Meet Spore: The Puppy Learning to Detect Mold in Florida (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Yeah, this German Shepherd puppy is the newest member of an army of dogs trained to sniff out mold. His name is Spore.

[00:00:09] Speaker 2: That's a good boy. Starting a dog from the puppy is huge. So we don't want a dog that's gonna be terrified going into places like that. Getting a dog their head inside of pipes like that, it's gonna be imperative.

[00:00:19] Speaker 1: Sean Gallivan, co owner of Paws on Mold, uses dog treats as a training tool to encourage sport to follow the odor inside the pipe. Good man. Florida is the number one state for mold risk. For little Spore, that's pretty good job security. Florida's Department of Health says some types of mold are toxic. Mold puts residents at risk for allergies, asthma and severe respiratory problems.

[00:00:44] Speaker 2: We have every mold, black mold. Our dog is on all of them.

[00:00:47] Speaker 1: Sean spent four years in the military. He's worked with dogs who can sniff out explosives and drugs too.

[00:00:53] Speaker 2: As long as it has a chemical compound, that the sky is the limit when you're dealing with dogs.

[00:00:57] Speaker 3: Spore is about eight weeks old, so he's in puppy kindergarten right now. But in about a year and a half, he'll be fully trained and ready to go out in the field, homes and businesses here in the state of Florida and sniff out mold and he'll be on his best behavior.

[00:01:10] Speaker 1: Until then, Paws on Mold will rely on other pups like Zuko, whose olfactory system has been sniffing out mold for some time now. Dogs noses are believed to have up to 300 million scent receptors, compared to about 5 million in our noses. Watch when Sean hides synthetic mold, which is safe in the scent wall or the odor box during more advanced training. The reward for Zuko's hard work? A ball, which Sean releases using a remote. When the dogs alert for mold at someone's home or business, yes, samples are sent to a lab to confirm their noses are spot on.