Police dog
A dog trained to assist law-enforcement personnel with tasks such as tracking, locating people, detecting substances, and protecting officers.
Narcotics detection dog: A dog trained to locate illegal drugs by detecting their odors. This specialized role uses scent detection to search people, vehicles, buildings, and luggage.
Olfaction: The sensory process by which animals detect and distinguish airborne chemical molecules as odors. A dog’s ability to detect faint, complex odors underlies much of its police work.
Police dog handler: A law-enforcement officer trained to work with and care for a police dog. The handler directs the dog, interprets its behavior, and is responsible for its control.
Military working dog: A dog trained to support armed forces in tasks such as detection, patrol, or search. Military dogs share some skills with police dogs but serve military missions and command structures.
Explosives detection dog: A dog trained to detect explosive substances through odor. Explosives searches require distinct target odors and careful, controlled search procedures.
Canine scent discrimination: A dog’s ability to distinguish one odor or scent trail from others. Tracking and detection depend on recognizing a target odor amid competing scents.
Canine training: The structured teaching of behaviors and skills to dogs through practice and reinforcement. Police work depends on training that prepares dogs for specific tasks and environments.
Detection dog: A dog trained to locate a target by detecting its odor. This broader role includes police dogs but also dogs working in customs, conservation, and other fields.
Search and rescue dog: A dog trained to locate missing or trapped people in varied environments. Police may deploy these dogs when searches extend beyond suspects to missing or endangered people.
Operant conditioning: A learning process in which behavior changes through reinforcement or punishment. Training rewards teach dogs to signal when they find a target odor or person.