(logo clunks) (log buzzes) (peaceful music) (waves crashing) (peaceful music continues) - I think when people come out with us, they're like, "Oh, I could do that because it's very quiet," and it just looks like we're hiking in the woods with the dogs, but what they don't realize is there's an entire undercurrent of communication happening.

I would love to even have a minute inside of Pilsen's brain as he sniffs, like what is really going on?

They have millions of olfactory receptors and ours is only a fraction.

They see their world totally different.

(car swooshing) (water rushing) Thank you, come on.

There we go.

Nice work.

There's a little teeny tiny larva that we put out from the Oregon Zoo.

We just want the dogs to, before we go out into the field where they are, just have a reminder of what we're sniffing for, so it's super tiny.

It's like a grain of rice right there.

(gentle piano music) What's there?

Did you even smell it?

Nice job.

Good boy.

Good boy.

So there's a lot of diverse odors out there that dogs can help us find information on that otherwise is very challenging for researchers to obtain information otherwise, and then we're able to collect that information non-invasively.

My biggest desire to be in this field was to have that impact on threatened or endangered species that we are directly assisting and providing information that brings about some sort of positive effects towards their recovery.

That's where it was.

Yes.

Good job!

It's really easy for them very quickly to learn, oh, this odor equals playtime.

If given enough time, I think dogs can really assist in getting to the bottom of these questions that have been stumping researchers over and over and over again for years and so we're kind of like the last-ditch effort.

Like, can the dogs come in and save the day?

(ocean roaring) (seagulls calling) (gentle piano music) So one of the projects that's super exciting for us is working with the Oregon silverspot butterfly larva.

The Oregon silverspot butterfly is a threatened species and their range is shrinking quite drastically.

There's a captive breeding program going on for this species, releasing adults in the wild so everyone can see the adults, but they didn't know if their efforts were working and so that's kind of where the dogs come in.

If we can find the larva before they release the adults, then we can know whether or not that population is in fact breeding and recovering.

(gentle piano music continues) Check here, you see there?

Good job.

Often the dogs that we adopt are out of chances.

We see them come from the shelter shy, nervous, fearful.

Some have had issues, behavioral issues with aggression and they're just kind of the unwanteds.

And then we bring them in and we teach them this game and before you know it, they're just a whole new dog.

We're giving these dogs back a bit of their little bit of a wild side.

I have never met other beings with as big a soul as dogs.

They don't ask questions.

They don't doubt you.

They support you every step of the way.

They encourage you.

They bring joy.

They accept us in all our faults.

They accept us in all of our mistakes.

I don't know of any other relationship that I get to have where I'm always accepted for who I am.

(wind gushing) Oh yeah, here's a feeding sign.

- So we found silverspot larva.

There was a lot of feeding sign on these violets and it was kind of tucked away back behind a coast strawberry leaf and so we're going to use this wild caterpillar- - Good job.

- To try to help Pilsen recognize the scent that we're after.

- Come over here.

(lively music) You're so close.

Nice.

Good boy.

It was right there, huh?

Where'd it go?

- [Rich] Kinda hidden up in the strawberry leaves there.

- [Jennifer] Oh.

- [Rich] And I just saw his head poking out just a little bit shine- - No way.

- On the head, right?

That's why it's key to have a number of different eyes here because you, everyone's gonna see things a little bit differently and you just hope that somebody gets the right angle at the right time and picks up these really cryptic little caterpillars.

(Rich laughs) Well done.

That was good, Pilsen.

You put your nose right on it.

(gentle music) - [Jennifer] I think the more that we realize how dogs see their world differently than us, the more we can kind of imagine and design new project ideas that they could help us with because there's just so much out there that we don't yet understand about how things are connected.

We might in some way be providing like that clue, the answer that they need in order to understand what this species might need for recovery.

And I also think that part of the secret sauce to this methodology, even though it's a science method, is love.

Like it doesn't work unless I, in a way, give them a part of my heart.

Only in that way then have we been able to make some really incredible discoveries together.

(gentle music continues)