Can drug dogs smell vape? Well, yes, they can. But I think it’s worth looking deeper into the question than just a simple yes or no.
We know dogs have a much more sophisticated sense of smell than human beings. But have you ever thought to yourself why are dogs so happy to get up close and personal to some frankly, horrendous smelling objects? Not just that, but they don’t seem to bat an eye or throw up as we probably would.
It seems when dogs smell something that likely makes us wretch, his sense of smell isn’t making the smell more powerful. It’s so sophisticated that it opens up layers within the smell that relay information to the dog. I know, fascinating, isn’t it?
Until I understood this I used to wonder why my Havanese would like to get his nose within 1mm, of something I could smell, standing 6 feet away from it.
If you think about your last walk together, didn’t it make you wonder why they spend so long smelling one particular spot? Everything around us has a distinct smell to your dog. Even different areas or parts of the same thing can relay fresh information.
What does all this have to do with can drug dogs smell vape? Well, everything, because without a dog’s ability to smell in this way, they wouldn’t be able to differentiate any of the harmful or dangerous objects they train them to detect.
Can Drug Dogs Smell Vape Pens?
It depends on what the dog has been trained to detect and what is being used in the vape pen. If the two are the same then yes, he can smell a vape pen.
They have trained dogs to detect an unbelievable amount of things. For example, drugs, explosives, human remains, cancer, firearms, low blood sugar emergencies in humans, mobile phones, and that’s only a few.
Can Drug Dogs Smell Vape Cartridges?
We know dogs can detect vape cartridges if we have specially trained them to sniff out what the cartridge contains. But what if they were wrapped in airtight containers or even vacuum-packed?
What a sniffer dog cannot smell through is airtight containers made from glass. If the seal is genuinely air-tight, then no smell can escape. Then there’s nothing for the dog to smell.
Plastic containers, or wrappings, even if vacuum packed or extremely well sealed, are porous and the odour will at some point escape.
There might also be minute traces of whatever the package contains on the outside wrappings. It makes sense that the person wrapping the package also filled and handled the contents. Some transference is extremely likely.
How Can Dogs Smell Vape Pens And Cartridges?
In the training of drug dogs, they learn to recognize 2 to 5 different substances. So a customs dog might have the training to help them discover cannabis or THC. If a vape pen or cartridge contains these ingredients, then the dog will identify that fact. It would be the same if they taught the dog to identify nicotine.
Any combination of these drugs could be mixed together in liquid form, and it wouldn’t matter. Going back to what I said earlier in the article, that a dog’s sense of smell can interpret distinct smells from different areas or parts of the same thing.
A dog’s smell can separate distinct smells. For instance, a rose has a single smell to humans, but to a dog, each petal of the rose can have a distinct smell.
This doesn’t necessarily mean because they can, they will. Remember, it’s down to their training. Typically, most sniffer dog’s training is to detect the most dangerous substances, which would be hard drugs and explosives.
Can Drug Dogs Detect Marijuana Edibles?
It will depend on the dog’s training, if their training included sniffing out cannabis, or more importantly THC, then yes, the drugs dog could identify marijuana in edible products.
Can Sniffer Dogs Smell Cannabis Oil?
If the dog’s training includes marijuana products then yes, he will smell cannabis oil. Dogs without the correct training may have some difficulty if the smell is very faint.
Will A Drugs Dog Be Able To Spot The Difference Between THC And CBD?
Both are very similar in their scent. CBD and THC are both cannabinoids, but THC is the one that will make you high. The laws surrounding these products vary and are confusing. There is not likely to be any difference to a drugs dog trained to sniff out marijuana.
Can Dogs Smell Dab Pens
A Dab pen is a vaporizer, and if the pen is being used to inhale marijuana, a drug dog will sniff out the scent.
For a drug dog to identify the scent of a particular drug, he’s given a scent of the drug, the law enforcement officers are looking for. If the dog picks up the scent he will inform his handler.
The alerts are not always the same for every dog and handler. Some will bark, some dogs sit by their find until the handler comes to them, some may just point with their noses, and if they find is in a loose dirt or gravel area, the dog may dig or paw at the location.
Is It Possible To Trick A Drug Dog?
If a dog has been through his training to sniff out marijuana-related products, then it’s nigh on impossible to trick them. The smell is so distinctive and difficult to hide. As we mentioned earlier, even vacuum-packed wrapping will leak some odours.
If they have stored it for a while there’s even more chance the smell will be easily detectable for a highly trained dog. Pet animals might form some kind of distraction for the sniffer dog but it will not fool a trained handler for long.
Summary – Can Drug Dogs Smell Vape?
As we said, the answer is yes, they can. With their highly sensitive noses and specialized training, it’s easy for a drug dog to sniff out vape. They can’t be fooled easily either.
But, if they haven’t been specifically trained to do so and they’re not looking for it, then they will more than likely pass it by.
