Warning-Test-123

 

WARNING ! WARNING ! WARNING !

 

 

 

 

 

Confusion Fear Anxiety Loss

Panic Shock Death 

 

 

 

 

911-MAYDAY-SOS

HELP!

FAMILY DISASTER DOG

CALL TO ACTION

This is a test of the Family Disaster Dog Network

In the event of an extreme emergency, natural or manmade disaster, terrorist attack, fire, earthquake, tsunami, tornado, flood, landslide or economic collapse and it’s the end of the world as you know it.

In other words, when all hell breaks loose...and you are ordered to Evacuate or Decide the Safest route is to Bug-Out, slip away or run...don’t forget you trained your dog using these lessons.

 

As your dog wakes the household by alerting and rounding up family members, you will be waking and preparing to go.

Each family member once dressed will grab their own backpacks with emergency supplies as you and your trained family disaster dog grab family go-bags and 72 hour ready packs with extra food or supplies you want to load in the car to evacuate.

Your dog will follow your commands as your family prepares to  leave instead of hiding or getting in your way, your dog will know what to do too.

Your dog will carry its own food and supplies in a dog backpack giving you more room in your own backpack and your dog has room in its pack for extra supplies for the family.

These simple steps are preplanned out ahead of time.

Critical time is saved with the help of your dog.

This scenario will be the same if you were walking out to a safe preplanned location or to the street in front of your house.

Any item you need that you have taught your dog to retrieve for you, such as flashlights or extra boots, backpacks can be fetched by your dog and dropped where you have taught your dog to take the items. For instance, in the car, truck, shelter in the back yard or out to the street away from falling objects.

Now when the warning goes off all you do is evacuate and find shelter in a safe location with your loved ones and supplies.

Be sure to write on your house that all living beings have left the building or which pets remain behind for rescuers who come to check up on you.

Your dog will know from training and family evacuation drills what to do and so will your family which will reduce stress, fear and trauma.

This alone can save your life because more people get injured from panic then anything else during a mob situation or huge evacuation.

Set up camp with your family, bring out the pre-packed snacks from your rescue pack and celebrate!

You and your family dog did it!

Your family is safe; your dog is with you.

Wait for officials to find you or fix the disaster.

Do not leave your safe location unless you have a very good reason.

The next post will outline what to do when a loved one is lost and how to use your dog to find them. Be safe, have fun preparing with your dogs.

del.icio.us Tags: evacuate with your pet,dog training,doomsday prepper,prepare for emergency,disaster,survival dogs,bug out

Advanced Alert to Danger

Advance or Follow up Lesson

 Teaching your Dog to Alert you to Danger

In Search Dog terms "Alert" and "Indicate" have the same meaning.

Moses finds man in water

This lesson is a follow up to the two previous lessons that teach your dog how to alert you to danger, such as fire or smoke, an earthquake and when the emergency warning sirens sound off. In the previous lessons we went over how to teach your dog to wake you and other family members whether they were sleeping in bed or unconscious under pretend rubble.

In this lesson you'll learn how to teach your dog to "Alert" you when you are awake and how to continue improving these skills and use these lessons with other disaster or survival dog skills.

After you have read lessons 26 - 27 and  followed the instructions you will continue to work with your dog whenever possible and in different settings or locations. With each different setting change the material you use to make the training set-up look like a disaster scene or rubble pile. 

Get creative, bury yourself under cardboard boxes or let your children make forts out boxes when your dog is sleeping or outdoors then let your dog in to find you or the children. Use the garage next time or a friend's house. Each time you play these games it teaches you and your dog new skills and scenarios.

Encourage your dog to paw and wake up the pretending to be unconscious person in different locations and times of the day.  When your dog does respond in a way that attempts to move or nudge the person, praise them to do it again.

Use your dog's toy and treats to get them motivated and looking for the person. After your dog is looking and has the idea then gradually use the toy or treat less and less until your dog no longer uses the toy or treat to find the person or you.

Replace the toy or treat reward with talking and petting your dog when they do this incredible feat. Always trust your dog and guide them without punishment and with praise.

Teaching your dog to alert you to different odors and items is the same as teaching them to find a person, except you use the odor as the scent article and the odor in a container as the hidden item in training.  You can read the lessons here at Family Disaster Dogs about training your dog to trail and track or area search for a lost person for further details.

When you are working with your dog to find the hidden person or odor, you can teach your dog to go ahead of you and look for what you seek then return to you when they find the scent by teaching them "Refind" which will be covered in the next lesson. This is like sending a scout ahead of you.

You can also teach your dog that you will be following them to the missing person on or off a leash by going along with your dog each time. If your dog moves to fast or slow then talk to your dog to slow them down or speed them up and develop a speed of working which is more comfortable for you as a team.

With each lesson you and your dog will find a pace that is comfortable for both of you. When you reach this point in training you will feel a great satisfaction in knowing your communicating with your four legged best friend.

This feeling is the bonding you often hear of search and rescue dogs sharing with their handlers. It's a natural teamwork sense of confidence that comes with practice. Practice makes perfect.

Once your dog is going to a person and pawing them or waking them, then you do the same lesson but you are the person hiding so your dog learns to alert you to danger by waking you up.

After your dog is waking and alerting a sleeping person then your dog is easier to teach how to to alert a person who is awake by simply asking your dog to go to the person and paw or bark or sit at that person to alert you of the person. Again this is similar to your dog finding the person but the dog makes sure to "alert" you with pawing, nudging the person or barking to "Indicate" which search dogs also do.

By using the person's name the dog learns to go and alert on that person only. 

This is helpful in case the person is somebody you know who is buried under rubble or missing.

To teach your dog to alert you when you are awake and not in rubble or a dangerous situation but pending danger you will ask your dog to alert by coming to you and barking,pawing,rubbing on you or however your dog likes to get your attention. Some dogs will come and sit to look at us, this is the dog's "alert" to you.

Learn to "Read" your dog to find how they naturally alert you to what is going on. Many dog's nudge us with a nose to get us to notice something they see. Use this as an indication or an alert by encouraging the behavior when the warning sirens sound or when the weather turns dangerous and whenever you can do a fire drill with your pets and family.

When you feel danger or get the chance to practice this, then you'll include your dog running to you by you calling "come" and say "alert" or "speak" or "give me your paw"..whatever..then praise your dog and go together to do the evacuation plan that is in place. 

By doing this over and over you'll teach your family dog to do this for you when the time comes.

Good Luck and Be Safe!

Lesson 17: Choke Chain Use

How to Use a Choker Collar Correctly

Both of the chain choker style collars mentioned in Lesson 16 are meant to be used during  training sessions only and in a way that is similar to a bit in a horses mouth.

 

This training equipment works by tightening and then immediately releasing to give the animal only a moment’s correction in a quick and humane way that distracts the animal with a slight pressure.

 

These types of collars should not be pulled on but slightly and gently pulled then released by movement from your hand and the leash.

 

This instant pressure on the neck is usually done while the dog is moving and the dog learns to turn and stop similar to a horse. Once you master the way to use the choke chain collar you will do so with a light flick of the lease correct your dog.

 

All you should do is pull the leash until the collar is closed on your dog’s neck then you should loosen the leash immediately so that the collar slides open. The collar will slide open if you have the collar on correctly as outlined in the Collar lesson.

 

When used correctly your dog will walk on a loose leash at all times. If you look at AKC obedience dogs in the show ring you will notice the dogs leash is not tight when the handler has the dog sitting at heel.

 

Only in the confirmation show ring is the leash held tightly when the dog is lead around the ring and that is to keep the dog’s head up and for looks while pacing around. Show dogs are taught to walk like this with the leash tight while obedience dogs are not. 

Obedience dogs should always have a loose leash and choke collar.

 

Practice pulling the leash up and then release the leash by lowering your hand until you have this action mastered. You dog will appreciate you not pulling on the collar all the time which teaches the dog nothing but to pull on the leash.

 

A tight collar or leash actually encourages the dog to pull and if a dog is pulling the best thing to do is to loosen the leash or collar then pull up and loosen again to give your dog a signal that you want to slow down.

 

The hardest thing to learn is loosening the leash which loosens the collar. Most people need a few days of practice with their dog to master using a choke chain correctly. 

Do not get discouraged if you do not seem to get the hang of it, keep practicing until you automatically release the tension on the collar every time you pull the leash. This takes practice. 

Every time you notice the leash and collar are tight, loosen the leash some so your dog is comfortable. This prevents injury to the dog’s neck plus your dog will respond to a slight squeeze and release much better then you tugging on the leash. They do love to play tug a war if you do.

 

The prong training collar is made to work the same way, tighten then release without hurting your dog. The prong type of collar is made to pinch the dog slightly not stab the dog in pain to get them to behave.

 

The collars are made to tighten and release for a reason and the reason is they are training equipment not meant to be worn at all times. These collars can seriously hurt your dog if left on without a leash or if used when the leash is tied or held hard.

 

Both collars should be 3 inches bigger then your dog’s neck so the collar has room to release and tighten.

 

Never leave these collars on your dog without supervision. If the choker collar is all you have then use a snap to hook the rings together so the collar will not tighten if you turn your dog loose.

 

 

Next Lesson

How to use a leash

          More lessons to Come

Evidence Search

          Setting up Training Courses

          Water Searches

 Advanced Search Dog Techniques

Dog Backpacking for Survival

Dog Retrieves First Aid Kit

 Dog Retrieves Items as Directed

 Dog Takes Item to Indicated Person

“Go Get Help” Sending your dog for help

  Sending Dog to a Person

  Rescue Dig on Command

 Dog Alerts Others to your Whereabouts