StarShip's Dog?

Remember about Sea dogs sensing when sharks are in the water?

Dogs have remarkable hearing, they can even hear the wind blowing across trip wires. Could this super hearing of dogs be useful in space? Could a dog hear leaks? Hear tiny meteors? Hear when something isn't working right, and lead an astronaut to the problem and point it out?

The dogs wouldn't know what was wrong, it would just be like a dumb kid with great hearing saying "Gee your car's left rear tire is making a thumping noise today".

Could the dog's sense of smell help with medical problems? Dogs can smell the difference in human's scents. Could a dog alert people to bacteria build up, or altered mental states?

When we finally get to Mars, and a small group of people colonize it, could a dog help sniff which ore samples are safe to bring in from the airlock, and which ones are leaking a faint scent?

Could a good sniffer dog, that is trained to sniff a scent, and then look for more of that scent, be able to be re-trained to search for whatever is needed in the lab samples?

If nothing else, in an emergency, a dog could be a taster for home grown Martain food.

Could we set up tests that will help us determine which dogs would be the least problem and the most benefit in space, and then place those tests into public domain?

The idea would help breeds form talent clubs for their dogs, something fun for the public, and the dogs, that would identify which dogs would be best.

Why do breeders WASTE time and effort breeding useless dogs to win ribbons, when they could be breeding for so much more fun and useful things?

Like Michael Vick said about dog fighting - it was "pointless".

Talent shows could have real use.