Helton (2005) proposed that ergonomics professionals share an interest in the study of working dogs. In this paper, this proposal is further explored in regards to dogs as perceptual workers analogous to human perceptual workers. First, current performance estimates of expert dogs (signal detection A') are examined for wide variety of occupational domains from cancer to explosives detection. When tested in controlled conditions, dogs are competent workers, with A's ranging from .89 to 1.0. Second, models of human performance (perceptual work) may apply with some modification to working dogs. A case in point is Wickens' (2003) Attention-Situational Awareness (ASA) model, which is examined in the context of canine work. The A-SA model appears to be equally applicable to canine perceptual workers and human workers.
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