Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center: Growing by Leaps and Bounds |
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August 27, 2013,
Volume 60, No. 2 |
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Above, Socks, a labrador retriever, with Dr. Cynthia Otto, during one of many training sessions this past year while Socks was maturing from an 8-week old 25 lb. puppy to a nearly full-grown 59 lb dog. Socks learned search, agility and obedience. She had her PennHIP done to assess, measure and interpret hip joint laxity in preparation for her upcoming service with the Penn Police as an explosive detection dog. |
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The Penn Vet Working Dog Center has been making great strides during the past 12 months since it opened its doors at Penn’s South Bank last year on September 11. Led by Dr. Cynthia Otto, associate professor of critical care at Penn Vet Ryan Hospital, the Working Dog Center (WDC) is a nonprofit entity formed in 2007 within the University but without a physical home until last fall. The ribbon cutting, on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, was befitting a center that has been studying search and rescue dogs. Dr. Otto had deployed with working dogs as they responded to Ground Zero on 9/11 and she has been monitoring their long-term health.
The University of Pennsylvania Police Department (UPPD) now has its first ever canine officer, Socks, a female Labrador retriever—named in honor of Socks Lavoie who deployed to the Staten Island Landfill following the attack of 9/11. Since last September, Socks—part of the Working Dog Center’s inaugural puppy class—had been one of the seven puppies who trained at the Center by day and lived with foster families while being prepared to be a “future working dog.” She had lived with her foster parents, Penn’s EVP Craig Carnaroli and his wife, Amie Thornton. Socks, will now begin her new assignment with UPPD officer Nick DePallo as they embark on the canine training program in ordnance detection this fall. Socks now lives and works with Officer DePallo as he familiarizes her with Penn’s campus.
There are now 16 puppies at the WDC; other puppies from the inaugural class will be going to organizations that need highly trained working canines, such as local police departments, the Transportation Security Administration and the military.
The mission of the Working Dog Center is to bring together programs that employ detection dogs to benefit society throughout the US and around the world. The overarching goal is to collect and analyze genetic, behavioral and physical data, and integrate the latest scientific information to optimize the success and well being of detection dogs. In order to prepare for future demands for these dogs as well as facilitate research, their detection-dog breeding/training program implements, tests and disseminates knowledge gained.
Detection dogs, sometimes called “sniffer dogs” are those that use their sense of smell to identify particular odors, such as explosives, drugs, or lost people. New research has demonstrated that the dogs can also help identify diseases such as cancer and two are in the diabetic alert study.
Recently, three of the dogs at the WDC have been involved in a study to develop cancer nano-sensors; the dogs are being trained to recognize ovarian cancer’s smell in order to help scientists identify key components in that scent. Since ovarian cancer defies early detection, it kills 14,000 women a year. The research was launched by Penn and the Monell Chemical Senses Center to find ways to detect these cancers sooner by detecting the odors of the disease.
The Working Dog Center is looking for more foster families who are willing and able to care for their detection-dogs-in-training for about a year, promoting obedience and socialization. Penn Vet takes care of the puppies’ veterinary care, vaccinations, grooming, as well as costs for food and crates. For more information about volunteering, fostering or donating to the WDC, visit pennvetwdc.org
Members of the Penn community are invited to join in celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center on September 24, 2013. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at 3401 Grays Ferry Avenue and will be followed by casual lunch and live search demonstrations. Space is limited, so please RSVP to Jillian Marcussen at jillian2@vet.upenn.edu or (215) 898-4235. Free parking is available at the Center.
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Above, Penn Police Officer Nick DePallo with his new canine partner, Officer Socks. They will attend a police training program beginning at the end of September so that Socks will be certified for her new career. |
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Trainer Jonathan Ball leading Ohlin, a labrador retriever, around a rotating daisy wheel with paint cans attached to planks; one of the cans held the cancer sample. The apparatus—made by Penn Engineering students—is used during the ovarian cancer-sniffing training with three dogs in the WDC's cancer detection program. |
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