodman, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A role for GnRH in olfaction and cognition: Implications for veterinary medicine

Prévot

Duittoz

2023

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Pulsatile secretion of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) is essential for the activation and maintenance of the function of the hypothalamic–pituitary‐gonadal (HPG) axis, which controls the onset of puberty and fertility. Two provocative recent studies suggest that, in addition to control reproduction, the neurons in the brain that produce GnRH are also involved in the control postnatal brain maturation, odour discrimination and adult cognition. Long‐acting GnRH antagonists and agonists are commonly used to control fertility and behaviour in veterinary medicine, primarily in males. This review puts into perspective the potential risks of these androgen deprivation therapies and immunization on olfactory and cognitive performances and well‐aging in domestic animals, including pets. We will also discuss the results reporting beneficial effects of pharmacological interventions restoring physiological GnRH levels on olfactory and cognitive alterations in preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease, which shares many pathophysiological and behavioural hallmarks with canine cognitive dysfunction. These novel findings raise the intriguing possibility that pulsatile GnRH therapy holds therapeutic potential for the management of this behavioural syndrome affecting older dogs.

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“…For dogs used in service or assistance roles it may not be acceptable to have an intact dog because of the discipline required and the risk of an intact dog being attracted to, or attracting, dogs of the opposite sex. This is usually not an issue with police or military dogs, and intact German Shepherd males and females were found to be more trainable than neutered dogs for police dog narcotics olfaction performance and behavior; males performed better than females (35). For these various working roles, there could have been extensive training involved.…”

Section: Dealing With Dogs That Have Not Been Neuteredmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ancient Practice but a New Paradigm: Personal Choice for the Age to Spay or Neuter a Dog

Hart

2021

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Extensive practice and knowledge of the methods and effects of castration of male livestock and even humans has been widespread since ancient times, but only a few decades ago did neutering (including spaying) become a routine part of canine husbandry. In the US, the 6-month neuter became standard practice. Only recently, however, have some of the consequences of this major physiological alteration become evident. As the data-based study on 35 breeds reveals, there are major breed differences associated with effects of neutering, especially with early neutering, including increased risks of joint disorders and some cancers. The study of mixed-breed dogs reveals that the risk of joint disorders is increased in the large dogs. Implications of breed-specific and sex-specific effects for age of neutering have prompted the consideration of a new paradigm with regard to this practice. This involves focusing on each individual dog when deciding upon the appropriate age of neutering to avoid increasing the risk of a joint disorder or cancer above that inherent for the breed. For many breeds, particularly the smaller dogs, no effects were found for the age of neutering on joint disorders and the cancers followed. In these cases, the caregiver has a wide range of choice for neutering without increasing the dog's risk for these diseases. In the future, additional research may reveal more about other increased risks for age-related cognitive dysfunction or elevated levels of luteinizing hormone caused by gonad removal, and lead to revised guidelines.

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Influence of gender, neuter status, and training method on police dog narcotics olfaction performance, behavior and welfare

Cited by 12 publications

References 47 publications

Success in the Natural Detection Task is influenced by only a few factors generally believed to affect dogs’ olfactory performance

Success in the Natural Detection Task is influenced by only a few factors generally believed to affect dogs’ olfactory performance

A role for GnRH in olfaction and cognition: Implications for veterinary medicine

An Ancient Practice but a New Paradigm: Personal Choice for the Age to Spay or Neuter a Dog

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