Sapper dogs
In our time, infantry can be replaced with hardy robots, Aviation - not knowing mistakes drones, and scouts - the all-seeing eye of space satellites. But unemployment does not threaten four-legged sappers - neither now, nor in the near future.
High reward The dog perceives the search for mines not as a responsible job, but as an exciting game for which the award is laid - for example, a favorite toy.
“Search, Taiga!” - the order is given by Major Teacher Alexey Obarchuk, Senior Lecturer in the cycle of training specialists of the mine search service. Taiga is a German shepherd dog, and it must find a potential terrorist, in whose pocket there is a TNT block.
Having run a minute between the lined-up people, Taiga lies down near one of them. The one with a guilty look pulls a TNT bar out of his pocket. Outwardly, it seems simple, but the conditions are not greenhouse at all - it is drizzling fine October rain, and the parade ground is blown by a cold gusty wind. Five minutes later, Taiga again demonstrates her skill, quickly finding a checker in a secluded place behind the KamAZ gas tank with the inscription “Demining”.
Here, in the 66-i Interdepartmental Training Methodological Center of the Engineering Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, dogs are taught to detect explosives in all weather conditions — rain, wind, cold and heat.
At the source
History official dog breeding in the USSR dates back to August 23, 1924, when, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Red Army for the purpose of conducting experiments on the use of dogs in military affairs at the Higher Rifle-Tactical School "Shot", the Central Training Experimental Nursery was organized (since 1926 - the Central Military School and sports dogs). Dogs of various specialties were trained here - sanitary-riding, guard, reconnaissance, communication service dogs, sabotage, mine-search and even fighter dogs tanks. All these animals were especially distinguished during the Great Patriotic War, during the years of which the school trained more than 68 dogs and 000 counselors.
They destroyed more than 300 German tanks (the Germans even issued a special instruction for dealing with such dogs), took the wounded from the battlefield of 680 000 and discovered over 4 million mines. After the war, several famous breeds were bred in the Krasnaya Zvezda breeding nursery - the Moscow Watchdog and the Russian Black Terrier (also known as the “Stalin's dog”). Now this kennel is part of the 470-th Methodology and Dog Training Center (MCC) of the service dog breeding of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Of course, some of the dog specialties have now become history - say, tank destroyers that can destroy an armored vehicle at the cost of their own lives, are no longer needed in the modern army. But the guard and mine search service are deservedly popular.
Dog school
What qualities should four-legged sappers have? Of course, a good scent, but this is not enough. The dog should not be aggressive to outsiders (we recall, it is not a watchman, but a sapper) or be afraid of them, because it has to work including surrounded by a large number of people (for example, at the airport). It should be well trained, and also have a stable psyche and not react to various external stimuli - from the smell of sausage to loud sounds.
The last criterion is especially important, because in a minefield a dog that panics during the slapping of shots and explosions is a certain death for the dog itself and for its leader. All these qualities are checked on the “entrance exams”, which puppies pass from the age from 10 months to 1, and then develop in the process of learning. Recognized "sniffers", such as Labradors, retrievers and spaniels, as well as universal breeds - German and Belgian Shepherd Dogs are best suited for a mine-searching service.
The training itself consists of a general course of training (for dogs, this is a kind of human high school) and specialized training (in this case, the search for explosives). Training lasts from several months to a year, and, as a rule, along with the dog, teach and its leader - the person who will have to work with her.
“Many dogs do not respond very well to a change of leader, whom they perceive as a leader,” explains Sergey Degtyarev, teacher at the training center for dog specialists of the MCC. “For six months we have been teaching a conscript soldier to a guide, for another six months he is fully working with the dog, and then demobilized. In this sense, contractors are much more preferable. "
An incentive for training and a reward for good work can be a treat or a favorite toy. “For a person, the search for explosives is a serious, dangerous and responsible job,” says Alexey Obarchuk. - And for the dog - just an exciting game with the owner, for which the award was laid. And until the "retirement age", which comes for dogs at eight years old, the game continues.
Dog and electronics
Why do we need dogs when there are modern electronic mine detectors? Mine detectors react to metal, but it is in fact not the only sign of explosive devices. The dog is looking for the smell of what no explosive device can do without, whether it be a factory mine or an “infernal machine” of handicraft production — explosives. As a result, even in combat, a dog can detect mines three to five times (!) Faster than a person with a mine detector does.
Nevertheless, attempts are being made to supplement the capabilities of four-legged sappers with modern electronics. True, not by mine detectors, but primarily by means of communication. In the same 66-m Interdepartmental Training Methodological Center of the Engineering Troops, a prototype video-camera with a camera and a transmitter was developed, thanks to which the counselor can see everything on a miniaturized armband screen that the dog, which is from it at a distance of tens of meters, sees.
This makes the work of the counselor safer, although you have to face such problems as the recognition of the voice of the host, which is distorted by radio communication. However, according to the senior lecturer of the training cycle for specialists of the mine investigation service, Major Denis Yarlykov, it is quite possible that the future lies precisely with such a combined approach.
Attempts to create an electronic device, partially or completely replacing a dog (or at least a human) nose, have been made for a long time. However, while the progress is rather modest, the dog's nose does not leave the slightest chance for the instruments in terms of sensitivity.
A scent like a dog
Why dogs are considered unsurpassed bloodhound? The fact is that evolution has generously endowed them with a completely outstanding sense of smell. Scientists say that the sensitivity of a dog's nose by four to five orders of magnitude (that is, 10 − 100 thousands of times) exceeds that of the human sense of smell. A dog's nose is capable of detecting a substance in the air at a concentration of about one part per trillion (approximately this concentration is caused by evaporation of one drop of ethyl alcohol in 20 million cubic meters of air).
However, in addition to sensitivity, dogs have a completely exceptional olfactory selectivity, that is, the ability to distinguish among many smells exactly what is needed. In humans, the area of the olfactory epithelium is only 2 − 4 cm2, from 6 to 10 million olfactory receptors are located here. In dogs, the epithelium area is 10 − 100 times larger, and the number of receptors reaches 300 million! Nerve impulses from olfactory neurons enter the olfactory bulb, the brain area responsible for processing these data — in a dog, the proportion of this area in the total brain volume is approximately 40 times larger than in humans. Therefore, the amount of odors distinguished by the dog reaches 2 million (compare with the measly ten thousand that the average person distinguishes). In addition, a special canine nose device allows you to separate the cycles of breathing and smelling and use the "stereo effect" of the two nostrils to establish the direction of the odor gradient.
Electronic nose
The dog's nose is a tool with unsurpassed sensitivity. But he has his drawbacks. The dog cannot tell what exactly (what type of explosives or narcotic substances) she has discovered. In addition, the dog - a living creature that can get tired and make mistakes. Therefore, at sites where it is necessary to minimize the likelihood of errors (for example, at airports), cynological service is supplemented with special devices - electronic gas analyzers.
In such “artificial noses” the principle of ion mobility spectrometry is most often used. The aspirated air is partially ionized with a low-power radioactive source or an electrical discharge. First, the ions pass through the shutter, which periodically opens briefly. The most common of these is the Bradbury-Nielsen gate, a grating of wires, to which alternating current is fed through one. Between the wires there is a strong electric field, which is deflected ions.
However, at short points in time, when the voltage across the grid passes through zero, the ions freely enter the drift zone, where they move under the action of a uniform electric field through the air at atmospheric pressure, literally squeezing among air molecules. In this case, the molecules of different substances spend different times to get from the gate to the collecting electrode. Measuring the dependence of the number of ions that came to the finish, from time to time, you can see the peaks corresponding to the time of passage of the drift chamber by ions of various substances.
High reward The dog perceives the search for mines not as a responsible job, but as an exciting game for which the award is laid - for example, a favorite toy.
“Search, Taiga!” - the order is given by Major Teacher Alexey Obarchuk, Senior Lecturer in the cycle of training specialists of the mine search service. Taiga is a German shepherd dog, and it must find a potential terrorist, in whose pocket there is a TNT block.
Having run a minute between the lined-up people, Taiga lies down near one of them. The one with a guilty look pulls a TNT bar out of his pocket. Outwardly, it seems simple, but the conditions are not greenhouse at all - it is drizzling fine October rain, and the parade ground is blown by a cold gusty wind. Five minutes later, Taiga again demonstrates her skill, quickly finding a checker in a secluded place behind the KamAZ gas tank with the inscription “Demining”.
Here, in the 66-i Interdepartmental Training Methodological Center of the Engineering Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, dogs are taught to detect explosives in all weather conditions — rain, wind, cold and heat.
At the source
History official dog breeding in the USSR dates back to August 23, 1924, when, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Red Army for the purpose of conducting experiments on the use of dogs in military affairs at the Higher Rifle-Tactical School "Shot", the Central Training Experimental Nursery was organized (since 1926 - the Central Military School and sports dogs). Dogs of various specialties were trained here - sanitary-riding, guard, reconnaissance, communication service dogs, sabotage, mine-search and even fighter dogs tanks. All these animals were especially distinguished during the Great Patriotic War, during the years of which the school trained more than 68 dogs and 000 counselors.
They destroyed more than 300 German tanks (the Germans even issued a special instruction for dealing with such dogs), took the wounded from the battlefield of 680 000 and discovered over 4 million mines. After the war, several famous breeds were bred in the Krasnaya Zvezda breeding nursery - the Moscow Watchdog and the Russian Black Terrier (also known as the “Stalin's dog”). Now this kennel is part of the 470-th Methodology and Dog Training Center (MCC) of the service dog breeding of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Of course, some of the dog specialties have now become history - say, tank destroyers that can destroy an armored vehicle at the cost of their own lives, are no longer needed in the modern army. But the guard and mine search service are deservedly popular.
Dog school
What qualities should four-legged sappers have? Of course, a good scent, but this is not enough. The dog should not be aggressive to outsiders (we recall, it is not a watchman, but a sapper) or be afraid of them, because it has to work including surrounded by a large number of people (for example, at the airport). It should be well trained, and also have a stable psyche and not react to various external stimuli - from the smell of sausage to loud sounds.
The last criterion is especially important, because in a minefield a dog that panics during the slapping of shots and explosions is a certain death for the dog itself and for its leader. All these qualities are checked on the “entrance exams”, which puppies pass from the age from 10 months to 1, and then develop in the process of learning. Recognized "sniffers", such as Labradors, retrievers and spaniels, as well as universal breeds - German and Belgian Shepherd Dogs are best suited for a mine-searching service.
The training itself consists of a general course of training (for dogs, this is a kind of human high school) and specialized training (in this case, the search for explosives). Training lasts from several months to a year, and, as a rule, along with the dog, teach and its leader - the person who will have to work with her.
“Many dogs do not respond very well to a change of leader, whom they perceive as a leader,” explains Sergey Degtyarev, teacher at the training center for dog specialists of the MCC. “For six months we have been teaching a conscript soldier to a guide, for another six months he is fully working with the dog, and then demobilized. In this sense, contractors are much more preferable. "
An incentive for training and a reward for good work can be a treat or a favorite toy. “For a person, the search for explosives is a serious, dangerous and responsible job,” says Alexey Obarchuk. - And for the dog - just an exciting game with the owner, for which the award was laid. And until the "retirement age", which comes for dogs at eight years old, the game continues.
Dog and electronics
Why do we need dogs when there are modern electronic mine detectors? Mine detectors react to metal, but it is in fact not the only sign of explosive devices. The dog is looking for the smell of what no explosive device can do without, whether it be a factory mine or an “infernal machine” of handicraft production — explosives. As a result, even in combat, a dog can detect mines three to five times (!) Faster than a person with a mine detector does.
Nevertheless, attempts are being made to supplement the capabilities of four-legged sappers with modern electronics. True, not by mine detectors, but primarily by means of communication. In the same 66-m Interdepartmental Training Methodological Center of the Engineering Troops, a prototype video-camera with a camera and a transmitter was developed, thanks to which the counselor can see everything on a miniaturized armband screen that the dog, which is from it at a distance of tens of meters, sees.
This makes the work of the counselor safer, although you have to face such problems as the recognition of the voice of the host, which is distorted by radio communication. However, according to the senior lecturer of the training cycle for specialists of the mine investigation service, Major Denis Yarlykov, it is quite possible that the future lies precisely with such a combined approach.
Attempts to create an electronic device, partially or completely replacing a dog (or at least a human) nose, have been made for a long time. However, while the progress is rather modest, the dog's nose does not leave the slightest chance for the instruments in terms of sensitivity.
A scent like a dog
Why dogs are considered unsurpassed bloodhound? The fact is that evolution has generously endowed them with a completely outstanding sense of smell. Scientists say that the sensitivity of a dog's nose by four to five orders of magnitude (that is, 10 − 100 thousands of times) exceeds that of the human sense of smell. A dog's nose is capable of detecting a substance in the air at a concentration of about one part per trillion (approximately this concentration is caused by evaporation of one drop of ethyl alcohol in 20 million cubic meters of air).
However, in addition to sensitivity, dogs have a completely exceptional olfactory selectivity, that is, the ability to distinguish among many smells exactly what is needed. In humans, the area of the olfactory epithelium is only 2 − 4 cm2, from 6 to 10 million olfactory receptors are located here. In dogs, the epithelium area is 10 − 100 times larger, and the number of receptors reaches 300 million! Nerve impulses from olfactory neurons enter the olfactory bulb, the brain area responsible for processing these data — in a dog, the proportion of this area in the total brain volume is approximately 40 times larger than in humans. Therefore, the amount of odors distinguished by the dog reaches 2 million (compare with the measly ten thousand that the average person distinguishes). In addition, a special canine nose device allows you to separate the cycles of breathing and smelling and use the "stereo effect" of the two nostrils to establish the direction of the odor gradient.
Electronic nose
The dog's nose is a tool with unsurpassed sensitivity. But he has his drawbacks. The dog cannot tell what exactly (what type of explosives or narcotic substances) she has discovered. In addition, the dog - a living creature that can get tired and make mistakes. Therefore, at sites where it is necessary to minimize the likelihood of errors (for example, at airports), cynological service is supplemented with special devices - electronic gas analyzers.
In such “artificial noses” the principle of ion mobility spectrometry is most often used. The aspirated air is partially ionized with a low-power radioactive source or an electrical discharge. First, the ions pass through the shutter, which periodically opens briefly. The most common of these is the Bradbury-Nielsen gate, a grating of wires, to which alternating current is fed through one. Between the wires there is a strong electric field, which is deflected ions.
However, at short points in time, when the voltage across the grid passes through zero, the ions freely enter the drift zone, where they move under the action of a uniform electric field through the air at atmospheric pressure, literally squeezing among air molecules. In this case, the molecules of different substances spend different times to get from the gate to the collecting electrode. Measuring the dependence of the number of ions that came to the finish, from time to time, you can see the peaks corresponding to the time of passage of the drift chamber by ions of various substances.
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