Weily the German shorthaired pointer is perky and eager to work. He is being trained by Hwang Mei-hsiu to become the first black bear scat detection dog in Taiwan-indeed, in all of Asia. (Hsueh Chi-kuang)

On this visit to the forests of Da- fen, Hwang Mei-hsiu has a mission besides her routine research: on-site training of Weily, a scat detection dog. This perky, two-year-old German shorthaired pointer, who Hwang lovingly calls "Handsome," sports short, brown fur dotted with grey. Crazy about his toy ball, he brings mirth and verve to the research team during their arduous work.

The first time I saw Weily was my first evening in the mountains. Hwang, Weily and grad student Kevin Huang were in the group behind us, and they arrived at Walami Cabin after nightfall, not having set out from the trailhead until noontime. Ignoring her sweat-soaked condition, Hwang set down her backpack and immediately went about toweling off Weily, and then, with only a feeble headlamp to see by (no electricity in the mountains), she gingerly inspected the dog's paws for scrapes, and then asked Kevin to feed Weily and prepare a blanket for him. An exhausted Weily finished his dinner, then obediently lay down under the eaves outside the lodge and fell asleep.

After a good night's sleep, Weily was in high spirits the next morning, playing ball with Kevin in the field by the cabin. Kevin, a stylish, pony-tailed student from Hong Kong, sometimes threw the ball far, and at other times held it teasingly in his hands. Weily's eyes were fixed on the yellow, baseball-sized ball, which, wherever it was thrown, he would immediately chase, find, and return to Kevin. Kevin constantly changed his pattern, and Weily looked like he was having the time of his life.

"The first requirement for a good sniffer dog is for him to be passionate about a thing. This thing can be a certain food, toy or even a towel. Weily's favorite thing is this ball," says Hwang, standing at the side watching Weily with satisfaction. Here, the trainer makes use of Weily's strong drive to play ball to stimulate his motivation to learn and willingness to work, producing a close association between the target scent (bear droppings) and the ball. Once he finds the target object, he is given the "reward" of playing ball; as such the dog becomes perfectly happy to work for many hours a day without tiring.