Can dogs smell gold?

TerryC

Gold Member
Jun 26, 2008
7,732
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Yarnell, AZ
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Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
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Astrobouncer

Hero Member
Jun 21, 2009
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Hey Terry, that's actually a good idea. I am working toward a degree in criminal justice and last semester I got to visit with the K-9 units at my local PD. They said most of the drug dogs can smell concentrations of parts per million. And bloodhounds/basset hounds can smell such tiny amounts as parts per hundred million.
 

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,384
2,546
North Carolina
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The only dog I can think of to smell gold was Snoop Massey. Too bad he thought rattlesnake smelled like gold. ::)
HH
enamel7
 

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TerryC

TerryC

Gold Member
Jun 26, 2008
7,732
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Yarnell, AZ
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Ace 250 (2), Ace 300, Gold Bug 2, Tesoro Cortes, Garrett Sea Hunter, Whites TDI SL SE, Fisher Impulse 8, Minelab Monster 1000, Minelab CTX3030, Falcon MD20, Garrett Pro-pointer, Calvin Bunker digger.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Naw, was a nice thought but probably won't happen. As soon as CA saw the holes they would be digging all over the Mother Lode, they would do an environmental impact study and the idea would go the same way as dredging! It was a thought, though. TTC
 

Bumpstick

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Jun 1, 2008
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Lake Country WI.
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MineLab/ Excalibur&Exterra705/ Gold Bug
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My lab many years past was good at bringing home paper money. I would find it in the back yard after his piles would wash down. I did work with him on hunting for silver by wadding up my silver digs in a sock and playing catch and tug a war with it. I kept adding to it and wrapping it in a new sock. Some of my best finds where in my own back yard. I would do it again and believe it works. :hello2:
 

jog

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Nov 28, 2008
1,364
682
Tillamook Oregon
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I had a lab that would find shed antlers on comand.
 

Goldwasher

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May 26, 2009
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Sailor Flat, Ca.
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SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
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sorry guys but, its been tried.......alot i bet..man has trained canines for thousands of years to do lots of things especially to use that nose of theirs......and when they are using their nose their smelling shed cells..organic matter....some thing that gold silver etc do not shed......if it were possible.....world leaders generals bandits cowboys rich bored dudes you and i would already have heard about the exploits of these wonderful..gold recovery devices......i cans just see the muddy comical atempts in the camps at night 1851 or so California...." come on boy see this nugget smell it please.....please smell it and tomorrow please please smell it in the ground cause this shovelin to bedrock is gonna kill us"
 

dave wiseman

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Jul 23, 2004
829
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Angels Camp,Ca.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=gold+sniffing+dogs&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= I've asked this on many forums over the years.Everyone says no,I say why not.They may not find placer gold in a waterway,dry/wet but surely gold bearing quartz veins may be another story as pyrites/sulphides oxides and they surely have an odor.Believe I read many years ago of this being tried in Russia.So perhaps a young pup can be trained to find the yellow or a likely gold bearing quartz vein,perhaps on the Sheep ranch road.
 

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TerryC

TerryC

Gold Member
Jun 26, 2008
7,732
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Yarnell, AZ
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Ace 250 (2), Ace 300, Gold Bug 2, Tesoro Cortes, Garrett Sea Hunter, Whites TDI SL SE, Fisher Impulse 8, Minelab Monster 1000, Minelab CTX3030, Falcon MD20, Garrett Pro-pointer, Calvin Bunker digger.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
pvillehunter said:
sorry guys but, its been tried.......alot i bet..man has trained canines for thousands of years to do lots of things especially to use that nose of theirs......and when they are using their nose their smelling shed cells..organic matter....some thing that gold silver etc do not shed......if it were possible.....world leaders generals bandits cowboys rich bored dudes you and i would already have heard about the exploits of these wonderful..gold recovery devices......i cans just see the muddy comical atempts in the camps at night 1851 or so California...." come on boy see this nugget smell it please.....please smell it and tomorrow please please smell it in the ground cause this shovelin to bedrock is gonna kill us"
No no no! Silver DOES leach into the surrounding soil. It is a commonly known truth that coinshooters rely on this phenomenon to find older silver coins. Once the coin is disturbed, though, the effect goes away.
DAVE! You on Sheep Ranch Rd? That's just down the mountain from me here at Murphys. I'm working on permission to work Coyote Cr. behind Irish Vinyards. Wanna go, if I get it?? TTC
 

dave wiseman

Hero Member
Jul 23, 2004
829
843
Angels Camp,Ca.
Terry,fairly busy of late.I'm down the hill in Angels.I help out Mike Darby who has the little gold shop in downtown Angels Camp,cleaning,panning and evaluating his quartz gold samples.If you've the time I'm at my twice daily hangout,Rodz grille in Angels..5:45-6:30 A.M. and 1:45-2:30 afternoons if you want to B.S, gold stuff.At the counter.I don't get around good enough to do hiking and climbing anymore.....Dave.
 

Goldwasher

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May 26, 2009
6,077
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Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
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SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
ore smell i might go for...???? they smell bombs and gun powder right? whats up with that? :read2: ??? maybe the thing to figure out about dogs is how to ground balance them :laughing7:
 

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TerryC

TerryC

Gold Member
Jun 26, 2008
7,732
10,991
Yarnell, AZ
Detector(s) used
Ace 250 (2), Ace 300, Gold Bug 2, Tesoro Cortes, Garrett Sea Hunter, Whites TDI SL SE, Fisher Impulse 8, Minelab Monster 1000, Minelab CTX3030, Falcon MD20, Garrett Pro-pointer, Calvin Bunker digger.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
pvillehunter said:
ore smell i might go for...???? they smell bombs and gun powder right? whats up with that? :read2: ??? maybe the thing to figure out about dogs is how to ground balance them :laughing7:
My dog got "ground balanced" by the neighbor's John Deer Gator a few weeks ago. Rode over him! Dog's fault. Not hurt bad... just didn't stop running till he got a half mile away, on the other side of the property! Now I think he's afeard of the color green. Dave... I'll look you up... TTC
 

bakergeol

Bronze Member
Feb 4, 2004
1,268
176
Colorado
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GS5 X-5 GMT
There was one oldtimer who had a dog- "Rusty" I believe was his name that
could sniff out and dig gold nuggets. He would visit tourist spots with a lot
of newbie folks out there panning for gold. He would tell them that Rusty could
sniff out nuggets. He would unlease Rusty and soon enough the little dog would sniff out a site and start to dig and out pops a nugget. Again he would unlease Rusty and after he had "pinpointed" a nugget- the oldtime would carefully dig out another nugget. Very quickly the "oldtime" was selling spots where "Rusty" had pinpointed to the tourists. After selling some spots the "oldtime" quietly left the area to the tourists and their newfound wealth.

Moral of this story.

Any dog can sniff and dig out gold nuggets as long as you put a piece of bacon
under them.

George
 

Darshevo

Full Member
Jun 16, 2010
129
7
Spokane, Wa
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Silver uMax, Fisher CZ-6a
I do believe the only way to make gold nuggets better is to make them smell like backon :tongue3:

-Lance
 

FiresEye

Sr. Member
Aug 17, 2010
322
4
Did anyone mention pigs? apparently they can be trained to find chunky Truffle mushrooms, which by weight are "worth their weight in gold"... Those silly chefs and the mushrooms. :laughing7:

Maybe if you named your metal detector dog, you could pretend .



BETTER IDEA: Make a false dog, which is actually a metal detector, but looks like a real dog, and use it to detect in top secret spot, cream of the crop type stuff. Modern robotics... :headbang:

"Excuse me sir, nice dog!?" .........."Yes sir he's having problems, I'm just out walking the dog, good day to you" :hello:
 

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