@article{dorman_foster_lazarowski_2021, title={Training with Multiple Structurally Related Odorants Fails to Improve Generalization of Ammonium Nitrate Detection in Domesticated Dogs (Canis familiaris)}, volume={11}, ISSN={["2076-2615"]}, DOI={10.3390/ani11010213}, abstractNote={A critical aspect of canine scent detection involves the animal’s ability to respond to odors based on prior odor training. In the current study, dogs (n = 12) were initially trained on an olfactory simple discrimination task using vanillin as the target odorant. Based on their performance on this task, dogs were assigned to experimental groups. Dogs in group 1 and 2 (n = 5 dogs/group; 1 dog/group were removed due to low motivation or high error rates) were trained with either two or six forms of ammonium nitrate (AN), respectively. Dogs were then assessed with a mock explosive with AN and powdered aluminum. Dogs in both groups failed to respond to the novel AN-aluminum odor. Mean success rates were 56 ± 5 and 54 ± 4% for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Overall, and individual dog performance was not statistically higher than chance indicating that dogs did not generalize from AN to a similar AN-based odorant at reliable levels desired for explosive detection dogs. These results suggest the use of authentic explosive materials, without the added complication of including category-learning methods, likely remains a cost-effective and efficient way to train explosive scent detection dogs.}, number={1}, journal={ANIMALS}, author={Dorman, David C. and Foster, Melanie L. and Lazarowski, Lucia}, year={2021}, month={Jan} }
 @article{lazarowski_dorman_2015, title={A comparison of pet and purpose-bred research dog (Canis familiaris) performance on human-guided object-choice tasks}, volume={110}, ISSN={["1872-8308"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.beproc.2014.09.021}, abstractNote={Several studies have shown that domestic dogs respond to human social cues such as pointing. Some experiments have shown that pet dogs outperformed wolves in following a momentary distal point. These findings have lent support to the hypothesis that domestication is responsible for domestic dogs' ability to utilize human gestures. Other studies demonstrating comparable performance in human-socialized wolves suggest this skill depends on experience with relevant human stimuli. However, domestic dogs lacking thorough exposure to humans are underrepresented in the comparative literature. The goal of this study was to evaluate pet and kennel-reared research domestic dogs on their ability to follow two types of point in an object-choice task. This study used young adult, intact male research dogs (n=11) and a comparison group of pet dogs living in human homes (n=9). We found that while pet dogs followed the momentary distal point above chance levels, research dogs did not. Both groups followed the simpler dynamic proximal point; however, pet dogs outperformed research dogs on this task. Our results indicate that ontogenetic experiences may influence a domestic dog's ability to use human gestures, highlighting the importance of testing different sub-populations of domestic dogs.}, journal={BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES}, author={Lazarowski, Lucia and Dorman, David C.}, year={2015}, month={Jan}, pages={60–67} }
 @article{sherman_gruen_case_foster_fish_lazarowski_depuy_dorman_2015, title={A test for the evaluation of emotional reactivity in Labrador retrievers used for explosives detection}, volume={10}, ISSN={["1878-7517"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.jveb.2014.12.007}, abstractNote={The United States Marine Corps (USMC) uses Labrador retrievers as improvised explosive device detection dogs (IDDs). Of critical importance is the selection of dogs that are emotionally suited for this highly specialized application. The goal of our study was to develop an emotional reactivity test (ERT) as a screening tool for the selection of IDDs. The ERT included a series of subtasks that expose each dog sequentially to visual, auditory, and experiential stimuli with an associated grading scale used by trained observers to rate individual dog responses. In this study, 16 Labrador retrievers that met initial selection criteria as candidate IDDs were assessed using the ERT, measurement of plasma and salivary cortisol concentrations (pre- and post-ERT), and an independent open-field test of anxiety in response to sound stimuli. Based on the sum of its responses, each dog was assigned an aggregate ERT score. Aggregate ERT scores from independent trained observers were highly concordant [Shrout-Fleiss's intraclass correlation (2,1) = 0.96] suggesting excellent inter-rater reliability. The aggregate ERT scores were also negatively correlated with the dogs' scores on the open-field anxiety test (Spearman rank correlation, n = 16, r = −0.57, P = 0.0214). In addition, there were significant increases in salivary (Wilcoxon signed rank, n = 16, S = 38.5, P = 0.0458) and plasma (Wilcoxon signed rank, n = 16, S = 68, P < 0.0001) cortisol levels after the ERT, compared with baseline, suggesting that exposure to the ERT test elements produced a physiological stress response. We conclude that the ERT is a useful pre-training screening test that can be used to identify dogs with a low threshold of emotional reactivity for rejection, and dogs with a high threshold of emotional reactivity for entry into the IDD training program.}, number={2}, journal={JOURNAL OF VETERINARY BEHAVIOR-CLINICAL APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH}, author={Sherman, Barbara L. and Gruen, Margaret E. and Case, Beth C. and Foster, Melanie L. and Fish, Richard E. and Lazarowski, Lucia and DePuy, Venita and Dorman, David C.}, year={2015}, pages={94–102} }
 @article{gruen_case_foster_lazarowski_fish_landsberg_depuy_dorman_sherman_2015, title={The use of an open-field model to assess sound-induced fear and anxiety-associated behaviors in Labrador retrievers}, volume={10}, ISSN={["1878-7517"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.jveb.2015.03.007}, abstractNote={Previous studies have shown that the playing of thunderstorm recordings during an open-field task elicits fearful or anxious responses in adult beagles. The goal of our study was to apply this open field test to assess sound-induced behaviors in Labrador retrievers drawn from a pool of candidate improvised explosive devices (IED)-detection dogs. Being robust to fear-inducing sounds and recovering quickly is a critical requirement of these military working dogs. This study presented male and female dogs, with 3 minutes of either ambient noise (Days 1, 3 and 5), recorded thunderstorm (Day 2), or gunfire (Day 4) sounds in an open field arena. Behavioral and physiological responses were assessed and compared to control (ambient noise) periods. An observer blinded to sound treatment analyzed video records of the 9-minute daily test sessions. Additional assessments included measurement of distance traveled (activity), heart rate, body temperature, and salivary cortisol concentrations. Overall, there was a decline in distance traveled and heart rate within each day and over the five-day test period, suggesting that dogs habituated to the open field arena. Behavioral postures and expressions were assessed using a standardized rubric to score behaviors linked to canine fear and anxiety. These fear/anxiety scores were used to evaluate changes in behaviors following exposure to a sound stressor. Compared to control periods, there was an overall increase in fear/anxiety scores during thunderstorm and gunfire sound stimuli treatment periods. Fear/anxiety scores were correlated with distance traveled, and heart rate. Fear/anxiety scores in response to thunderstorm and gunfire were correlated. Dogs showed higher fear/anxiety scores during periods after the sound stimuli compared to control periods. In general, candidate IED-detection Labrador retrievers responded to sound stimuli and recovered quickly, although dogs stratified in their response to sound stimuli. Some dogs were robust to fear/anxiety responses. The results suggest that the open field sound test may be a useful method to evaluate the suitability of dogs for IED-detection training.}, number={4}, journal={JOURNAL OF VETERINARY BEHAVIOR-CLINICAL APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH}, author={Gruen, Margaret E. and Case, Beth C. and Foster, Melanie L. and Lazarowski, Lucia and Fish, Richard E. and Landsberg, Gary and Depuy, Venita and Dorman, David C. and Sherman, Barbara L.}, year={2015}, pages={338–345} }
 @article{lazarowski_foster_gruen_sherman_case_fish_milgram_dorman_2014, title={Acquisition of a visual discrimination and reversal learning task by Labrador retrievers}, volume={17}, ISSN={["1435-9456"]}, DOI={10.1007/s10071-013-0712-1}, abstractNote={Optimal cognitive ability is likely important for military working dogs (MWD) trained to detect explosives. An assessment of a dog’s ability to rapidly learn discriminations might be useful in the MWD selection process. In this study, visual discrimination and reversal tasks were used to assess cognitive performance in Labrador retrievers selected for an explosives detection program using a modified version of the Toronto General Testing Apparatus (TGTA), a system developed for assessing performance in a battery of neuropsychological tests in canines. The results of the current study revealed that, as previously found with beagles tested using the TGTA, Labrador retrievers (N = 16) readily acquired both tasks and learned the discrimination task significantly faster than the reversal task. The present study confirmed that the modified TGTA system is suitable for cognitive evaluations in Labrador retriever MWDs and can be used to further explore effects of sex, phenotype, age, and other factors in relation to canine cognition and learning, and may provide an additional screening tool for MWD selection.}, number={3}, journal={ANIMAL COGNITION}, author={Lazarowski, Lucia and Foster, Melanie L. and Gruen, Margaret E. and Sherman, Barbara L. and Case, Beth C. and Fish, Richard E. and Milgram, Norton W. and Dorman, David C.}, year={2014}, month={May}, pages={787–792} }
 @article{lazarowski_dorman_2014, title={Explosives detection by military working dogs: Olfactory generalization from components to mixtures}, volume={151}, ISSN={["1872-9045"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.applanim.2013.11.010}, abstractNote={The training of scent detection dogs using samples of explosives or their chemical precursors is a well-established and documented practice. However an area of canine odor detection that remains under-studied regards a trained dog's perception of an explosive odor when more than one odorant is combined to produce a mixture. The first objective of our study was to determine whether training adult Labrador Retrievers (n = 20) to detect the scent of chemically pure potassium chlorate (PC) was sufficient to produce generalization to PC-based explosive mixtures that contained a novel component. We found that the majority of dogs (87%) trained with pure PC alone did not correctly signal the presence of one or more of four PC-based explosive mixtures. Our second objective was to determine whether training dogs using the separated components found in the PC-based explosives would subsequently enhance detection. Dogs were then trained using a novel static odor delivery device that safely segregated the PC and non-PC components and presented a merged odor to the dog. A statistically significant improvement in percentage of dogs detecting PC-based mixtures after training with the separated components compared to training with PC alone was seen with Mixture 1 (27–100%, P < 0.0001), Mixture 2 (40–81%, P = 0.0229), Mixture 3 (38–94%, P = 0.0004), and Mixture 4 (69–100%, P < 0.005). The results of this study highlight the potential limitations of dogs trained to detect a single odor to then recognize the odor when mixed with other substances. The odor delivery device developed for this study represents an important and effective training option that may reduce the need for using a final PC explosive mixture in canine training.}, journal={APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE}, author={Lazarowski, Lucia and Dorman, David C.}, year={2014}, month={Feb}, pages={84–93} }