When a dog is trained to detect drugs, explosives, contraband, or other items, the trainer doesn’t actually teach the dog how to smell; the dog already knows how to discriminate one scent from another. Rather, the dog is trained to become emotionally aroused by one smell versus another. ① In the step-by-step training process, the trainer attaches an “emotional charge” to a particular scent so that the dog is drawn to it above all others. ② And then the dog is trained to search out the desired item on cue, so that the trainer can control or release the behavior. ③ This emotional arousal is also why playing tug with a dog is a more powerful emotional reward in a training regime than just giving a dog a food treat, since the trainer invests more emotion into a game of tug. ④ As long as the trainer gives the dog a food reward regularly, the dog can understand its “good” behavior results in rewards. ⑤ From a dog’s point of view, the tug toy is compelling because the trainer is “upset” by the toy.

* contraband: 밀수품 ** tug: 잡아당김