This is what real biosensor looks like.
In the first Bio-Sensor is Bad Science post, I documented how the messenger, Carmen Battaglia, trips numerous red flags for scientific quackery. In this post I’ll introduce you to true biosensor training and establish that there is no solid link between real biosensor and the Battaglia protocol.
Let’s start with the name: Ph.D. Battaglia calls his protocol “Bio-Sensor,” separating the words and perhaps implying that the biosensor name refers to the protocol and sort of reinforcing ‘biology’ and ‘senses’ given that his protocol is to stimulate the senses and improve the biology of the puppies.
Living organisms, which are the best detectors of other life forms, are referred to as biosensors. The dog is the most common and familiar biosensor, although geese, guinea hens, and marine mammals such as the bottle-nosed dolphin are also excellent examples of biosensors. Due to the rapid emergence of technology, the dog’s usefulness in war was due to his detection capabilities. The greatest fear of the famous Soviet Spetsnaz is the enemy’s dogs.
Biosensors are Military Working Dogs that are trained to perform specialized tasks relating to law enforcement or physical security operations including scout, sentry, patrol, tracker, narcotic, contraband, explosives, and tunnel dogs. During World War II, the U.S. military evaluated numerous species of animals as biosensores. The most effective mine detectors were determined to be pigs, coyotes, cats, raccoons, skunks, deer, ferrets, and dogs. The pig clearly out-performed all of the species examined, but the dog was chosen due to more apparent practical utility.
-A Centralized Source of Information for the Military Working Dog Program
Denzil Frost, MAJ, DVM
The word biosensor has nothing to do with the Battaglia protocol or any sort of neurological stimulation.
This is not true biosensor. This is tickling.
The word is a term of art used by the military and others that signifies a biological tool that can identify a chemical signature/obscured object of interest such as an explosive, a landmine, enemy ordinance, enemy equipment, personnel, traces of drugs or other contraband. Examples include: antibodies, enzymes, nucleic acids, bacteria, pigs dogs, dolphins, rats, mice, or even organic reactive molecules. So, if you’re not training your dog to identify chemical signatures, you’re not doing biosensor.
Notice how none of the Battaglia protocols deal with the dog’s sense of smell (their primary asset in biosensor), nor are the dogs at an appropriate age in the Battaglia protocol to hone these skills. There is no evidence that tilting a puppy, tickling its feet, or getting it mildly cold will in any way improve its later performance at scent discrimination and tracking (or anything else). There have been numerous biosensor and military working dog programs and the majority of biosensor applications featuring dogs utilizes their sense of smell and their protection/aggression behaviors, neither of which is stimulated in the Battaglia protocol. All of the exercises focus on the sense of touch, temperature, and balance; not sound, sight, taste, or smell.
The truth is that there were several different biosensor programs run by various branches of the military and private contractors, and there even was one program that was billed as “Super Dog,” and that program did seek to create wunderhunden. But none of the programs used the Battaglia protocol or anything close and the Super Dog program was not successful in creating the amazing dogs they claimed they could in the propoganda they put out.
| Battaglia’s Claims | The Truth |
|---|---|
| The U.S. Military in their canine program developed a method that still serves as a guide to what works. | The U.S. Military’s biosensor did not work, it does not serve as a guide for what works for anyone. |
| In an effort to improve the performance of dogs used for military purposes, a program called “Bio Sensor” was developed. | “Biosensor” is a military term of art, it existed before and after the specific “biosensor” program. The program started as a means to breed hip dysplasia out of German Shepherd Dogs. |
| Later, it became known to the public as the “Super Dog” Program. | One of several biosensor programs was later billed as “Super Dog” as propoganda and mission creep of one scientist. This program failed to produce any super dogs. |
| Based on years of research, the military learned that early neurological stimulation exercises could have important and lasting effects. | No published research was consulted nor produced during the “super dog” program. The military made no findings about “early neurological stimulation exercises” and they found no positive lasting effects. |
| Their studies confirmed that there are specific time periods early in life when neurological stimulation has optimum results. The first period involves a window of time that begins at the third day of life and lasts until the sixteenth day. | The U.S. Military did not investigate nor confirm anything regarding “specific time periods” and they certainly did not find 3-16 days to be optimal or even critical, nor did they find such a specific frame to be in any way effective at all. |
| It is believed that because this interval of time is a period of rapid neurological growth and development, and therefore is of great importance to the individual. | The Military neither investigated nor published nor referenced any study which confirms this. |
| The “Bio Sensor” program was also concerned with early neurological stimulation in order to give the dog a superior advantage. | The words “Early Neurological Stimulation” never appear in any documented account of any of the biosensor programs. |
| Its development utilized six exercises which were designed to stimulate the neurological system. Each workout involved handling puppies once each day. The workouts required handling them one at a time while performing a series of five exercises. Listed in order of preference, the handler starts with one pup and stimulates it using each of the five exercises. The handler completes the series from beginning to end before starting with the next pup. The handling of each pup once per day involves the following exercises:1. Tactical stimulation (between toes)2. Head held erect
3. Head pointed down 4. Supine position 5. Thermal stimulation. |
The military did not design the protocol to stimulate the neurological system, they were actually copying Russian propaganda from the space race where Russian scientists claimed to have put future muttniks into freezers and centrifuges to acclimatize them to the stresses of space, orbit, and zero gravity.1. The military never tickled a puppies toes (certainly not for 3-5 seconds with a Qtip)2. The military never held the puppies in these positions for 3-5 seconds. They placed them in a centrifuge moving at 45 rpm for 3 minutes a day.
3. The military did not place the puppies on cold damp towels, they put them in a freezer. Among other stimulation observations, they also bombarded them with various noises and took them from darkness into bright light, etc. 4. They also failed to find any positive benefit from any of these exercises and never published a single paper on the effort before being shut down with prejudice. |
There doesn’t seem to have been any contact between the actual military personnel who ran the Super Dog program and Battaglia. He certainly doesn’t cite a single one of them in his bibliography nor does he cite any published articles which back up his protocol. None of the heads of the program recall ever talking with him either and not one of them supports his protocol.
What Carmen Battaglia is selling is NOT a biosensor program and his protocol isn’t tested or sanctioned or even informed by any science, certainly not the science done by the US Military.
In the next installment, I’ll introduce you to what is publicly known about the Super Dog program including the original propaganda puff piece on the project, a post-mortem on its failure, and some quotes from the actual people behind the program speaking to Battaglia’s protocol.
All posts in this series:
Bio-Sensor is Bad Science: QuackeryBio-Sensor is Bad Science: True Biosensor
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Pigs are very smart animals. Bob Bailey names them among the best generalizers (a skill dogs are notably poor at) of species he has trained. It’s kind of a shame we eat them.
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There are some cultures that raise pet pigs and eat dogs. I think in some cultures it came down to taste really. There’s certainly evidence that we’ve eaten dogs and used them for their pelts historically, and while I suspect that dogs are actually more useful than pigs, and that’s the most important factor… that’s apparently not always the case.
It’s either in Miconesia or Melanesia that there is a culture that treats pigs in exactly the same way we do dogs.
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Chris: The thing you can not see but it that very special gift of a very special dog. We changed our kennel name from Harbor to Cross Spirts. It is like Einstein debates with professor about belief systems as a Christian. You can not see this energy force but it is there just as heat and cold.
Put a little pig on every passenger plane..no more highjacking
LOL!
The timing for this is astounding for me. I am in the middle of reading “For The Love Of A Dog” by Pat McConnell PhD and in the paperback, pages 84-85, she mentions this Battaglia program and the military in passing, making no attempt to either agree with it or find fault. In a situation like that and given the context of the chapter – the significance of sensory stim to promote the network of neurons and synapses – one would tend to default to the impression that she is enforcing the Battaglia approach as good. Also I cannot find any reference numbers in these paragraphs and as a rule, McConnell is good at referencing her works.
I adore McConnell for promoting an effort on the part of owners to understand their dogs, rather than to just dominate them in the old school style of might-makes-right.
But I do think I may post this link to her blog or FB page and see what comes up.
This should be interesting. I would offer a caution, though.
Many a DoD funded project has been re-directed, strangled or skewered as the tides of war and peace, donkeys and elephants have had their way with the purse strings.
Most of the time, there is some ill-documented remnant left to posterity, occasionaly revived into some new interpretation of the notion that spawned it.
Good points all Eli. I posted this link to Patricia McConnell’s FB page. I have no idea if anyone has read it or if it will amount to anything. I love McConnell though.