From East Texas Matters. Watch the video here.
You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks — but how about a wolf?
A nonprofit organization here in East Texas is up for the task, training one of the world’s deadliest predators how to save lives.
KETK Today anchor Cynthia McLaughlin brings us the exclusive story about a purebred arctic wolf that is breaking from the pack.
Meet Lilly and Ruger, both fully trained German Shepherds.
Lilly’s nose knows.
“She can sniff out cancer three different cancers with an 83 percent accuracy,” said K-9 trainer Monty Hutson.
Lilly is what’s called a sensory dog. She can smell and detect many medical problems like blood clots, and thyroid conditions.
“There’s about three million dollars in dogs right here,” said Hutson.
But you’ll notice one of these canines is not like the others.
“She’s an arctic wolf,” said Hutson.
That’s Sheba.
“She’ll be about 165 pounds when she’s full grown, she’s about 105 now,” said Hutson.
She’s Lilly’s apprentice.
“We’re bringing them into the military for the first time since George Washington used them in the Revolutionary War,” said Hutson.
A typical K-9 can smell up to a thousand meters but a wolf like Sheba can smell five miles away.
“We’re hoping Sheba can do ten times what Lilly can based on how a wolf responds. If her sense is that strong, she should be able to pick up on things that we are never even going to understand,” said Hutson.
Wolves in the wild can detect other animals that are sick and weak, which is the foundation of this training.
“She’s being developed because with how much stronger their sensory is, and using the natural ability of a wolf, it might just change the industry and how wolves are looked at and how they can actually be used,” said Hutson.
Their trainer is Monty Hutson, who runs For Veteran’s Sake in Longview.
Hutson says PTSD is often misdiagnosed. sensory dogs, and hopefully wolves, can pick up and correctly classify the condition.
“If she identifies something like a blood clot, she’ll go up one leg and down the other until she finds where it’s at.. and then she’ll paw or she’ll nudge them,” said Hutson.
But the possibilities with wolves don’t stop in the medical field. There’s a potential partnership with law enforcement.
“Now the difference between a regular K-9 like a German Shepherd and the wolf is the wolf can sit inside the squad car – the K-9 unit – and they’re parked behind the other vehicle and he or she will know what’s in that other vehicle without ever leaving,” said Hutson
How’s that for probable cause?
“If we can start developing these wolves to be more beneficial to society and not the evil animal that you always see, a scary animal this and that.. I think these wolves can really change us as humans and the way that we think about medicines,” said Hutson.
So if dog is a man’s best friend, then wolves might be doctors’ best assistant.
Sheba’s father plays Ghost in the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. Monty tells us Sheba might make an appearance in season nine.
