Substance Detection Golden Retrievers: Agriculture

Agriculture Detector Dogs detect fruits, vegetables, meats or other prohibited items that may carry animal, pests, or plant diseases that could possibly harm U.S. agriculture resources.

The Mexican government was the first to use canines to detect agricultural items. In the late 1970's, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed a similar program using canines to search mail and incoming passengers' baggage at international airports. The USDA then began training agricultural detector dogs at Lackland Air Force Base. Until 1983, they utilized large breed dogs and conducted searches out of the view of the public.

The USDA then began to consider small breeds so that they could work in the presence of the public and in close proximity to international passengers. Beagles were selected due to their being excellent scent hounds, and having a small, non-threatening size and appealing demeanor, the Beagle Brigade program averaging around 75,000 seizures of prohibited agricultural products a year.

In 1997, the USDA responded to the threat of pests being introduced into the U.S. through land border crossings by deploying its first "Border Brigade" dogs. Large breeds are used, however, due to the strenuous nature of performing vehicle searches. These dogs are useful when searching passenger vehicles because they are able to jump into the trunks of cars, and into the passenger areas of vans and SUVs.

Enjoy these articles and video about Goldens being used to help our wine vineyards by detecting the presence of mealy bugs.

Dogs sniffing out pest on grapevines ─ Wine industry looks to canines in fight against vine mealy bug
By Tim Tesconi, The Press Democrat, February 26, 2006

Assistance Dog Institute trainer Judy Fridono watches Joy, an 8-month-old golden retriever, sniff out a jar containing part of a grapevine infected with the vine mealy bug during a training session. Photo by Crista Jeremiason / PD

Joy, a bouncy golden retriever with a nose for bad bugs, may be the wine industry's newest weapon in the costly battle against a nasty vineyard pest.

Joy and four littermates are being trained as "sniffer dogs" to search for vine mealy bugs, the latest predator to invade Napa and Sonoma vineyards.

Vine mealy bugs are cryptic critters barely visible to the human eye but they secrete a scent that Joy and her siblings have been trained to sniff out. Humans are unable to detect the scent of mealy bugs.

"The idea is to use these dogs to find a vine mealy bug infestation in its early stages so we can isolate and, hopefully, eradicate the insects before they spread to additional vineyards," said Katey Taylor, viticulturist at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley.

There's a lot at stake because the vine mealy bug is a particularly insidious bug. It infests all parts of the vine, producing a sugary excretion known as honeydew that is an ideal environment for black, sooty mold and other diseases. When the honeydew and black mold ooze over ripened grapes, the fruit can't be used for wine.

"As a grower, you can't be asleep at the wheel with this pest. The bottom line is that an infestation leaves the fruit unmarketable," said Sonoma County viticulture adviser Rhonda Smith of the University of California Cooperative Extension.

Dogs, Taylor said, promise to be more efficient, cost effective and accurate than humans in canvassing the more than 100,000 acres of Napa and Sonoma vineyards that could be harboring the vine mealy bug, originally from the Mediterranean regions of Europe and found in Africa and the Middle East.

Taylor is among the worried growers and vintners who asked the Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa to come to their rescue. The wine group raised $33,000 for a research project to determine if sniffer dogs could play a role in eradicating or, at least, controlling the destructive insect so it doesn't become widespread. There are already dozens of documented infestations in Napa and Sonoma counties with more expected to be found over the spring and summer.

If a dog identifies a vine as being infested it can be removed or treated with insecticides. Pinpointing infested vines allows growers to spray specific sites rather than the whole vineyard, which is not only less costly but better for the environment.

"The widespread use of pesticides to eradicate a serious agricultural pest like the vine mealy bug is in the complete opposite direction from the organic and sustainable farming methods that most North Coast farmers are moving toward," said Jennifer Kopp, executive director of the Napa Valley Grape Growers, which provided money for the research project.

"What's exciting about the dog sniffer project is that it's an innovative, forward-thinking, organic alternative," Kopp said.

The vine mealy bug research project started this past summer when Joy and her siblings were 4 weeks old. The five puppies were embedded with the scent of a synthetic version of the sexual attractant secreted by the female vine mealy bug. In recent weeks, the dogs successfully identified the scent in sawed-off grapevine samples that were infested with the vine mealy bug.

"It was a big hurrah moment when the dogs made the leap from the synthetic pheromone to the infested grapevine. It was another incremental step in the research process," said Bonnie Bergin, president and executive director of the Assistance Dog Institute.

In sessions with trainer Judy Fridono, Joy methodically searches a room where the scent has been planted. When Joy comes to the scent, she barks and barks until her trainer arrives to reward her.

Bergin points out that the grapevine samples used by her staff were frozen to kill any vine mealy bugs, preventing their spread to new areas of Wine Country.

So far, Joy and her litter mates have completed their training at the institute's facility on Sebastopol Road. The next step is to take the dogs into Napa-Sonoma vineyards in April or May when mealy bugs begin reproducing and scents are strong.

Bergin said detecting the vine mealy bug in the vineyards poses a challenge for the dogs because of shifting wind currents, competing scents and doggy distractions such as jack rabbits and quail. But Bergin is betting on the dogs and their incredible sense of smell to find the hidden insects.

"A third of a dog's brain is the olfactory system," said Bergin. "Their sense of smell is very powerful, which gives them tremendous capabilities."

Dogs Sniff Out Vineyard Pests
KGO By Wayne Freedman

Once again, California wine country is challenged by a nasty little threat to its enormous success. It’s a tiny little bug with a talent for destroying vineyards whole. Now one of man’s favorite beverages is getting help from man’s best friend.

Now for the oddest of sites — no, not this vineyard on a fresh fall morning, but Edwina Ryska in the middle of it, blowing bubbles. All very scientific because in a few moments, a golden retriever named Josh will be taking a test. His task is to find one little stick among all these vines — a piece of wood scented with just a trace of pheromone from a female mealy bug, a tiny creature that hides beneath the bark of vines. As the world warms, and species migrate, it has become an approaching, potentially expensive menace in California’s wine country vineyards.

Michael Honig, vintner: “The problem with the bug is that by the time you see it, it’s almost too late.” To stay ahead of it, growers have funded a research program with the Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa. Canines already use their sense of smell to find bombs, narcotics, even cancer. So why not this new pest as well? They train the dogs by introducing puppies to the scent of mealy bug pheromones at feeding time. Bonnie Bergin, Assistance Dog Institute: “We want them to love it so much that they will tell us about it because it excites them.”

We all know dogs have a keen sense of smell, but much more than you might ever imagine. About one-third of Autumn’s brain, dedicated to that nose. Rick Young, dog trainer: “They say humans, when they smell stew cooking, smell stew. Dogs smell carrots, onions. They have the ability to detect everything out here.” Which means that dogs have smelled mealy bugs and whatever else, in places like this for eons. Only now, it’s not just a mealy bug anymore. It’s a meal ticket.

Sniff And Destroy - Training program proves dogs can be used as tool in mealy bug detection
By Tim Tesconi, The Press Democrat, May 27, 2006

Rick Yount puts Autumn, a golden retriever, through the paces as she searches a vineyard for a bug-infested piece of wood, seen foreground left, attached to a vine for her training. Photo by Scott Manchester / PD

A golden retriever named Autumn moved closer to becoming a full-fledged Wine Country sniffer dog after bounding into a vineyard and tracking the scent of a bad bug on grape growers' hit list.

The culprit is the vine mealy bug and sniffer dogs like Autumn may be coming to the wine industry's rescue.

In a training exercise last week, Autumn successfully sniffed a planted scent hidden among the vines of a Santa Rosa vineyard. The next big test will be finding the real mealy bug. But the test showed that the dog wasn't thrown off by prevailing winds or distracted by birds and other wildlife in a vineyard setting.

"That's what we like. It's all downhill from here," said Bonita Bergin, president and executive director of Santa Rosa's Assistance Dog Institute, after Autumn discovered the scent.

It's all part of the training for Autumn and a half-dozen other dogs learning to search for the elusive vine mealy bug, a new vineyard pest in Sonoma and Napa counties.

Vine mealy bugs are cryptic critters barely visible to the human eye. But they secrete a scent that dogs can be trained to sniff out.

There's a lot at stake because the vine mealy bug is a particularly insidious bug. It infests all parts of a vine, producing a sugary excretion known as honeydew that is an ideal environment for mold and other diseases.

Bergin is certain dogs can be used as a tool in the mealy bug battle. She said dogs promise to be more efficient, cost effective and accurate than humans in canvassing the more than 100,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties that could be harboring the insect.

"There's no question that we can develop a viable program that uses dogs to detect vine mealy bugs," said Bergin, whose mission for the past 30 years has been to "help dogs help people."

The program started last year when a group of growers and vintners raised $33,000 for a research project to determine if sniffer dogs could play a role in eradicating or controlling the destructive insect so it doesn't become widespread. There are already dozens of documented infestations in Napa and Sonoma counties with more expected this year.

Even those training the dogs marvel at their sensory abilities.

"This is about training dogs to do something we can't do. It's intriguing to watch Autumn use her sense of smell," said Rick Yount, an Institute staff member who trained Autumn. He said she's only been in training for eight weeks but has made tremendous progress.

"With each success she becomes more confident. Success breeds success," said Yount.

Growers are excited about using the dogs because it's a low-tech way to deal with a pest problem. If a dog identifies an infested grapevine, the vine can be removed or treated with insecticides. It means a specific site can be sprayed rather than the whole vineyard, which is not only less costly but better for the environment.

Over the past year, Bergin said she has learned that it will take a certain type of golden retriever to become a champion vine mealy bug sniffer.

She said the kind of retriever that makes a good service dog for disabled people is not the best dog for aggressively canvassing hundreds of acres of vineyards to find mealy bugs.

"This kind of work requires dogs that are intense, driven, highly aroused and with lots of energy," said Bergin. It's the same personality type needed in training search-and-rescue dogs.

Do you have a Golden Retriever agriculture sniffer tale that you would like to share? Just send it, along with photos, to:

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