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Scent Detection In The News - Archaeology Dog Migaloo


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http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/this-dog-has-a-nose-for-archeology/story-e6freoof-1226463394595?sv=438658fe0984b8a0d7a8aae5505c19b5

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MEET Migaloo - the wonder dog that can sniff out a 600-year-old human skeleton buried almost 2m underground.

The three-year-old female black labrador cross is believed to be the world's first trained archeology dog.

She is destined to work on surveys of Aboriginal sacred sites across Australia, with other dogs now likely to be similarly trained to work on excavations at ancient civilisation sites such as Egypt, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

Brisbane dog expert Gary Jackson trained the clever canine using 250-year-old skeletal remains from an Aboriginal burial site, on loan from the South Australian Museum.

"She's got an amazing nose, with a strong drive," he said.

"It has taken us more than six months of training, field trials and a final search test.

"But the dog is hitting bone fragment with 100 per cent certainty every time."

Mr Jackson, owner of Multinational K9, at Narangba, has trained cadaver, koala, quoll, bomb and drug sniffer dogs.

But he insists Migaloo is the world's first dedicated archaeology dog and the new world record holder after her latest test on a 600-year-old aboriginal burial ground on Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.

He said the previous oldest bone find was by trained cadaver detection dog Candy owned by Bill Tolhurst set 25 years ago on an excavation site from the Battle of Snake Hill in Ontario, United States in 1812.

"At 175 years old that was the oldest human bone find in history and that is why this is so important.

"Migaloo has beaten the previous world record by 425 years.

"This is a big deal. We now know a dog can detect 600-year-old bones up to 2m underground."

Dog expert Brad Griggs, of the National Dog Trainers Federation in Melbourne, said it was a huge breakthrough.

"What on earth is that dog picking up on? What is left to sniff?," said Mr Griggs.

"This dog has a real gift. She is quite remarkable."

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Great story. Thanks for posting.

If dogs can smell gunpowder and other chemicals, it's not surprising that they can smell bones. If they did more archaeological scent detection training, it wouldn't surprise me to hear dogs were finding sites that are many thousands of years old.

I do wish they would stop distinguishing Labradors by color, though. Black, yellow, chocolate . . . they're the same breed.

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Here is a radio interview with Gary Jackson about Migaloo. I did a scent detection course through NDTF and he was one of the guest speakers, also gave a demo and training session. You've got to be on the ball if you want to absorb all the information when he is speaking, that is for sure, he speaks quickly :laugh:

http://www.4kq.com.au/shows/laurel-gary-mark-morning/highlights/migaloo-the-bone-hunter

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  • 3 weeks later...

Migaloo is a rescue dog from Red Collar Rescue here in Bundaberg :thumbsup:

I also thought this video was really interesting. Gary is asking what your opinion is on the Migaloo Facebook page. Did she find the article by memory or residue odour?

The video -

The FB page - https://www.facebook.com/detectiondogmigaloo?ref=ts

Was just about to post this! Saw it the other day, funny that I've seen two things about this dog in a week. She's certainly a star and so great that she's a rescue!

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  • 7 months later...

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