Computer helps jailers understand dogs

Israeli jails are using a custom-built computer program to interpret the barks of guard dogs and distinguish warnings of a breakout from everyday woofs.

Noam Tavor, head of the Israel Prisons Service canine unit, said the program is designed to overcome mistakes in which guards have either not heard dogs sounding an alarm or failed to speedily identify its significance.

"It collects the dogs' barks through microphones ... and sorts and grades them," Tavor told Army Radio. "It relays only the barks that are significant in terms of security — barks that reveal stress or aggression in the dog."

The radio said prison staff monitor the system through loudspeakers and TV cameras that automatically zoom in on suspected hot spots.

Because of their heightened sense of smell and hearing, dogs can identify suspicious people well before they trip an alarm wire, Tavor said.