Within ACT!, innovation is an essential ongoing process. We started to work with laser directional dogs in the ’90s when lasers were costly and not easy to buy. Through the years, we did a lot of innovations and product development in the canine world. We designed many different canine camera systems. Used much different radio- and laser systems to send directional information to dogs. We experimented with their sense of smell by using other odor delivery systems (ODD’s) and many mixtures.
We introduced a lot of electronics into the canine world to help us train dogs more efficiently and deploy them more effectively in many operations. Besides product development on and around dogs, we changed the training environment. We started to work with protocols, gathered data during training and operations, and used our data to make the training better all the time. We did work around the scent wheels by fitting them with electronic sensors, and computers are an excellent example.
In this way, we could train dogs faster, imprint them better and make them more reliable ‘biological sensors’ in our operations. Besides the dogs, we also developed better ways to teach handlers and trainers. Product development is not only hardware. It’s also about training protocols, tactics, and much more. This development will never stop and is bringing us all together. Stay curious! Stay safe and enjoy training!