Dogs are man's best friend, but it turns out they're also a researcher's best friend, too. 

The South Bend Tribune reported on four Boykin spaniels tasked with helping researchers gain insights into the lives and habits of Eastern box turtles. 

Penny, Skeeter, Yogi, and Reuger are specially trained canines that sniff these turtles out, then pick them up with an ultra-gentle grasp to bring them back to the team. 

Their owner and handler, John Rucker, has been training dogs for this work and traveling around the Midwest with them to hunt for turtles for over 20 years. 

His journey began when he lived alongside hunting dogs with nothing to hunt. The canines began bringing him turtles, which led Rucker — then a teacher — to speak about his dogs at the high school where he taught. 

In 2006, Rucker spoke at a national symposium on box turtles, and from there, his work with the Boykin spaniels became a regular gig. 

This summer at Sarett Nature Center in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Rucker and his turtle dogs helped researchers, including Maarten Vonhof from Western Michigan University, catch and release 362 Eastern box turtles. 

Why are researchers so interested in this species? Eastern box turtle populations are in serious decline because humans are encroaching on their natural habitats. Changes to their domains also make it easier for predators, such as skunks and coyotes, to harm the turtles. 

However, in Sarett, Eastern box turtles are thriving, and researchers were intrigued. They hoped that by studying the turtles and determining how they survived so well in the area, they might be able to replicate conditions in other regions, allowing the turtles to flourish elsewhere. 

Of the turtles that Penny, Skeeter, Yogi, and Reuger discovered, researchers tagged 75 females with radio transmitters to track them over the course of two summers.

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When done humanely, utilizing animals as tools in research can aid scientists in vital conservation efforts. Wildlife can identify areas too difficult for humans to locate by sniffing out habitual or biological markers, for example.

If an endangered species dies out, a cascading effect is often felt throughout the ecosystem. Eastern box turtles are an indicator species, meaning that they can be used to determine whether an environment is healthy.

If Eastern box turtle populations are doing well, it indicates a healthy environment, while a lack of these turtles suggests significant problems in a particular habitat. If an Eastern box turtle population declines, then chances are good that other animal populations in the area are also in decline.

This makes the research scientists are doing with these turtle dogs incredibly important for learning more about endangered species as well as protecting the environment and humans, who are also affected when animal populations are in jeopardy.

As Vonhof told the Tribune, the work of these turtle dogs has "changed our view of the biology of turtles."

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