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.

The Story Behind the Family Disaster Dogs idea, books, blog and lessons

Interview With Author Amber Higgins on NFREADS.COM

Please introduce yourself and your books!

Hello,

I’m Amber Higgins, the author of three books that tell dog owners how to use the family dog to find missing loved ones and help during disasters. I’ve also self-published a short story called, “A Squirrel Planted an Acorn”.

I always was a writer and dog lover. My work was first published offline in the 1990’s in magazines and newspapers, including a weekly herbal health column that ran two years. I set writing aside for about fifteen years to volunteer with my bloodhounds and German shepherds I raised, trained and placed nationwide for search and rescue work. I’ve worked with pets since 1976 as a professional master groomer, dog trainer and pet business owner until recently semi-retiring to spend more time writing.

What is the story behind your book(s)?

When the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, we were awakened at 3 am by tsunami sirens and evacuation phone calls on the Oregon coast where I was living writing other books. As I was watching the event unfold on television because we lived on a hill and were safe, I looked at my bloodhound Daisy who sat next to me and the idea for the Family Disaster Dog books dawned on me.

All of a sudden I thought of the many ways our dogs can help us! Family dogs can learn how to help their owners like search dogs do! Our own dogs can find us! They do this everyday when they want to play or go outside, our dogs are always wishing to follow us so why not ask them to find people they love who may be lost or trapped after an earthquake or tsunami ? Dogs can carry evacuation bags for young children, seniors and disabled family members who cannot carry the weight themselves!

That night, I began writing the “Family Disaster Dogs” book and lessons tailored to fit any dog’s household and family. Every dog can do something ! One simple skill may save a life. I knew that writing a book and publishing takes time so I started a blog to reach dog owners as I wrote the book. Right away, people online loved the idea!

Today, there are over two hundred Family Disaster Dogs articles online and the site has daily visitors from all over the world. The original Family Disaster Dogs book was published in 2015 by a publisher who went out of business 2016. I added 50 more pages of lessons and self-published the second edition in 2017 along with a small but helpful book called Evacuate with Your Dog’s Help-Survival Bag List.

My children’s book with illustrations by UK dog cartoonist, Scotty King, was recently released by Waldorf Publishing (2019).

What were the best, worst and most surprising things you encountered during the entire process of completing your book(s)?

I was surprised that dogs and owners as far away as Scotland and Australia were learning from what I posted on the blog! This encouraged me to keep the lesson ideas flowing, they were learning valuable skills with their dogs and what to do in emergencies to help themselves and communities. The best thing was that people wanted to know more. The worst experience was my first publisher going out of business a year after publishing the book.

What are your plans for future books?

I have two more children’s books in this genre planned and three other children books in draft I wrote years ago, along with a novel almost completed.

Tell us some quirky facts about yourself

I once lived on a mountain top 4 miles to the nearest electric pole and wrote by the flame of an oil lantern. I wrote my young daughter children books for Christmas on an old royal typewriter under the glow of the oil lamp. One day I will self-publish those books I have carried around in draft for thirty years.

Amazon author page is  https://www.amazon.com/Amber-Higgins/

Twitter is @URdogCanRescueU

Facebook author page is  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmberHiggins/

Facebook Family Disaster Dogs page is  https://www.facebook.com/familydisasterdogs/

Website https://www.familydisasterdogs.com

Books

Evacuate with Your Dog's Help

My Puppy Can Find Me Publisher Page

https://www.waldorfpublishing.com/collections/2019/products/my-puppy-can-find-me

New for 2020-Certify Your Dog as a Family Disaster Dog free membership and lessons

Buy or Read for Free on Kindle the Family Disaster Dogs Books click to my Author Page

Hi everyone,

With the New Year here and the world off to a roaring 2020 start, I want to offer everyone who is interested in using the skills taught here on Family Disaster Dogs and in my books a way to show off their own dog's skills.

I'm offering everybody who uses these lessons a Family Disaster Dogs Certification of accomplishment with your dog's name, picture and date of certification signed by me, the author and founder of Family Disaster Dogs lessons, books and blog.

I am so proud of all the dogs and owners worldwide who have supported and learnt from the information here and in the books. You deserve a pat on the back for taking the time to prepare your family for hopefully what shall never happen but if a disaster or lost person incident happens, YOU are READY !

How great is that!!

Go Dogs!!!

Yay! Family

Here is the page to more lessons

I hear and see comments everyday on social media about how well you all are doing learning these useful Family Disaster Dog skills. It's great to hear from you all and see how well your dogs are doing! The response is what keeps me writing and adding more information for everyone.


Become a Family Disaster Dog member


Here's what to do to become a Family Disaster Dogs member and a Family Disaster Dogs Certificate

You can get one certificate for each of your dogs (cats, rabbits, horses, any other welcomed too) in their name.

Children's book participates can request a certificate for each child and dog "team" who practice the lessons in My Puppy Can Find Me picture book.

Send us or post to one of our social media pages below, a picture of your dog wearing the dog go-bag, or doing any lesson from the Family Disaster Dogs book or children's book, My Puppy Can Find Me.

You can also send a picture of yourself or child with one of the books, here I am visiting dogs while the owner reads my book.

You can also tell us in a comment below or posted to social media about what your dog, child or family has learned for a certificate.

click to Email Us

Facebook us at Facebook page  join the group there too!

Twitter @URDogCanFindU

Instagram @familydisasterdogs

At the sites below you can leave a book review when you read or buy one of my books then email me so I can send your certificate.

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page


Here's a few of our members


Introducing Daisy Mae Parker

Ms Daisy Mae Parker
has a Go-Bag ready

Introducing Buddi Dog

Dixie and Buddi
Dixie can find people
Buddi carries a Go-bag

Introducing Dixie

Introducing Mt Tom's Dazy

Mt. Tom's Dazy
Is ready to evacuate

Introducing Mt Tom's Karl

Mt Tom's Karl
is learning to find family

Introducing Mt Tom's Fia

Newest member Mt. Tom's Fia
Puppy is ready!

Sign up for updates or follow us to see more new members and get your dogs a certificate too!

5 Ways To Help Your Dog Adjust To Their New Home

(image)

Whether you are moving to a new accommodation with your four-legged friend, or you are introducing a new pet into your home, there are several things you need to do to help them adjust. Your dog will adapt quite easily to a new situation, but here’s how you can aid them in the transition.


Pet-proof your home

The dog is a member of your family, so you need to pet-proof every area of your home. This is similar to welcoming in a child, such as making each room safe and putting away anything that could be a choking or chemical hazard. You should also work on the outside. Dogs love to explore, so ensure the fence and gates are secure and close up any other gap that could lead to your dog escaping. In a new area, they can easily get lost if they do.

Remember toilet training

As part of your regular dog training, you need to focus on this one aspect. This isn’t an issue for older dogs, but if you are welcoming a puppy into your home, you need to expect the occasional accident. However, if you have recently acquired an adult dog, there may be issues with nerves and excitement, leading to toilet troubles within the home. On the inside we recommend training pads, and in an outside area, consider Pet Zen Garden Grass, to make those trips to the toilet safer and more acceptable to everybody.

Create familiarity

Familiarity ensures your dog feels safe in the home. For a new addition, everything will be new, but you may still be able to bring a few of the dog’s belongings from their previous owner. For your long-standing pet, the same is true. Arrange your dog’s toys and bedding in a way that closely matches their old setup in your previous house. You should stick to familiar schedules as well, so continue with feeding and walking at the regular times your dog is used to.

Explore with your dog

On arrival at the new home, keep your dog on the leash. Otherwise, your excitable pet may run rampant around the house as they explore the new surroundings. Understandably, chaos will abound. By having control over your pet, you can safely guide him around the areas of the home they are permitted to visit. As part of your pet-proofing, safety gates should have been fitted to block off unpermitted areas.

After exploring the interior of the property, you should take them on a walk of the neighborhood. You can do this on your regular walking schedule, but your dog needs to get used the area in stages. New sights and sounds can prove alarming to an animal, so introduce the area gradually, so they know what to expect on future travels.

Create a fun environment

For new or existing dogs, it is important to create an area that is fun and mentally stimulating. Particularly when in a new house, you want your pet to be distracted by anything that isn’t the legs of your furniture. There are plenty of toys on the market that will keep your dog entertained, but remember to change things up a little with something new once in a while. Our pets get bored with the same old stuff as much as we do!

Thanks for reading

Book Release Family Disaster Dogs

Get the book! 

Pre-Release Special

Click Here to buy a Limited Number and Signed Copy from the Author for only $9.99

Please allow 4 weeks for shipping from the publisher to author to you! Thank you! Be Safe!

 (2018) Available on Amazon see a free preview below

visit Family Disaster Dogs   for more lessons and articles