Purebred Protecting Picassos

By Amy Fernandez

As much as we hear that purebred dogs are headed for obsolescence, they keep popping up in the damndest places. They’re a routine feature at public events, airports, and mass transit systems. Over the past few years they’ve also become a familiar presence in hospitals, restaurants, and quite a few other previously off limits locations. So where will we find one of our favorite breeds next?  The Boston Museum of Fine Art, that’s where.

In case you haven’t been there it’s quite the place. Ancient to modern, it’s a treasure trove of works by just about every famous artist you can think of: Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Sargent, tons of Monets, over 200,000 prints, drawings, and rare books. Let’s just say it’s not a one day project.

It’s also at the forefront of research and development for conservation and preservation techniques. There’s a lot more to caring for fine art than “Don’t Drop the Ming Vase”. The science is ever evolving. But many aspects of it remain an ongoing challenge, such as the timely detection of insect invaders that love nothing more than setting up shop in a big, old, woolly medieval tapestry or a 500-year-old Gutenberg Bible.

That’s where dogs come into it. As we know, no manmade technology rivals the canine olfactory sense. The ways and means of utilizing that incomparable talent run the gamut from truffles to time bombs. Basically, dogs can be trained to alert on anything, which was sort of how museum employee Nicki Luongo hit on this idea. Luongo had previously trained police k9s but the idea of dogs sniffing around rare Egyptian artifacts is a whole different story. Nicki threw the idea out there and “It seems like a great idea to try,” said museum director Katie Getchell. So Luongo’s new Weimaraner pup, 12-week-old Riley, will be leading the way in this new detection dog career path. He will be patrolling the museum galleries after hours. If and when he sniffs outlaw bug life, he will alert in the typical fashion, sitting and staring at the source of his suspicion. In addition to hopefully becoming the newest weapon in this ongoing bug battle, he seems to have become the museum’s unofficial mascot. So if you’re not keen to see the new Rothko exhibit, maybe you want to drop by and check out that totally charming Weimaraner.

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=140007

Posted by chesliepickett on Feb 19 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.