How does the behaviour of bio-detection dogs correlate with handler decision-making?

Parr-Cortes, Z., Morant, S., Muller, C. T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0455-7132, Drysdale, E., Guest, C. and Rooney, N.J. 2026. How does the behaviour of bio-detection dogs correlate with handler decision-making? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 305 , 107178. 10.1016/j.applanim.2026.107178

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Abstract

During detection dog training, handlers must interpret dog behaviour to decide whether a target has been found. However, the consistency of handlers’ decisions, and the behaviours they are based on, remain understudied. Eighty-four videos of 11 disease-detection dogs were shown to eight raters, blinded to search outcomes. They recorded: the dog’s response using established decision categories; their certainty that the dog had identified a target (scale: 1–7); and the strength of the dog’s response (scale: 1–5). Dog behaviour was also objectively analysed. Results showed moderate agreement between raters’ decisions. We found many behaviours significantly associated with a target were also interpreted as indications by raters (e.g. sitting and time in contact with the sample port), while subtle behaviours like “head knock” were interpreted as interest or hesitation. Closer attention to such behaviours, and training of handler to avoid ambiguity in classification may improve the reliability of handlers’ decisions, data recording and consequently dog training success.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Biosciences
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0168-1591
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 September 2026
Date of Acceptance:	7 September 2026
Last Modified:	21 Sep 2026 14:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189740

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