To date, laboratory scent-detection work with dogs has been a manual process whereby some or all aspects of the procedures are mediated by researchers. Automation of this process would eliminate issues associated with cuing, subjectivity in data collection, and reinforcement delivery. Herein, I describe an automated apparatus that can accommodate almost any type of sample that can be brought into the laboratory. The apparatus consists of a 17-segment carousel that rotates behind a panel. Dogs can access a single sample at a time through a port in the panel. Infrared beams are used to detect sample observations and indications, and a dog-activated switch is used to advance the carousel to the next sample. Correct indications are reinforced with an automated feeder. After screening 12 dogs, 5 dogs were selected and trained to use the apparatus to classify samples containing amyl acetate. All dogs achieved hit rates and correct rejection rates at or near 100% in fewer than 25 half-days of training (mean: 19.6, range: 12-24). These data suggest that the apparatus can be used to obtain accurate sample classification without excessive training requirements. Future improvements to the apparatus and training protocols may reduce the training requirements further.

中文翻译：

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犬类自动气味检测仪：技术说明和培训成果。

迄今为止，对狗的实验室气味检测工作一直是手动过程，由此研究人员介导了该过程的某些或全部方面。此过程的自动化将消除与提示，数据收集的主观性和加固交付相关的问题。在这里，我描述了一种自动化设备，它可以容纳几乎任何类型的可以带入实验室的样品。该设备由一个17段圆盘传送带组成，该圆盘传送带在面板后面旋转。狗可以通过面板中的端口一次访问一个样本。红外光束用于检测样品的观察结果和指示，狗锁开关用于将转盘传送到下一个样品。正确的指示可以通过自动进纸器得到加强。筛选了十二只狗之后 选择5只狗并训练以使用该设备对包含乙酸戊酯的样品进行分类。在不到25个半天的训练中，所有狗的命中率均达到100％左右或接近100％（正确率：19.6，范围：12-24）。这些数据表明该设备可用于获得准确的样品分类，而无需过多的培训要求。仪器和培训协议的未来改进可能会进一步降低培训要求。