The BBC reports that the first cloned detection dogs are being trained in South Korea. That country's customs service paid a biotechnology company to reproduce a Canadian Labrador Retriever that was known to be a good detection dog. The process yielded seven puppies that have shown themselves to be as good at sniffing out designated substances as the original dog. (What they are sniffing is not specified.)

 "Only about 30% of naturally-born sniffer dogs make the grade, but South Korean scientists believe that could rise to 90% using the cloning method," reports the BBC [1].

In the United States, the Scientific Working Group on Dog and Orthogonal detector Guidelines (SWGDOG [2]) continues to work on developing guidelines for various detection dogs. SWGDOG is a partnership of local, state, federal, and international agencies including private vendors, law enforcement and first responders. They post guidelines that are under development and open for comment at their Web site.