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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Preparing for the worst disasters with your dogs

Check out our new online Classroom where you can learn how to train your dog in the comfort of your home at your pace. Once you sign up its good for life, no renewal fees.


My new girl in training

Prepare  


By preparing for the worst
You learn what to do
With practice your actions become habits
And turn the worst into steps you walk to survive
Fear is replaced with the knowledge of knowing what to do
Confidence is restored
Especially when you have a partner, you can count on…
Like your dog

In memory of Miss Daisy 2001-2013
Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham

In Memory of Sue 1997-2008
Rea Valley's Incredible Sue
Certified Mantrailer
Book of Champions

Shop for Family Disaster Dogs t-shirts, mugs, dog items and more at our Cafepress store

Visit my Amazon Author Page to read my books for Free 

Check out my new children's book "My Puppy Can Find Me" Waldorf Publishing




Thursday, September 5, 2013

Updated Backpack List

Hi All,

Miss Daisy and I updated the Family Disaster Dog Backpack list tonight. You can find the page in the menu above. I'm getting the book ready for publishing and it will be ready soon. Not to much longer. I want to thank you for all the following and patience. This has been a 2 year project of building this blog and writing the book.  There's more to come as soon as I'm onto that trail.

Daisy is doing good, she sends all a big old Bloodhound slobber..:)  and Willie G too and new pup Thunderfoot Watchee


Willie with buddy Mio

Monday, July 22, 2013

Summer Dog Training

All is going good here at Family Disaster Dogs...a new puppy coming next week and the Family Disaster Book is almost ready for Publishing !!! Then we begin training meet-ups at the park, everyone is welcomed. 



                                Daisy's resting, getting ready for new puppy training.


Wishing you all a great summer season filled with lots of dog training !

We'll Be Back!

 ( With pictures of puppy in training )

Read Below to Pack your dog's emergency evacuation backpack...and follow the lessons on the lesson page above to teach your family dog how to rescue you.



Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Spring 2013 Update

Hi Everyone,

First off, I want to apologize for not keeping up on posting lessons here at Family Disaster Dogs. The only excuse that I have for not being online is because I've been busy offline with the pet spa business I bought last year.

I'm happy to say we've grown to the point of moving into the much larger storefront space next door where we'll have a dog training room and offer Family Disaster Dog lessons in person. Along with dog training and professional all breed grooming we'll have dog daycare suites set up like home, play groups and afternoon yappy hour group play dates.

The lobby is being set up as a comfortable pet friendly wifi and coffee lounge where owners can mingle while pets enjoy our services in other areas of the store.

I have been working on the Family Disaster Book in my spare time, and do hope to have the editing and final copy ready for publishing in the next month or so. Please stay tuned for more online lessons and quick tips that will soon be coming your way. I'll be sending out book offers as soon as the publishing dates are set.

I'm planning a follow up book about how your dog can help you survive in extreme conditions or if your ever lost..although not many people get lost with a dog along.

Before I go here's a Family Disaster Dog tip;

Dogs have saved many children who have become lost by staying with the child and keeping them warm overnight.

If the child knew to hold the dog by the collar and tell the dog to "go home", the dog would most likely take the child home at a pace the child can handle because the dog will sense the urgency.

Most dogs know what the word  'home" means. Use the word often to teach your dog.

Most family dogs would rather go home instead of sleep in the woods overnight but they don't want to leave a member of the family behind.

Dogs have to be asked or they will wait.

Use this tip to teach your children how to use the family dog to go home in case they are ever lost.

This will work for adults who get lost too.




Sunday, February 24, 2013

Quick Dog Training Tricks

 "Quick Family Disaster Dog Training" will be posted weekly along with two regular monthly lessons to show you how your family dog can come to your aid during an emergency or major disaster.




Quick Dog Training Tricks 

Teach your dog to pick up or retrieve objects by name or command 


1.  Teach your dog to play with a toy

2. Use a command or word like "Fetch, Go-Get, Retrieve "

3. When dog is retrieving the toy on command attach toy to an object you wish the dog to get for you or place the toy with the item.

4. Use the command or word like "fetch" with the objects name

5. Ask dog to find toy/object by the name or command you used

6. Once dog is bringing you the toy and object remove toy

7. Ask dog to find object by name

8. When dog finds or brings you object then praise dog with toy and play

Once dog is retrieving object you ask for you by name then you can add other object by names


Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham Fetching


Important Dog News~~~~~~~

Pet Food Recalls and other great pet care advice 
can be found at Wendy's Animal Talk



Saturday, February 9, 2013

Family Dogs and Working Dogs Scent Discrimination

Family Dog and Working Dog Scent Discrimination


This article explains how your family dog can tell the difference between you and another person or object. This information applies to Family Disaster Dogs, Tracking Dogs and Trailing Dogs as well as any dog who is using its nose to find an object, person or pet.

Scent discrimination can be a complicated and complex subject.

When I was first learning Bloodhound handling and training with my dog Sue, our SAR dog mentor and instructor, Lt. Ezra Roberts explained the basics of scent discrimination to me in what I continue to believe is the easiest way possible.
Amber and Incredible Sue


I smile in remembrance of Ezra as I write this..I couldn't of asked for a better mentor.

He said, " When a Bloodhound smells a chocolate cake they smell every ingredient of the cake. The flour, sugar, eggs and coco while other dogs smell only the chocolate cake. "

This is the difference between a dog trained to scent discriminate. They smell one scent out of many many scents.

Dogs that are not trained to scent discriminate will search for only one scent, such as, live human scent but not each individual person within that human scent. They will find any human scent and all human scent in a certain search area by air scenting, tracking and  grid working. They will find every person or object's scent they are trained to find, such as bombs, drugs, humans live and remains. They are trained using only one scent article or smell.

Other dogs are trained to find many different scents or a scent they are given by the handler. These dogs are scent discriminating when they find a drug or object the handler asked them to find.

Service dogs who are trained to get the newspaper, slippers and dropped items of their owners are scent and sight discriminating. They know your slippers from another person's slippers.

Bloodhounds are different in that they process the ability to scent discriminate naturally. When a Bloodhound is given a scent article they start looking for that scent without much training at all. The handler gets most of the training and not the dog.

We don't train Bloodhounds they train us. Family dogs of all ages act naturally like the Bloodhounds when they stay close to their owners, bring your their toy or follow a special family member.

These dogs are choosing to discriminate. All dogs can discriminate and they do naturally.
It is up to us humans to take advantage of this natural ability in the dog and teach our dogs what we wish them to find or who.

When we train our family dogs to find objects by name we are teaching them to discriminate.

You can learn how to train your family dog to discriminate by going to our lesson page here. or click the page button at the top of this page.

Coming Soon "My Puppy Can Find Me" picture book that teaches your child and dog to work together so they are never lost and can find you ! 

Sign up for updates at familydisasterdogs.com

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

More Free Lessons Coming Soon

More Free Lessons Coming Soon


 

Feb 2013 Tracking and Scent Discrimination

The differences of scent discrimination in tracking dogs.

How your family dog can use their nose for different scenting jobs.


March 2013 Missing Persons

Using and teaching your dog to find your child.

How to teach an old dog to track or trail a person or lost pet.

April 2013 Survival

How to teach your dog to gather your family in one place.

How to train your to come to your rescue.

Be sure and check out the lesson links below !

Learn more about Family Disaster Dogs in the post below,,, 

Happy trails



Sunday, January 6, 2013

FAQ about How a Dog’s Nose Works


FAQ about How a Dog’s Nose Works



This information has been gathered from the internet to help you understand how a dog's nose works. In the first article, the author points out additional reasons why you should pay attention to the weather when you are working your tracking dog.

How Long Can Scent Survive?
© 2007 Missing Pet Partnership. All rights reserved.

The text below is an edited excerpt from MPP founder Kat Albrecht's book DOG DETECTIVES: Train Your Dog to Find Lost Pets. There are many opinions and claims regarding just how long a scent trail can last. Missing Pet Partnership posts this information because some pet owners are hiring pet detectives who claim that their dogs can track a scent trail that is several months old and even up to a year old.

MPP founder Kat Albrecht has spent eighteen years training and working search dogs, observing other search dogs in training, and learning from search dog authorities across the country. She's familiar with aged trail experiments performed by experienced Bloodhound trainers.

Based on her knowledge of what other credible Bloodhound handlers have experienced, her training through the National Police Bloodhound Association (NPBA), and her personal experience in working successful cases with search dogs that she has personally trained and/or worked with, she is comfortable in estimating that in optimal scent conditions (cool, damp areas with heavy vegetation and no wind) a trained trailing dog is probably capable of following a scent trail that is up to three (possibly even four) weeks old.

Keep in mind, however, that even if the scent trail is too old for a search dog to track, a MAR Technician can POTENTIALLY HELP YOU find your lost pet using other methods, including using his or her dog to track a fresher scent trail from a viable sighting.

"The ideal working scent conditions for a trailing dog are cool, moist days with no wind. ( what i have said here on this site too :) Scent will pool, cling, and survive in shady areas and areas with lush vegetation. The moisture provided by lush green grass, the shade of a front porch, or the damp surface of a gutter are all examples of places where residual scent could be present several days after the source of the scent has passed through an area.

Scent survives longer in the cooler conditions found in the evening or early morning hours because lower temperatures will tend to bring the scent back down to ground level.

Hot and dry conditions have a negative impact on scent survival. In these conditions, scent is more easily dispersed and destroyed. Direct sunlight will dry out and quickly destroy scent vapors. In addition to the physical toll that it can take on a trailing dog, heat can also cause scent to rise above the level of where the dog is working.

The key to working a search dog in hot temperatures is to avoid it if you can.

(I too, have advised the same here on Family Disaster Dogs.)



The Scent of Fear of Panic  


Search dog handlers have long known that each emotion in a person produces different scents or pheromones (detectable chemical substances) that our dogs are able to detect and follow.  Prison dogs are known to be able to detect a criminal who fears getting caught in a crowd of people who are not afraid and area search dogs are able to find lost subjects by smelling panic in the air because a person who is lost soon becomes disorientated, confused and panics.

Qualified K9 Trainers can purchase different scent or pheromones from chemical laboratories that make scents and chemicals for perfume, medical drugs and research. Access to these chemicals is not allowed to the public because of the danger of some of the chemicals available.

A 2011 study published in Science magazine showed that tears act as a chemo signal or a chemical substance detectable by others. Not only did men who sniffed tears (which were brought on by negative emotions) find photographs of women’s faces less attractive, the men also reported that they were less sexually aroused, and the scientific data backed it up.

People can unconsciously detect whether someone is stressed or scared by smelling a chemical pheromone released in their sweat, according to researchers who have investigated the underarm secretions of petrified skydivers.

My Bloodhound Daisy



From The Whole Dog Journal

Below is another great article by a Veterinary about a how a dog’s nose should be cared for and why the nose is so effective in tracking down odors.

 Dr. Randy Kidd, DVM, PhD explains “The dog’s nose may be his most powerful organ and it is certainly one of the most dynamic of all animal systems, with activities that range from basic smell detection, to sensing fear, to memory, to emotions, to mate- and pack-selection, on to a genetic history carried from one generation to the next. Fortunately, disease doesn’t often waylay its functional capability, and fortunately again, most of the diseases of the nose are easily treated naturally. You can read more of the article here


Happy Trails,

A note to visitors,
Family Disaster Dogs Book is online!!




See all my books in paperback and eBook on my Author Page click here




Here's another high recommended book about scent and dogs ( I didn't write it:)

Featured Lesson

Tips and How to Evacuate with Your Dogs Help

 How to Evacuate with Your Dog's Help click above to see my book! If you live in an area that is prone to natural disasters, such as hur...

Author Amber Higgins

Author Amber Higgins
Click Pic to Visit my author page

Advertising Disclosure

Disclosure: Some of the links on this site are affiliate links that I have reviewed and approved. Additionally links to products such as at Amazon are products I have personally used. Affiliate links means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. The proceeds earned are not much and used to keep this Family Disaster Dogs website free to the public. Thank you for your support.

Welcome UK and Worldwide Visitors

Welcome UK and worldwide visitors and friends to Family Disaster Dogs online! Although I'm an American author and dog professional the worldwide web has given me the opportunity to connect with some wonderful folks who have contributed pictures for my books. The "Start Mantrailing" book features RRI K9 North Scotland trained Search and Rescue Dog "Amber" on the cover and her teammates training in the book, plus American dogs using my training methods. A portion of sales of the Start Mantrailing book or copies were donated to RRI North Scotland. The children's picture book "My Puppy Can Find Me" has my daughter and bloodhound as illustrations by UK cartoonist Scotty King. You can find the books on Amazon UK or use the contact page to order from me. When you click the links will take you to your own county pages of this site.

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There are well over 250 pages that have been published here at Family Disaster Dogs since 2011.

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The list is the easiest way to find all the information here.

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