I thought some of you guys might find this interesting.  I have a good friend that is a K9 officer for the local PD.  I asked him a while back about bomb dogs and ammunition, speciffically if they would alert on it.  He told me that they may hesitate a split second, but wouldn't alert on the smell of gunpowder.

Well, about a week ago I happened to be in a line of cars that got sniffed twice by a bomb dog.  In the car, I had approx 1,000 rounds of Wolf 7.62x39 ammo and about 1,200 .223 handloads.  The dog and handler didn't skip a beat.  The car got a good sniff all the way around, and I didn't get one glance from the handler.  

why were they sniffin' cars?  were you at the border crossing?

Quoted: why were they sniffin' cars?  were you at the border crossing?

No, just a seatbelt checkpoint!

Quoted: why were they sniffin' cars?  were you at the border crossing?

State ferry system.  The Washington State Partrol uses bomb dogs to check cars that are waiting in line to get on the ferries.  This one was a springer spaniel.  

Depends on the dog, and whether or not the ammo is sealed.  Also how the handler trains the dog.  Sometimes they will use pistol mags when they are too lazy to use real drop aids, either simulated exploosives (can't remember the component), or real explosives.  This is for military dogs bye the way. One handler told me that they will often alert on the smell of the gun oil, knowing they will get their reward. Others told me that their dogs will alert on the smell of powder, and sometimes on the weapon itself if recently fired.
I've seen them hit on M9 mags, and 6 inch lengths of det cord as well as the OLD aids.