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Showing posts with label extreme winter weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extreme winter weather. Show all posts

Saturday, January 20, 2024

What is a Family Disaster Dog? It's Your Dog Trained to Rescue You!

 What is a family disaster dog? It is a dog trained to find and rescue you!

The Family Disaster Dog Book shows you how easy a pet dog of any age, size, or breed can be your very own search and rescue dog! Any size dog, from the little Chihuahua to the Great Dane, can help its owner survive...and they find you every day already when they want to play or eat, so why not learn what else they can do to help you!


One of our biggest fears and chores during a disaster is losing or finding a loved one, and every dog has the ability to find its family members or friends. We, as dog owners, only need to learn how to use the natural ability of the dog to the full advantage during emergencies.


The Family Disaster Dogs book is full of fun and easy lessons that are tailored for the family to learn disaster preparedness with pets, including search and rescue skills in the comfort of the home during daily activities by former Search Dog Instructor Amber Higgins, who spent over a decade breeding and training AKC Bloodhounds for nationwide Search and Rescue FEMA volunteer work along with German Shepherd Dogs.


Here's a few of the skills you and your dog can learn:


Ask any dog to find family members and friends who are lost or missing !


Learn how your dog can be a messenger dog !


How any size dog can carry extra supplies if you have to evacuate.


Learn how to pack and use a Dog Bug-out Bag with 3 days of survival supplies for you and your dog.


Teach your dog to alert you to danger and warning sirens with these easy at home lessons.


If you are trapped in an earthquake. Your dog can find you, dig you out or bring you first aid until rescuers arrive !


Send your dog for help or to your partner or child on command, it's easy to do with this book. 


Teach your dog to bring you items by name and much more !


Teach the whole family how to use the family dog as their own search and rescue dog in tornado, floods, earthquakes and to find lost loved ones !


Don't have a dog then this book is a great gift for a friend or neighbor who has a dog and they can come to your rescue too !


Use this book to form a neighborhood Family Disaster Dog group at church or clubs to help neighbors until emergency response arrives ! 






Be sure to have a look at the "My Puppy Can Find Me" children's picture book by Amber Higgins for young children and parents to learn what to do if a child is ever lost or missing. The children learn a fun game to play with the family dog to "go find mom or dad". Parents learn how to use their dog to find a child that wandered off or is missing. 


Sometimes first responders and the police are overwhelmed with calls for help and they may not reach you right away. 


Do you know what to do if help cannot reach you? What if the roads are blocked by high water or downed trees? What do you do if you cannot find a loved one? What if you are out camping and a family member gets lost and does not return to camp. Waiting for help to arrive often takes hours and during that time the person may go further away from camp, may get injured or worst. That is why I wrote these books. To help you help yourself and loved ones when help is not near. Time is critical when a person's life is at stake. 


If you have a dog in the family, these easy fun lessons will teach you and your dog what to do. These books have helped people all over the world to learn how to save a person's life. Why not have a look at the books and the 285 page Family Disaster Dogs blog ? 


I keep the four books free on audible and kindle so everyone can afford to be prepared and learn these valuable skills. Sharing this information with you at no cost is my mission, my way of helping communities worldwide. I spent many years training daily with my own dogs and volunteering to find missing person with county search and rescue squads. I learned a wealth of information during those years about emergency response and disasters, information that is not readily available to the public due to the amount of knowledge required and liability laws. That information is what I share with you, the public, and as a seasoned educated writer I try very hard to keep the lessons simple so even a child can learn. 







Have a look at the books on the book page in the page menu above or visit my author page at Amazon


If you do not use Amazon the books are available at book stores and retail outlets worldwide, a simple internet search will show you where. Please feel free to ask me for a copy  or to train in person if that is easier for you! I will be happy to meet with you anytime and work with your dog, just ask!








Saturday, January 6, 2018

Is It To Cold Outside for Dogs and Cats?

About Your Dog or Cat in Freezing Weather

Is it to cold outside for furry friends? 


While it is true that dogs and cats have fur coats that insulate them from extreme weather they can become stressed by the weather just like we do. Older, younger pets and animals that are kept in a heated or air conditioned home are especially prone to stress during extreme weather.

The amount of cold or heat an animal can take depends on the animal's internal comfort zone due to the environment they live in and not the breed of the animal.

My dogs outdoors  in play yard, Arkansas winter 2001

Animals have to acclimate to new climate changes and this means their body has to make internal adjustments and the body has to have time to get use to making this adjustment in order to stay comfortable.

If the body is not given the time to adjust to the climate changes then the body goes into shock like leading to hypothermia, this can happen quickly when the animal is working or slowly if the animal is resting.

All of a sudden you might find your dog or cat panting and unable to stand, they will get worst and can die if the temperature of the body is not brought back a comfortable level fast.

Either extreme reaction to the climate is treated the same. You have to reverse or bring the animal back from the extreme.

My Incredible Sue staying warm 2000

If pets are to hot, then you must cool them. If they are to cold, then you must warm them.
Primary Cause

Hypothermia can occur in any of the following situations:
1     Exposure to cold for a long time
2     Wet fur and skin
3     Submersion in cold water for long time
      Shock
5      Anesthesia given for a long duration

Immediate Care
1     Warm some blankets on a radiator or in the clothes dryer with haste.
2    Wrap the dog in the blankets.
3    Wrap a hot water bottle in a towel and place it against the dog’s abdomen. Do not use it unwrapped, as this will burn the skin.
4     If the dog is conscious, give him warmed fluids to drink.
5     Check the dog’s temperature every 10 minutes: if it is below 98°F (36.7°C), get immediate veterinary attention.
6     Once the temperature is above 100°F ( 37.8°C), you can remove the hot water bottle to avoid overheating. Keep the dog in a warm room.

Wear a hat in cold weather so body heat does not escape!




Read about summer heat and overheating pets in my other article



Leaving a dog or any animal exposed to harm is against the law!

Detroit Dog Rescue said a man abandoned a Pomeranian mix in a cage outside their facility during the night. It was so cold outside fleas stuck to the poor little dog that froze before being found.

A dog named Nanas found dead in Toledo, Ohio, curled up on the porch of a home after getting out of the house. “She was frozen solid,” Megan Brown, cruelty investigator with the Toledo Area Humane Society, told The Toledo Blade.
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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
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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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