Question

If a young child goes missing, predict why a bloodhound and not a poodle would be used to find the child.

a) Bloodhounds have a better sense of smell than poodles.
b) Poodles are not trained for search and rescue.
c) Bloodhounds have better hearing capabilities.
d) Poodles are smaller and can fit into smaller spaces.

Answer 1

A bloodhound is chosen for search and rescue tasks like finding a missing child due to their superior sense of smell, which is a result of breeding for enhanced olfactory receptors and a larger olfactory epithelium. This ability makes them much more effective compared to poodles, which are not specifically bred for such tasks.

Step-by-step explanation:

The primary reason a bloodhound would be used over a poodle in the search for a missing child stems from the bloodhound's superior sense of smell. Bloodhounds have been selectively bred to enhance their olfactory abilities, resulting in them having a larger number of olfactory receptors and a larger olfactory epithelium. This enables them to track scents over long distances and through difficult terrain, making them exemplary at search and rescue tasks. On the other hand, most poodles have not been bred specifically for their smelling abilities and typically do not have the same level of olfactory sensitivity as bloodhounds.

Furthermore, bloodhounds have more olfactory receptors than humans and most other dog breeds. With between 800 and 1200 functional genes for olfactory receptors compared to fewer than 400 observed in humans, dogs like bloodhounds can perform remarkable tasks using their sense of smell, such as detecting changes in blood glucose levels and identifying cancerous tumors.