Apr 12 2009
Scent and the Scenting Dog, by William Syrotuck
This Sunday on sniffydog, I’m reviewing Scent and the Scenting Dog by William Syrotuck. For people who work dogs on human scent, this is an invaluable resource. If you just want a better feel for what it is your dog is doing when his nose is in the air, you can still learn a lot from this slim little book.
Syrotuck was one of the first handlers of civilian search dogs in the United States. He researched the workings of the canine nose and presented the science in an accessible way. He also studied the mechanics of how humans produce scent, and while it may make a certain sort of reader take a few extra showers, his discussion is clear and coherent. The main flaw with the book is that the diagrams of a “scent cone” seem to have missed the point — they present individual point-source cones throughout the area of scent, rather than indicating that the shape of the scent area is itself basically a cone. This makes the discussion of how the cone may be distorted by air currents or weather much harder to follow than it needs to be, and requires that the would-be handler spend some time observing smoke and mist to supplement the text.
There have been significant steps in research on trailing dogs since the book was published in 1972, but it is still an excellent resource for handlers. In a world where the myths of dogdom include such gems as “If a dog loses his canine teeth, he can’t track,” Syrotuck’s book is a shield against misinformation.
