Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121

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Forensic Science International

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint

Individual human scent as a forensic identifier using mantrailing

Leif Woidtkea,b,* , Jan Dreßlera , Carsten Babiana
a
Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Legal Medicine, Johannisallee 28, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
b
University of Applied Police Sciences, Friedensstraße 120, 02929 Rothenburg/O. L., Germany

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 2 February 2017 Specially trained dogs have long been used by law enforcement agencies to help in criminal
Received in revised form 22 October 2017 investigations and in searching for missing persons. Still, it is unclear which components of human scent
Accepted 13 November 2017 released into the environment contribute to successful searches of individuals. In this study, saliva and
Available online 21 November 2017 axillary sweat samples were taken from a total of 190 people. Additionally, DNA was extracted from
whole blood of seven different people and used as an odour sample as well. Overall 675 tests (trails) were
Keywords: performed during a period of 18 months. The ability to track individuals with the odour samples
Human scent evidence mentioned above was examined with seven dogs, four of which were specially-trained dogs (mantrailer)
Reliability mantrailing
from the Saxony Police. Results indicated that specially-trained police dogs can track a person with an
Mantrailer
average success rate of 82% and correctly identify the absence of an odour track with an average success
Forensic science
DNA rate of 97% under various conditions. Private rescue dogs were less successful with an average success
rate of 65% and 75% respectively. These data suggest that the potential error rate of a well-trained handler
team is low and can be a useful tool for law enforcement personnel. Saliva, as a reference odour source,
was found to be particularly suitable for the search. The results of the study suggest that the components
contained in axillary sweat, saliva and DNA extracted from whole blood are sufficient, serving as a key
stimulus for individualized searches.
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction matching odour, the mantrailer is expected to refuse to trail. The

In police investigations, it is often necessary to prove the
previous presence of a of a known suspect at the crime scene, or to
find evidence for this. Many suspects deny ever having been at the
crime scene. This is particularly true in cases of severe criminal
offenses, such as theft, gang violence, arson, or homicide.
Furthermore, in some cases physical evidence, such as dactylo-
scopic traces or DNA traces, was not yet found nor was available. In
such cases, the police (e.g. in Germany or USA) use special trained
dogs — mantrailer. Mantrailing is the search for and the tracking of
(individual) human scent by using these specially-trained dogs.
The mantrailing canine does not follow mandatorily precise the
footstep-to-footstep track of the individual. This distinguishes a
trailing dog from a tracking dog [1].
Rather, it is of interest whether the dog actually traces an odour
trail of the absent person exclusively, which corresponds to the
reference odour presented on a so-called scent article. If there is no
* Corresponding author at: Leipzig University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of
Legal Medicine, Johannisallee 28, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
E-mail addresses: Leif.Woidtke@medizin.uni-leipzig.de,
leif.woidtke@polizei.sachsen.de (L. Woidtke).
same is expected if a scent is presented from an individual who is
known to have never been there. This aforementioned procedure
or use a blank scent article is a so called “negative check” or
“negative”. In this “negative” case, the canine will typically try to
follow a trail in close vicinity of the starting point. Performing the
negative correctly requires the canine not to trail and show his
handler a corresponding individual behaviour. Examples for
individual behaviours are, that one dog may jump at his handler
while another dog moves only a few steps around the starting
point, yet another remains in place and some check a larger area
and stop or return to the starting point. Finally, only the dog
handler can interpret the dog’s behaviour correctly and is able to
testify the results in court. Thus, the district courts of Dresden,
Chemnitz (both in Saxony) and Lüneburg (in Lower Saxony) have
already accepted the evidential value of Mantrailing evidence
provided by the mantrailers of Saxony Police Force [2–4].
In principle, a trailing canine can only find and follow a trail
from the starting point if a searched person was there and has
moved away from this location in a manner which allows an
exchange of the released human scent trace with the environment
[5–9]. This is in accordance with the Locard’s exchange principle,
which states that a perpetrator cannot leave a crime scene without
leaving numerous traces [10].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.11.021
0379-0738/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
112 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121
From experience in the field, it is known that various body
fluids, such as sweat, saliva or blood are suitable as scent articles
for trailing. Previously sterile gauze pads are used to collect
perpetrators’ individual scent. The suspect is required to open the
sterile package and to wipe himself, e.g. over the forehead or the
neck. Subsequently, this gauze pad is sealed by the suspect in an
airtight plastic bag, which in turn is stowed in a special jar. After
that the dog is confronted with this scent article at the crime scene.
Otherwise, the collection sets for DNA samples are especially
practical for police work. They include cotton swabs for a swab of
the buccal mucosa. Considering this, the suitability of saliva as
scent article is also of interest, since making a swab of the buccal
mucosa to get a suitable scent article can be carried out with
comparatively little effort.
Studies have already indicated the ability of trained dogs (Canis
familiaris) to differentiate humans by their individual scent [11–
19]. However, most of these studies do not focus on the pursuit of
an odour trail. There are only few studies dealing with the
question, whether the human individual scent is traceable in real
life scenarios by canines [20–23]. For the use in court, it is therefore
of great importance whether the results of police operations are
sufficiently reliable in terms of evidence according to legal
standards. The Daubert standard provides a rule of evidence
regarding on the admissibility of expert testimony during federal
legal proceedings in the United States [24]. These criteria include,
whether the method in question has been scientifically tested,
whether it has been subjected to peer review and publication, its
known or potential error rates, and finally, whether it is accepted
within a relevant scientific community [25,26]. There are no
comparable regulations in Germany. The court is free to choose
what to consider as evidence. However, the district court of
Nuremberg has set up principles for the applicability of the results
of the use of mantrailers as sole evidence in a pioneering judgment.
Firstly, the dogs must have the relevant certification level of the
police. Secondly, the used scent article must be clearly assignable
to a concrete person, therefore, only swabs directly from the body
of the person concerned should be used. In addition, the
acquisition of the scent article must be documented in a protocol.
Thirdly, in each case, two dogs must search for the same trail
independently of each other and without the involvement of the
other dog handler. Fourthly, each assignment has to be filmed
completely, in order to allow a posteriori analysis by the court and
an expert [27].
However, this alone does not state the suitability of this
investigation tool and the reliability of the results in principle.
This must be validated in a variety of tests. Therefore, this study
was designed to investigate how reliable the results of mantrail-
ing are under real police operating conditions. This has only been
shown twice, so far. Once, each with five attempts of eight dogs.
The terrain for each individual trail consisted of a combination of
grass, asphalt, cement or dirt [20]. The other time with a large
Table 1
Canine team’s general information.
Team Breed Sex Institution
1 Bloodhound f Police
2 Bloodhound f Police
3 Beagle m Police
4 Goldendoodle m Private
5 Brittany spaniel m Private
6 Bloodhound m Police
7 Bloodhound/Hanover Hound mongrel f Privateb
The variation is presented among the participating dogs, including: breed, sex, institution, canine age, training method, number of years of specific training and certification.
a
The training was based on a separate training concept, taking different approaches into account, not one specific training method.
b
Handled by a police dog handler.
number of attempts. However, thereby the traces were solely laid
on grass [28]. Moreover, this study tested for the first time
whether saliva as well as DNA samples provide sufficient cues to
trail an individual.
2. Methods
2.1. Animals and dog handlers
The study was conducted over a period of 18 months,
starting in November 2014 and included seven dogs of different
breeds (Table 1). Four dogs are mantrailing police dogs from the
Saxony Police and trained according to the method described in
a book written by Armin Schweda [29]. Three dogs are private
rescue dogs, two of which were also trained according to the
Schweda method. The dogs are either certified by the police or
a rescue organisation. Those canine team certifications include
a scent recognition assessment that evaluate the ability of the
canine to detect and use a specific person’s scent on a scent
article to follow the matching scent trail to this specific person
while discriminating from nonmatching scent trails. This trail is
aged at least 24 h and approximately 2000–2500 m in length
[30,31]. The dogs used in the experiments were trained solely
for human scent trailing. All canines, except for the blood-
hound/Hanover Hound mongrel, were handled by their
handlers and work for the police or were used by rescue
organisations. Among the dog handlers were five police officers
and two civilian volunteers affiliated with rescue organisations.
All handlers have been working with the dogs for at least one
year. Everyone had already been deployed to search for missing
persons before. Table 1 highlights the variation present among
the participating teams which can be divided into eight broad
categories, including: breed, sex, institution, canine age,
training method, number of years of specific training and
certification.
2.2. Subjects
The participation was voluntary, and the subjects were
informed about the aims of the study. The appropriate institutional
boards, ethics boards and research boards have approved this
study (German Institutional Research Board: The Ethics Committee
of the University of Leipzig — Faculty of Medicine, reference
number 402-14-15122014). Samples were collected from 190 indi-
viduals, ages 7–86. Among them were 134 male and 56 female
participants (Table 3). Since the study was supposed to imitate real
operating conditions, the subjects did not need to use any hygiene
articles for the scent collection beforehand. However, the
participants were interviewed whether they had consumed body
odour-influencing foods (e.g. garlic or onion) before the experi-
ments started.
Canine age (yy.mm) Training method Training (yy.mm) Certification
4.5 Schweda 4.2 Police
5.3 Schweda 4.7 Police
5 Schweda 4 Police
1.7 N/Aa 1.2 DLRG
4 Schweda 2.5 DRK
6.9 Schweda 5 Police
4 N/Aa 2.1 DRK
 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121
2.3. Scent collection
Previous studies as well as own experience have shown that
various items are suitable for scent collection [17,32–35]. In this
study, two different materials were used — customary medical
gauze swabs and specially made foam blanks. These were either
prepared with axillary sweat, saliva, DNA extracted from whole
blood, or enzymatically decomposed DNA (as described below)
and then used as scent articles.
2.3.1. Armpit sampling
A MaiMed1 10 cm
10 cm gauze swab, 8-ply-sterile, made of
surgical gauze type was used to collect scent. The subjects were
required to wear a new pair of latex gloves, then open the sterile
package and clamp the contained gauze pads for 10 min under
their left or right armpit. Subsequently, this gauze pad was sealed
by the subject in an airtight 250
350 mm — 50 m ziplock bag and
stowed in another airtight 250
350 mm — 50 m ziplock bag. The
ziplock bag was provided by the experimenter and marked with a
number in lieu of names in order to carry out a double-blind study,
i.e., that neither the dog handler nor the accompanying persons
(escort, camera operator) nor the runners were aware of the target
scent article (A, B or a negative) presented to the dog. The
experiments were performed the same day about 30 min on
average after the sampling. Overall the experiments on one day
takes an average time of about 4 h and a maximum of max. 7.5 h,
depending on the number of dogs participating and the location of
the trial.
Additionally, specially made foam blanks, PANAPOR filter foam
PPI 60T/PUR-ether foam, RG ca.25 kg/m3, 11 mm diameter
40
mm, PANA Foamtec GmbH, were used to collect scent. The
experimenter handed the subjects airtight ziplock bags — 50 m,
250
350 mm with foam blanks. The subjects were required to
wear a new pair of latex gloves, then open the ziplock bag and
clamp the contained foam blanks for 10 min under the left and/or
right armpit. Then, the foam blanks were sealed by the subject. The
stowing procedure thereafter that was the same as the one with
the gauze swabs. The experiments were performed the same day
after the sampling.
2.3.2. Saliva sampling
The same PANAPOR filter foam blanks used for the armpit
sampling were used for saliva scent sampling. The experimenter
handed the subjects an airtight ziplock bag — 50 m, 250
350 mm
with a number of foam blanks and ziplock bags. The subjects were
required to wear a new pair of latex gloves, then open the ziplock
bag and take the foam blanks in their mouth and moisten them
with saliva afterwards for about five seconds. Thereafter, each
moistened foam blank was sealed by the subject in an airtight
250
350 mm — 50 m ziplock bag and then put in another airtight
250
350 mm — 50 m ziplock bag. This ziplock bag was provided
by the experimenter with a number in lieu of names in order to
carry out a double-blind study. The experiments were performed
the same day on average about 30 min after the sampling. Overall
the experiments on one day takes an average time of about 4 h and
a maximum of max. 5 h, depending on the number of dogs
participating and the location of the trial.
The number of gauze pads or foam blanks that were provided
varied, pending on the number of dogs participating in the
experiment on each of the days.
2.3.3. DNA sampling
From seven subjects blood samples of 100 ml were taken by a
physician through venepuncture. The DNA was isolated by means
of isopropanol precipitation [36] in the Institute for Legal Medicine
of the University of Leipzig, Department of Forensic Molecular
113
Genetics. Thus, 1000 ml of buffer solutions were prepared for each
sample with a DNA content between 0.7245 ng/ml and 1.386 ng/ml
determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction PCR with
the PowerQuant1 System (Promega Corporation, Madison, WI)
[37]. Nevertheless, due to the method, it is not excluded that some
proteins, polysaccharides and RNA precipitate simultaneously
with the DNA and were therefore still present. In each case 100 ml
of the DNA sample was dripped onto foam blanks under sterile
conditions and dried afterwards. In order to check the essential
influence of the DNA as a key stimulus for the dogs, corresponding
negative samples were prepared. As a negative sample, DNA was
extracted from whole-blood samples as described above. Then, the
DNA precipitate was finally removed from the buffer solution and
the absence of DNA in the samples was detected by means of real-
time PCR with the PowerQuant1 System. The prepared foam
blanks were stored in air-tight sealed ziplock bags at 5  C. The
experiments were performed up to a maximum of six weeks after
sampling.
2.4. Experimental design
Tests were conducted in twelve different villages, towns and
cities throughout Saxony under operational conditions. Overall,
there were 49 urban test locations. Each test was performed at a T-
junction, i.e. the urban development had been selected so that the
dog could only move into three directions: to the left or to the right
or backwards (Fig. 1). At the respective T-junction, at least two to
five runs were carried out in succession with different trail layers
(runners) for each dog. No dog carried out a search at the same
location one of the participating dogs had already used on the
same day. One location was used only once for one dog a day.
Runner A and Runner B walked a split trail for the experiments
absolutely simultaneously to avoid minute differences in “fresh-
ness” of the trail, that could be a cue for dogs and were sent along
the pavement either 100 m to the left or 100 m to the right, waiting
there behind a wall or in a doorway. This was to avoid a visual
incentive for the dog. The test area was not closed off so
pedestrians walking by and traffic occurred.
At each run, the dog handler randomly chose one out of three
identically looking ziplock bags, containing either the scent article
of runner A or runner B, or the scent article of an absent person
(negative). The plastic bags were marked arbitrarily with a
coloured dot (red, green, blue), so they could be distinguished
by the experimenter. In order to mimic real-live police scenarios,
there was no prior performance test for any of the dogs. This was
different than, for example, what was conducted by Schoon, in
relation to the interest of the dog for the odour of the target person
[38] or what Harvey et al. described [20,28], in relation to the
correct identification of a negative. Each experiment was taken
into account. Five minutes after the trail was laid, the search was
performed. The start was carried out in a starting area in front of or
in the T-junction, in a right angle to the runner’s running direction
(Fig. 1). To begin the experiment, the handler and the dog were
taken to the starting corridor. The handler presented the scent
article, which was randomly chosen, to the dog, that was then
given the command to trail. During the testing, the handlers were
asked to judge whether their dog presented them with a negative
or positive trail. The result of a trail was noted after the dog handler
had stated that their dog displays a negative or after the dog had
left the decision area on its way to the runner. The decision-making
area extended from the T-junction 50 m to the left and 50 m to the
right. After leaving the decision area, the dog handler was informed
via walkie-talkie whether the decision of their dog was correct or
wrong. Indicating the target person was not an evaluation
criterion, so the dogs were not expected to complete the trail to
the runner. Nevertheless, if the decision with a target present was
114 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121

Fig. 1. Experimental design of a T-junction. Model overview of a T-junction with dog’s starting area, decision-making area and position of the target persons. During each test
trail layer A and B was asked to walk along the pavement either 100 m to the left or 100 m to the right and to hide. The dog was presented with a randomly chosen scent of one
of the two persons in the pair or of a negative trail and asked to differentiate. Illustration using material from ClkerFreeVectorImages, provided on Pixabay https://pixabay.
com/, licensed under Creative-Commons-Lizenz CC0 1.0 Universal https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.

stated as correct all dogs made a correct tag of the target person in
100% of the cases. Since the police dogs were still used in criminal
proceedings during the time period when the experiments took
place, negative effects of field operations should be avoided. This
means that regardless of whether the test was considered wrong,
the handler was allowed to finish the correct trail, so the dog could
find and tagging the target person for motivation and training
purposes. If the dog was successful in finding and tagging the
target person, it received a reward, for example, it received a treat
like cheese spread or liver sausage or was being pet.
A time limit used to make the decision was not set because the
tests should simulate real operational scenarios. After a short
break, another round followed with two other runners: C and D, E
and F, etc.
Test series 1 was performed with axillary odour on gauze pads
as scent articles, test series 2 with axillary odour on foam blanks as
scent articles, test series 3 with saliva on foam blanks as scent
articles and test series 4 with DNA on foam blanks as scent articles
or saliva on foam blanks as scent articles. The dog handlers were
not informed about the DNA samples; they have still assumed the
use of saliva samples. All tests were performed blindly, meaning
that neither the dog handler nor the accompanying people (escort,
camera operator) nor the runners were aware of the target scent
article (A, B or a negative). The dogs performing the trails were
videotaped and tracked by Global Positioning System (GPS). For
this purpose, a Garmin Astro1 320 handheld GPS device and a DC
TM
50 dog tracking collar (Garmin International Inc., Olathe, KS)
were used.
2.4.1. Weather
The weather data, including the wind direction and speed, were
recorded on site with the weather station Davis Vantage Pro 2
6152EU that combines rain collector, temperature and humidity
sensors and anemometer (Davis Instruments, Vernon Hills, IL).
Since the tests were supposed to simulate real operations, a special
alignment of the T-junction depending on the daily wind direction
was not implemented. The weather conditions varied throughout
the 57 test days. The temperature readings were between 4,9  C
and 36.8  C. On average, the wind speed was between 1.6 km/h and
16 km/h, with some winds gusting up to 33.8 km/h. The humidity
reached values between 16% and 90% and the air pressure was
between 933 to 1033 hPa. The effect of weather on the overall
performance of the dogs is subject for further examination.
2.5. Statistical analysis
The following constellations were used for analysis.
Test series 1–4
“CORRECT” — The dog leaves the decision area in direction of
the target person from whom the presented scent article originates
— a true positive.
“CORRECT” — The dog shows a negative indication within the
decision area in case of a presented scent article from an absent
person — a true negative. “CORRECT” is also stated, if the dog shows
a negative indication within the decision area in case of a presented
scent article from blood extracts without DNA.
“WRONG” — The dog leaves the decision area in the direction of
the person from whom the presented scent article does not
originate — a false positive.
“WRONG” — The dog does not show a negative indication
within the decision area in case of a presented scent article from an
absent person — a false positive.
“WRONG” — The dog shows a negative indication within the
decision area in case of a presented scent article from a present
person — a false negative. “WRONG” is also stated, if the dog does
not show a negative indication within the decision area in case of a
presented scent article from blood extracts without DNA — a false
negative.
A binomial test was used to demonstrate the abilities of the
canines to use a specific person’s scent on a scent article to detect
and to follow the matching scent trail of this specific person while
discriminating from nonmatching scent trails and to demonstrate
the absence of a matching scent trail better than chance.
Percentages for “CORRECT” and “WRONG” findings were calculat-
ed. A goodness of fit test was used to test for differences between
experimental groups. A test of independence was used to test for
differences between the used scent articles, to test the influence of
the position (left or right) in the T-junction of the target person/
runner and to test the influence of the sex of the subjects on the
success rate. A probability of p < 0.05 was assumed to be
statistically significant, a value of p < 0.01 as highly statistically
significant.
 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121
3. Results
3.1. Test series 1
During test series 1, the gauze swab scent article with a sample
from the armpit was used. Runner A and B walked along the
pavement on a road with normal traffic and hid behind an object or
in a doorway (Fig. 1). The dogs were required to differentiate
between the scent of the correct person and a negative among the
scents of all present people, like for example, camera operator,
attendants and pedestrians.
All dogs performed significantly better than expected. The
overall performance of the group was 76%. The police dogs scored
“CORRECT” with a percentage of 86%, the private rescue dogs with
a percentage of 66%. Both, the results for the groups as a whole as
well as the results for the two subgroups (police dogs and private
rescue dogs), were highly significant (p < 0.01; pAll = 1.71
1016,
pPol = 9.14
1013, pRes = 3.86
106). The individual dogs success-
fully identified the odour of the target person from 64% up to 92%.
These results are also highly significant. The only dog with only
significant results was dog H4. There are no results for dog H6, as it
was not able to participate in test series 1 (Fig. 2).
3.2. Test series 2
During test series 2, the foam blank scent article with a sample
from the armpit was used. The experimental setup corresponds to
that of test series 1 (Fig. 1). Due to the pregnancy and maternity
protection of the dog handler, dog H4 could not participate in the
trials. All dogs performed better than expected. The overall
performance of the group in finding the “CORRECT” runner was
only 66%. The police dogs identified the target person successfully
71% of the times, the private rescue dogs have a success rate of 62%.
Both, the results for the groups as a whole as well as the results for
the two subgroups (police dogs and private rescue dogs), were
highly significant (p < 0.01; pAll = 2.88
1020, pPol = 3.37
1013,
pRes = 6.05
109). The individual dogs successfully identified the
Fig. 2. Comparison of trails during test series 1. Dogs’ individual performance and p-values with the gauze swab scent article with a sample from the armpit. None of the dogs
indicated a false negative.
115
odour of the target person from 58% up to 85%. These results are
also highly significant. The only dog with just significant results
was dog H6 (Fig. 3).
3.3. Test series 3
During the 3rd test series, the foam blank scent article with a
sample from saliva was used. The experimental setup corresponds
to that of test series 1 (Fig. 1). All dogs performed better than
chance. The overall group performance in finding the “CORRECT”
runner was 78%. The police dogs identified the target person with a
success rate of 85%, the private rescue dogs with a success rate of
65%. As in test series 1 and 2 the results for test series 3 group
results were highly significant (p < 0.01; pAll = 3.78
1067, pPol =
2.91
1059, pRes = 4.15
1013). The individual dogs successfully
identified the odour of the target person from 64% up to 89%. These
results are highly significant (Fig. 4).
3.4. Trails with negative-samples
As stated above, the dog handler randomly chose one of
three scent articles. Hence every selection of a negative was
possible. If only the tests with a chosen negative are considered,
individually, all dogs performed better than chance, with the
police dogs having highly significant results. One of them, H6,
had a success rate of 100% and for the three others (H1, H2, H3),
only one wrong decision per dog was recorded in these tests.
This corresponds to a hit ratio of 100%, 96%, 95% and 96%,
respectively. One of the private dogs (H5) committed an error
three times. This still corresponds to a hit ratio of 87%. It is
important to keep in mind that the scent article, which was a
negative, actually contained an odour and was sampled in the
same way as the scent articles of the present trail layers. In
about a fourth of all trials a negative was chosen (x = 23.40%,
SD = 3.12). In these tests group results were also highly significant
(p < 0.01; pAll = 4.15
1049, pPol = 3.32
1043, pRes = 6.61
1011,
Table 2).
116 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121

Fig. 3. Comparison of trails during test series 2. Dogs’ individual performance and p-values with the foam blank scent article with a sample from the armpit. Dog H5 indicated
one and dog H7 two false negatives.

Fig. 4. Comparison of trails during test series 3. Dogs’ individual performance and p-values with the foam blank scent article with a sample from saliva. Dog H1 indicated
three and dog H4 two false negatives.

3.5. Test series 4
Test series 1 to 3 were evaluated to determine whether scent
articles with sweat or saliva as a source of individual odour are
suitable for identification. Furthermore, a negative versus a
positive trail had to be identified. (Practical) experience has
shown that dogs are able to track an individual person using scent
articles with a variety of substances (including blood). An
individualised assignment of traces is essential in criminal
proceedings. In police preliminary proceedings, the DNA analysis

Table 2
Number and proportion of the scent article that was a negative.

Dog Total Number of negatives % of all Tests Number of negatives CORRECT Number of negatives WRONG % CORRECT p-value
H1 103 25 24% 24 1 96% 4.75E-11
H2 100 21 21% 20 1 95% 3.38E-09
H3 102 26 25% 25 1 96% 1.63E-11
H4 77 17 22% 11 6 65% 7.36E-03
H5 100 24 24% 21 3 87% 5.04E-08
H6 100 29 29% 29 0 100% 1.09E-14
H7 93 16 17% 11 5 69% 3.70E-03
 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121 117

Table 3 effect. When the runner was placed at the left side of the T-
Runner, distribution of age and sex.
junction, the success rate was 72%, when the runner was placed at
Age n Male Female Age n Male Female the right side of the T-junction a success rate of 70% was observed
<14 6 0 6 41–45 12 7 5 (xleft = 70,98%, s2left = 0,12%, SDleft = 3,45, xright = 69,51%, s2right =
14–19 11 6 5 46–50 13 10 3 0,93%, SDright = 9,66). Altogether, the success rate of the police dogs
20–25 15 8 7 51–55 16 14 2 was significantly much better than that of the private rescue dogs
26–30 18 17 1 56–60 18 15 3
(X2 = 27,2269, p = 0,00001).
31–35 24 21 3 61–65 3 2 1
36–40 37 26 11 <65 7 3 4
n.a. 10 5 5 3.6. Subjects

of found traces can provide valuable indications for the identifica-
tion of the perpetrator. In addition to test series 1–3, a “proof-of-
concept” approach, with only a small number of subjects, tested
whether DNA extracted from whole blood is sufficient as an
individual odour source. The individual dogs successfully identi-
fied the target person from 60% up to 89%. With the exception of
dogs H5 and H7, the results were highly significant (p < 0.001). The
success rate corresponds to that of the previous scent articles. The
overall performance of the group identifying the trail of the target
person was 76%. This corresponds approximately to the dog’s
success rate with sweat or saliva. The uneven number of attempts
resulted from the random choice and from the fact that not all dogs
were available on each day. Dog H4 could not participate due to
personal circumstances of the dog handler. Out of the 61 test
rounds using DNA samples as odour source, 17 were performed
using blood extracts without DNA. These were, except in one case,
indicated by the dogs as “negative”. In addition, two other rounds
with DNA were tested as “negative”, since the corresponding
people were not on site. Both cases were reported as “negative”
(Fig. 5).
Significant differences in the success rate with respect to the
scent articles used were observed. The dogs were significantly
more successful with saliva than with axillary sweat (X2 = 6.6412,
p = 0.009965). It was observed that three dogs, especially with the
foam blank armpit sampling material, had lower success rates than
with the other scent articles. However, statistical significance was
only found in two dogs (H3, 2 = 9.71 p = 0.007789, H6,
X2 = 9.71 p = 0.02353). Across all attempts, it was found that the
position of the target person in the T-junction (left, right) had no
A total of 190 subjects were involved in the trials. See Table 3 for
the distribution of age and sex. The subjects’ sex had no statistically
significant effect on the success ratio of the dogs (X2 = 0.2242,
p = 0.635881). Of the subjects involved, 58 subjects stated that they
had consumed foods that could have an intense effect on the body
odour (e.g. garlic) within the last 48 h before the test. However, a
statistically detectable effect on the success or failure ratio could
not be observed (X2 = 0.0129, p = 0.909658).
4. Discussion
Our work shows success rates (correctly identified trails)
between 50% and 92%. The success rates for studies with a
comparable experimental design, but with other scent articles
(STU-100 gauze pads), are between 70% [21], or 54.5% and 91.7%
[22].
In our study, the police dogs performed more successfully with
a success rate of 82%, compared with the private rescue dogs,
whose average success rate was 65%. There may be some various
reasons why the police dogs performed better. On the one hand,
the police dogs were trained in the same way over a period of two
and a half years, according to the training method of Armin
Schweda, starting when they were puppies [29]. On the other
hand, these dogs already had some years of experience and had to
undertake a regular, weekly training, alongside a variety of other
tasks. Furthermore, the dog handlers have been experienced police
dog handlers for many years. Three out of four of the participating
police dogs were those of the Bloodhound breed. These dogs also
had the highest success rates in the overall performance. The
exceptional scenting ability of the bloodhound had been shown in

Fig. 5. Comparison of trails during test series 4. Dogs’ individual performance and p-values with the foam blank scent article with a sample from DNA. Dogs H2 and
H5 indicated one false negative.
118 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121
other studies [20,21,28]. Due to the small number of participating
dogs, it is not possible to say whether the breed-specific suitability
of bloodhounds influenced the results of this study. In general,
bloodhounds have a comparatively large olfactory epithelium with
the corresponding number of olfactory receptor cells [39,40].
Overall, the private rescue dogs involved in the study were not as
extensively trained and do not have as much experience in field
operations as the police dogs. The most successful private rescue
dog, with a total success rate of 72%, was trained, as the police dogs,
by the method of Armin Schweda. The least successful dog usually
works with another handler than the one who participated in the
tests. Therefore, this team did not have extensive training and
operational experience together. This dog scored a total success
rate of 57%. These results are consistent with findings of other
studies, which state that experienced dogs or dogs undergoing
intensive training are more successful [19,20].
Some studies showed that dogs (C. familiaris) are able to match
items touched by a person to this individual person or to another
item touched by individual in the so called line-up [12–
19,38,41,42]. Brisbin and Austad described that dogs were not
able to distinguish their handler’s elbow scent from scent samples
taken of the hand of other persons [42]. Subsequent studies show
that dogs are able to distinguish odours from different body parts
[13,14,18]. In addition to the methodical characteristic that the
dogs that Brisbin and Austad used were (only) trained to recognize
the hand scent of the dog handler, Brisbin and Austad themselves
point out that scent discrimination tests and tracking experiments
are two types of scent-matching tasks [43]. Also, there is scientific
evidence that dogs can distinguish individual humans by odour
[11,44–48]. Possibly, this includes the ability to generalize odours
from different body parts to the human odour trail. A few studies
showed the ability of dogs to track the odour trail of a person, even
under real conditions [11,20–23,28]. In these studies, handker-
chiefs [11], gauze pads contaminated using a special vacuum
device — the scent transfer unit STU-100 [20–22,28] and, sterile
gauze compresses wiped at various body sites [23] were used as
scent articles. In addition, it is important to note that it is still
unclear which components of the human scent are used by the
dogs for individual trailing. A terminology of three components for
factors of human scent has been described. First, the “primary
odour”, which contains constituents that are stable over time
regardless of diet or environmental factors. The “secondary odour”
contains constituents which are present due to diet and
environmental factors and the “tertiary odour” contains constit-
uents which are present because of the influence of outside
sources. These factors are described as either stable over time
(genetic factors) or vary with environmental or internal conditions
[33,49,50]. Independently, it is unclear whether the dog’s olfactory
perception of individual human scent traces in tracking or trailing
tasks is really based on the classification of primary, secondary and
tertiary odours. According to our understanding, the primary
odour can be considered as a key stimulus for individual scent
tracing. It is known from personal experience, that several items,
like clothing, saliva, cigarette butts, breathing air, etc. can be used
as scent articles for well trained dogs. From these experiences and
considering studies carried out so far, the question arises as to
whether and which similarities scent articles have and which
components allow an individual discrimination. For the individual
trailing of scent traces, it is very probable that there must be a
common feature in the scent articles but in particular amongst the
scent articles and the traces left behind. This can possibly be DNA.
Test series 1 has shown that using a gauze pad with a sample
from the armpit as a scent article dogs can follow individual human
scent trails and determine the direction of this trail statistically
significant (p < 0.05) or highly statistically significant (p < 0.01)
within a range of 50m. This also applies to test series 2, where a
foam blank with the sample from an armpit was used. Previous
studies considered that besides axillary sweat, saliva is also
suitable for the distinction between individuals for the chemical
analytical examination [51–54]. To our knowledge, there are no
studies using saliva samples as scent articles to determine an
individual human odour trail. Therefore, in test series 3 a foam
blank contaminated saliva was used as a scent article. All dogs
performed statistically highly significant (p < 0.001), using the
saliva sample. A statistical analysis of the success rate as a function
of scent articles shows, that for three dogs the success rate for the
saliva sample on foam as scent articles was slightly above and for
two dogs slightly below the success rate of the armpit sweat
sample on gauze pad as scent articles. However, dog H1 had a
better success rate for the sampling from the armpit on gauze pad
as scent articles (success rate 92%) in contrast to the sample from
saliva on a foam blank (success rate 76%). Nevertheless, these
results were not statistically significant for the individual dogs. All
dogs, except dog H1 as mentioned above, were more successful
with the saliva sample on a foam blank as scent article than with
the axillary sweat sample on a foam blank. For two dogs, the
difference in performance between the two scent articles was
statistically significant. For one of the dogs the success rate
increased by 31% from 58% to 89%, when using the saliva sample.
The success rate for the second dog was 64% for the axillary sweat
sample and 88% for the saliva sample (pH3 = 0.002366, pH6 =
0.02353, p < 0.05). Taking all results into account, the dogs
achieved better results using the saliva scent articles than using
the axillary sweat scent articles. Saliva consists mainly of water
and, in addition to proteins and trace substances, also contains
epithelial cells, as well as erythrocytes and leukocytes [55–58].
Likewise, saliva contains sufficient DNA for a genome analysis,
allowing the identification of a specific person [59–61]. For a
review comparing saliva-derived genomic DNA to blood-derived
DNA with regards to quality, quantity and convenience, see Sun and
Reichenberger [62]. These findings underline the approach in
police investigations, in which buccal swabs are used for
comparison specimen [63].
Significant results were observed in test series 1–3. In test series
4, scent articles with samples of DNA, extracted from whole blood
for a feasibility trial were used. Also in these tests, the results of the
police dogs were statistically highly significant. For the private
rescue dogs no significant results could be achieved with these
scent articles. Due to the low number of samples, the results are to
be considered critically. However, the following effects were
observed. Using wet samples (buffer solution), the overall success
rate was 81% (26 out of 32) and thus statistically significant
(p < 0.001, p = 2.78
108). Taking the results of the individual
dogs, only the results of the four police dogs were statistically
significant (p < 0.05, pH1,H6 = 0.012, pH2,H3 = 0.008, pH5 = 0.2548,
pH7 = 0.33). After letting the samples dry for 24 h, a dramatic drop
in performance was observed with only 5 out of 12 correct
identifications. The other seven samples were reported as a
“negative”. This also occurred in 16 out of 17 cases using the blood
extracts without DNA as scent article.
The reliability of the dogs used in searching for missing persons
or in the reconstruction of criminal offences is essential. Above all,
when this is offered as evidence in court, the question arises as to
the validity of the method. Schoon described a method for
determining a diagnostic ratio for positive and negative identifi-
cation (ID). This is expressed as the quotient of the percentage of
correct ID in suspect = perpetrator cases divided by percentage of
false ID in suspect 6¼ perpetrator cases or percentage correct non-
ID in suspect 6¼ perpetrator cases divided by misses in suspect =
perpetrator cases [17]. In the present study, however suspect =
perpetrator cases were used in the positive experiments and
suspect 6¼ perpetrator cases in the negative experiments.
 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121
Therefore, another way, test sensitivity and specificity, for
evaluating the results is applied. The sensitivity results from the
quotient of true positive results and the sum of the true positive
and false negative results. The specificity results from the quotient
of true negative results and the sum of the true negative and false
positive results. The sensitivity in the police dogs was 0.98 (median
0.99), the specificity 0.97 (median 0.96). In the private rescue dogs,
the sensitivity was 0.95 (median 0.95) and the specificity was 0.75
(median 0.68). For the identification of a perpetrator in forensic
investigations a high specificity is particularly important. There-
fore, the practical meaning of the results observed can be seen
especially from the error rate at the “negatives”, max. 5% in the
police dogs, max. 31% in the private rescue dogs. In the police dogs
were de facto three misses in 101 attempts, i.e. a success rate of
97%. This is also underlined by the fact that among all the trials, the
dogs performed only ten times a “false negative”, four times in the
police dogs (<1%) and six times (<2.3%) in the private rescue dogs.
In criminal proceedings, especially the correct response of a
“negative” is particularly important. The faulty indication may lead
to false suspicions. In each and every case, the dog handlers have to
decide whether their dog presented them with a negative or
positive trail and whether this is reliable. In this study, especially
the police dogs presented a negative trail with high reliability. One
dog always performed accurately and the other three dogs were
observed to have made only one mistake. This may result from a
misinterpretation of the dog handler, external influences, or the
temperament of the dog [64]. According to the German legal
system, the public prosecutor determines which means and
methods are applied in criminal proceedings. Therefore, private
dog handlers are also used in investigations in Germany.
Appropriate certification or verification prior utilizing is not
required. In this study, the police mantrailer dogs tested under
operating conditions had a success rate of up to 92% (median: 83%).
Furthermore, they differentiate highly significantly between the
presence and the absence of an odour trace using a scent article
containing human scent with a success rate up to 100% (median
96%). In contrast, private rescue dogs had an error rate between
13% and 35% for this particular task. Therefore, only well-trained
and appropriately tested or certified dogs should be used to
support law enforcement authorities. Indeed it should always be
taken into account that both, dog and handler, are living beings,
and therefore cannot be expected to perform like a machine, both
dog and man can make mistakes. In criminal proceedings, this
must be compensated by the use of at least two dogs and video
recordings for a posteriori analysis [27].
Wells and Hepper state that the trails being run from left to
right could be identified more easily by the dogs than those from
right to left [65]. These preferences could not be confirmed in this
study (X2 = 0.3352 p = 0.562643). Nevertheless, a dog successfully
performed in 92% of the cases where the target person walked to
the right side of the T-junction (X2 = 5.6064, p = 0.017895), whereas
this was only the case in 71% of the cases in which the runner
walked to the left. For another dog, there was observed an error
rate of 63% in the cases when the target person walked to the right
side of the T-junction as opposed to the error rate in the cases of
left-handed trails which have a score of 28% (X2 = 9.4839,
p = 0.002073). The findings here coincide with the findings of
Mackenzie and Schultz [66], who state that there is no side
preference. It is noteworthy that in almost all experiments none of
the dogs choose the third possibility, to go back to the starting area,
instead of turning to the right or to the left. If at all, they just walked
back a few metres. Dogs have the ability to determine the direction
of an odour trail left by a human, in other words, dogs can
determine the time-dependent course of a trail — five steps are
sufficient [67]. This allows the dog to differentiate the direction.
Another aspect is the scent attractiveness of the target person to
119
dogs. Jezierski et al. found that 1.1% of the subjects had a high
attractiveness (50–75% false alarms) and 76,3% of the subjects had
a low attractiveness (0–25% false alarms) to the dogs [68]. In this
context, the influence of the sex on the scent attractiveness to dogs
may be seen. According to Jezierski et al. dogs identified women
significantly better than men in lineups [69]. Neither the sex nor
the age of the target person had a significant effect on the search
results. This is in line with the findings of Rogowski [70].
To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating that
saliva and DNA samples provides enough information for the dog
to search for an individual. In a proof of concept approach, the
search was also performed with scent articles from samples made
of DNA, which has been extracted from whole blood. It turned out
that all odour samples, containing no DNA at all, indicated as
“negative” except for one, thus no trailing of the corresponding
person was possible. It requires a larger number of experiments to
verify this approach. For further research, trailing dogs ability to
follow aged trails under real-life scenarios is of interest, especially
for the use in criminal proceedings. Harvey showed trailing dogs
ability to follow aged trails for 48 h old trails [20], Wolf describes
aged trails after 24 h, one week and one month [23]. However, in
these cases, the person, who had laid the trail, returned to the
location. There are only a few reports about aged trails where the
person, who had laid the trail did not return after the track had
been laid [1,48,71]. Here, further investigation is needed to
determine the dogs’ ability to follow older trails left by people
who either were never found or never returned after they left a
trail. This would also correspond to the scenarios described in the
introduction of this work. Such findings could be an additional
basis for the courts to assess and determine the reliability of the
use of mantrailers.
5. Conclusion
Test series are often carried out under laboratory conditions. In
this study mantrailer dogs were tested under real police operating
conditions. With a scent article from a person, they could follow
the individual human scent trail of that person statistically highly
significantly. Furthermore, they differentiate highly significantly
between the presence and the absence of an odour trace using a
scent article containing human scent. The best results were
achieved with scent articles using saliva and sweat as an odour
source. Additionally, highly significant results were obtained with
scent articles from wet DNA samples. These findings may provide
valuable information for the practical work of dog handlers for
selecting suitable scent articles. The study shows that the success
rate was higher depending on training method and operational
experience level of the teams and for this reason only well-trained
and certificated teams should be used in criminal proceedings. It
has been shown that well-trained mantrailing-dogs can be in
principle a reliable and useful tool for law enforcement authorities.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the participating dog handlers and
their dogs, especially the private rescue dog handlers for driving on
various occasions and in all kinds of weather without compensa-
tion, to participate in this study. Furthermore, special thanks go to
Gerald Spindler and Achim Grüner of the Institute for Tropospheric
Research Leipzig for supplying a weather station and the staff of
the Department of Forensic Molecular Genetics of the Institute for
Legal Medicine of the University of Leipzig for the processing of
blood samples. We would like to thank Kai-Uwe Goss of the
Department Analytical Environmental Chemistry, Helmholtz-
Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, Dirk Labudde and
Hanna Siewerts, Forensic Science Investigation Lab, University of
120 L. Woidtke et al. / Forensic Science International 282 (2018) 111–121
applied sciences Mittweida as well as Jason Smith, Schneeberg
Police Academy who reviewed earlier versions of this paper.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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