An amazing program called Conservation Canines is training dogs to find poop in the wilderness.
Doesn’t sound amazing? Wait for it…
The poop finders are rambunctious shelter dogs who are having a hard time getting adopted because of their high energy. The poop makers are endangered animals whose “scat” contains a lot (a sh*t ton) of information that helps conservationists track their population and health.
The dogs and the endangered animals are in a way, rescuing each other!
Using scat sniffing dogs helps in two important ways: 1. Conservationists are able to gather information without trapping or tranquilizing the animals; 2. They are able to gather more information in a shorter period of time.
I told you it was amazing!
It’s these dog’s energetic nature that makes them perfect for the job. The dogs run around sniffing for poop, and once they’ve found it, their handlers collect the doody-data and reward them with a few rounds of fetch.
Who would have thought a job finding feces could be so fun!?
This poop-sniffing gig is also surprisingly glamorous. The dogs and handlers have tracked the poop of impalas in Africa, bears in the French Pyrenees, and wolves in Mexico, just to name a few. The dogs are even out on boats sniffing floating, killer whale poop. AMAZING.
Read more about these prodigious poop-smelling pups here!
