AMPWDA K9 Conference Oct 2026 and information about the NEW Youth program

I highly recommend the AMPWDA

Just 3 weeks left to get in on this premium training event and train on historical civil war battlegrounds in beautiful Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.. October 15, 16, 17 and 18 2026.. Sign up today.. open to all

https://www.ampwda.com/fees.html#26FNSK9C

AMPWDA is rolling out a new YOUTH K-9 CADET PROGRAM for youth that are interested in K-9 Utilization, Training and Certification.. as well as the AMPWDA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM where each registered / paid participant can nominate a person of their choice by sending an email to tony@ampwda.com giving the nomination name, address and reason they should be selected. 

Each seminar a scholarship will be awarded to one person chosen from the nominations. The scholarship will cover the seminar fee (tuition) and will not cover lodging, travel or meals. We will be looking for mentors and volunteers for the K-9 Cadet Program and support through donations for the Scholarship Program.

These 2 programs will be effective starting today September 17, 2026. These programs are meant to bringing positive educational programs, mentorship and provide young leaders with the tools and traits lead in the field of K-9. Please get involved in both and as always we appreciate your continued support. Questions of comment can be sent to tony@ampwda.com

The first Scholarship will be in honor of Ray Gervais who dedicated his life to serving mankind and continued to run behind canines past age 87 years old.. what an inspiration..

Donations for the scholarship program can be sent to https://www.paypal.com/donate...

 

Sincerely

Tony Keith

 

Training a Dog to Find People is not as hard as you think

 

American Mantrailing Training and Certification by AMPWDA

American Mantrailing Police and Work Dog Association is one of the oldest and most respected organizations in the country. 

Get trained and certified with your dog by the pros! 

Training and Certification for Finding Missing Persons 

Police and Working K9

Mantrailing Tuesday Tip answers a common dog training question

My Sam and Gus 

One of the most common questions dog trainers hear is  how much time and how often should a dog be worked during training? 

Here’s my answer and what most seasoned instructors will say…

Copyright Amber Higgins 

Washee and me mantrailing 

All photos copyright Amber Higgins

Professionally working with dogs since 1976

       Mantrailing since 1997

             Writing about dogs since 2011

                      First published in 1990 newspapers 

       Retired to write and spend time with my dogs 2019

                             Stay calm and carry on ! 

Train Your Dog to Find Missing Family and Pets

All Dogs Love Finding People They Know! 

Our dogs love to find us and they do that every day. 

When a dog wants to go outside, they find you to let you know. 

When a dog wants to play he’ll get his toy and find you to play fetch. 

When a dog is hungry, they find the person who feeds them. 

Our dogs consider other household pets and livestock part of the family. Herding dogs find sheep and livestock over many miles. Much of the training is using natural instincts. 

So why not teach our pet dogs to find family members, including other animals they know? In case a loved one goes missing or is lost then all you have to do is ask your family dog where the person is and follow the dog. 

Pictured below is my dog Washee and I training. We are getting ready to follow a person scent trail to locate where the person is hiding. I do not know where the person is hidden, all I have is the person’s scent article to give Washee to smell and remember the scent we want to find. 

Washee led me through a homeless camp and behind a power company to find the person in the second picture. As you can see from Washee’s happy face she loves this fun game of hide and seek! 

The way I train dogs to search for missing persons is based on how a dog naturally behaves. 

Every time someone in the house leaves our dogs want to go with them because they do not want to lose the person. Dogs do not want to let us out of their sight because we are part of the family pack. Especially a person they are most fond of and the person who feeds them him. 

Even people who play with our dogs at a dog park and neighbors the dog knows are part of the dog’s social network. 

The Family Disaster Dogs books and easy lessons on this site explain how to use the family dogs to search for missing people and pets like mantrailing, tracking and search dogs do. 

These books help not only families train their dogs but also K9 Search and Rescue teams worldwide. 

Check out  my author website  to have a look at the books. The site is a work in progress and will have a blog and newsletter for book updates. I plan to keep adding lessons and dog info here at Family Disaster Dogs too. If you would like new posts in your email, sign-up by refreshing this page and waiting for the pop up window.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe out there in the heat, floods and wildfires. 

Pictured are my two bloodhounds brothers, Sammy and Gus.

Your Dog Can Rescue You

Your family dog can rescue YOU. 

These books have easy DYI instructions for training a pet dog to help its family in emergencies. And train a search and rescue mantrailing dog to find people 

👇👇Download my FREE books below. 👇👇

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amber%20Higgins/author/B0052MIK3K

Sign up for newsletters and free audible books using the pop up when you reload this page. 

Please help others learn how family dogs can help their families in disasters and missing persons situations by leaving a book review for my books on the amazon or other bookstore sites. Plus, Share this post and blog. 

Reviews help websites and search engines find people. You may save a person’s life by them learning what is on this blog. There’s almost 300 blog posts here on familydisasterdogs.com 

Many search and rescue dog teams have learned and are saving people all over the world. I do not charge for this blog, and the books are no cost on Kindle and Audible because you, the readers, are who keep me posting and inspired. I share my dog knowledge with everyone with the hope to help people stay safe. Meaning, I don’t write books to make money. I write these books and posts because I believe dogs love to have a purpose in our lives. 

Stay safe everyone 

Training a Dog versus Teaching a Dog

 

Visit My Author Site , it’s new for 2026

To train a dog is to have a dog physically doing something. 

In comparison, teaching a dog is showing a dog what you mean.

Training a dog is the physical part of teamwork. 

While teaching a dog is the mental part of teamwork. 

Example 

When we teach a dog to fetch;

First we teach the dog what the ball is, by showing the dog the ball and naming it. 

Therefore, we are focusing on mental education. The dog is watching and learning without doing anything physical. 

Even if the dog is jumping up and down or sitting watching us.  We are Teaching the dog. 

Compare that to this….

Next, we train the dog to move and do what we ask. 

We toss the ball and tell the dog to go fetch. We and the dog are focusing on the physical education. 

We toss the ball. We are using a physical movement. 

The dog runs after the ball, a physical movement. 

Therefore 

To train a dog is to have a dog physically doing something. 

In comparison, teaching a dog is showing a dog what you mean.

Training a dog is the physical part of teamwork and teaching is the mental aspect.  

Amber

Founder and author 

Family Disaster Dogs 

Toby in memory of my husband Rick