I love the science behind it. I love what it did for him and me as partners and I love watching him work.

In reading your work, you really get that sense of that delicate dance between the obedience to the scent of the dead

and the fact that the dog is the only one who has the access to that.

But also realizing that the dog and the human handler have this really deep relationship

and not trying to influence the dog.

Welcome to Death in the Afternoon.

The podcast from your favorite funeral reform nerds at the Order of the Good Death.

I'm Caitlin Dodie, Founder of the Order.

And today's episode is about fluffy, furry, cuddly, dead body finding experts, cadaver dogs.

We're talking with Cat Warren.

Cat worked as a journalist and was a journalism professor at North Carolina State University.

She has written about trained and studied scent detection dogs for years.

She wrote the best seller what the dog knows.

Spoiler where the bodies are.

Among many other things.

These days, Cat is focused on working with archaeologists, community members, and of course dogs

to locate Black and Indigenous burial grounds known as historical cadaver work.

Today, we'll talk about the persistent training required and the rare but meaningful rewards of this work.

Cat Warren, thank you for being here.

Oh, thanks for having me. It's really a pleasure.

It's a pleasure to have you.

Now, we'll start with some of the basics, many of which I did not know.

...