Thoughts on gold sniffing dogs. Fact or Fiction?

GoldHunter24k

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Hey guys. So I just recently came across a small article on the possibility of training your dog to sniff out gold. It makes sense that a dog could potentially be trained to detect sulfides and minerals associated with gold but it's hard to speculate without seeing it in action for myself. I can see the dog being able to sniff out a general area where those elements are concentrated, but can a dog really sniff out a clean nugget? How about if the nugget was under water?

I found this on amazon so it's definitely been tried

"How to Train Your Dog to Find Gold"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14...=1453607137&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwdoradovist-20


What do you guys think? Does gold have enough scent to be detected by our furry friends? I'd say it's worth a shot
 

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Hoser John

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When donkeys fly and chickens talk dogs will smell gold. A animal can be taught to seek out sulfides and related odiferous smells yes-but gold as gold has no smell so cold day in LL unless sulfide based hardrock,which only 1 in a millionn is productive and then a nightmare to work with---John
 

NeoTokyo

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I agree with John on that one.
 

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GoldHunter24k

GoldHunter24k

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Yea that's what I figured as well. Thanks for the input!

I still think it would be cool to train a dog to find other minerals that maybe have more odor to them.

What about training them to snipe underwater for gold? ;)
 

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KevinInColorado

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It would be fun watching you TRY to train a dog to do that!....guaranteed comedy, better call the Discovery Channel ;-)
 

Aurabbit79er

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Dogs are also visual.
My pointer had eyes as good as her ears and nose.
At the East Fork She could catch frogs in mid flight and would dive head first and catch small fish. Used to call her the Bismarck.
Look at her concentration.
IMGA0240.jpg IMGA0241.jpg IMGA0229.jpg .
I always wanted to train her to look for gold.
I really miss that dog.
 

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Hoser John

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Losing a good dog is akin to losing a wife. except...The dog chews on bones albeit wives chew on husbands butts------ :laughing7:
 

nuggetshooter323

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Tom Massie struck gold with his gold sniffing dog, in the form of ratings for his show for a lot of seasons.
 

amulbunny79

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Dogs are also visual.
My pointer had eyes as good as her ears and nose.
At the East Fork She could catch frogs in mid flight and would dive head first and catch small fish. Used to call her the Bismarck.
Look at her concentration.
View attachment 707602 View attachment 707603 View attachment 707604 .
I always wanted to train her to look for gold.
I really miss that dog.

She loved him so much she slept on his side of the bed with her head on his pillow when he was gone. She was a once in a lifetime dog and I miss her as much as he does. She's been gone 6 years now and I've yet to meet another dog that I would consider her equal. My mini schnauzer doesn't count as a water dog.
 

Rawhide

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My dogs came trained already, they are still trying to train me.
 

NJnuggetpirate

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dogs yea but not very deep but wolfdogs can there sense of smell is 8 times strong then domestic also they dont lose a trail in water or rain as soon as i get my wolfdog im going to get the book and dvd there was an article about this in the GPAA magazine
 

calisdad

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Good luck with that NJNP. I know for a fact that dogs can smell underwater. Don't know how but they do. If you're sucessful your dog will command a handsome stud fee.

I've heard cougars can smell gold. ;-)
 

NJnuggetpirate

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lol 2000 dollars for them most of the time but wolves are smarted then dogs a dog has a brain capacity of maybe a 2 year old but as a wolf they start at the brain capacity of a 5 year old and then get smarter the only thing i would be worried about lol if i go fossil hunting and he/she tries to eat a dinosaur bone ahahaha
 

robgwv

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Had a lab that could fetch marked rocks in 3' of water,But, It takes decay to create scent.Gold does not tarnish or rust(decay)...ps The rocks i threw had me skin cells (scent ) on them...K9 SAR
 

rodoconnor

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I got a couple I'll sell you. I'll even throw in a free cat
 

Aurabbit79er

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This older post should be a good read for Hunter.
I have my gold sniffing Dog story there.
Thread: Does gold have a scent?
 

NJnuggetpirate

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yes sir i like to this of it as a weaker copper smell and taste
 

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