Searching for odors involves many steps: 1) odorant diffuses from a source into the surrounding fluid environment; 2) air movement transports and mixes odorant-laden air to create a complex plume which continues to develop over time; 3) dogs take discrete samples of this plume to derive information about an odor’s source; 4) odor molecules travel from the nose to sensory tissues during a sniff, interact with sensory tissues and translated into electrical signals to the brain; 5) dogs make decisions about how to integrate this information into locating the source of an odor; 6) dogs must indicate via behavioral cues the location of the source to the handler; 7) handlers must correctly interpret the cues of the dog to identify the location of the source. This process occurs immersed in a complex fluid environment which is hard to visualize and interpret for both dogs and handlers. Understanding the structure of odor plumes in air will help to better understand how dogs are integrating information and how handlers can interpret behavior cues during searches. In this talk, I will review the physical principles of odor plumes and how odorant and fluid properties can influence how dogs work odor plumes, as well as ongoing research to better understand the information gathered by dogs during searches.