Covid-sniffer dogs join Metallica and Tool tours as the canine crews help keep the show on the road

With Omicron again throwing the live music industry into chaos, American bands are trialling the use of Covid-sniffing crews to keep their tour bubble safe.

A pack of dogs outside a gig generally hasn’t been a welcoming sight for musicians or punters as police conduct drug-detection operations.

But if Australian artists follow the lead of American performers, they could become additions to the backstage crew as the live music industry adapts to touring during the Omicron wave.

Superstar rock acts including Metallica, Tool and The Black Keys, alongside country star Eric Church, have hired Covid-sniffing hounds to help monitor for positive cases in crew and guests during their American tours over the past four months, according to a Rolling Stone report.

The specially-trained dogs, whose breeds include German Shepherds, Labradors and Belgian Malinois, are helping promoters keep the show on the road by sniffing out cases among the tour entourage.

Rockers Metallica employed canine crew for their 40th anniversary concerts. Picture: Supplied

The Bio-Detection K9 company boss, former Air Force vet Jerry Johnson, said initially the dogs were trained to smell people’s hands and feet and would sit down beside them if they detected the virus.

His pack of 12 dogs, with more currently being inducted, had to be retrained for the Omicron variant and sniff people’s masks because of how the strain localises in the body.

The testing sessions are conducted several times a day with the dogs able to sniff 200 people in an hour.

American rockers Tool will have extra canine crew on their upcoming tour. Picture: Supplied.

Church’s team used them for his American shows last year with dogs sitting down beside two workers who had registered as negative on their daily test. Both their follow-up PCR tests revealed they were positive.

Metallica also employed the canine crew for their 40th anniversary concerts in San Francisco and Tool will have a team on the road with them as they kick off their shows this week.

“Dogs sniff each other to see if that other dog has a virus. We’re training them to look for something they’d be interested in anyway,” Johnson told Rolling Stone.

Johnson said the average cost of a dog test per person is A$2.78.

Originally published as Covid-sniffer dogs join Metallica and Tool tours as the canine crews help keep the show on the road