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Dogs are entering new career paths, learning to sniff out mercury in Minnesota schools, invasive weeds in Montana, cancer in people - even cows in heat.

"The dogs do better than bulls," said Lawrence Myers, a professor of veterinary science at Auburn University in Alabama, who wanted to increase the success rate of impregnation attempts, a pressing demand in the dairy industry. Myers, a leading expert on dogs' sense of smell, added that because dogs "have no innate interest in cows in heat," it takes repetitive training to teach them how to know when the cows are ready.

Hunting bedbugs, DVDs or cancer? Hire a dog.