Biggest Mistake Dog Owners Make

I just came across this fantastic free online workshop on dog training from the K9 Training Institute that I recommend that you sign up for right away.

This is the first workshop of its kind that is designed to help "normal" dogs like yours have the same level of calmness, obedience and impulse control as service dogs.

The workshop was a complete eye-opener for me and helped me understand why regular dog owners often have so much difficulty training their dogs.

Washee photo copyright A. Higgins

Giving Your Dog a Job to Do

One of the many things I learned from the workshop is the biggest mistake that most dog owners make with their dogs is that they don't give their dogs work to do.

The reason service dogs are so well-behaved is that they always have work to do.

Now, by “job” or “work”, I don’t mean that a service dog is always doing something physical in nature.

Instead, what I mean is that when you give a service dog the hand signal for the DOWN cue for instance, here’s how the service dog would have been trained to think:

“My owner has now given me the job of lying down. So I will remain lying down here in this exact spot until my owner tells me to do something else, because the job that my owner wants me to do for her now is to lie down.”

So unlike most “normal” dogs who think of DOWN as just a trick that they have to perform for a few seconds after which they can do whatever they feel like, service dogs think of DOWN as a serious job that they have to do with commitment, dedication and purpose until they get their next job from their owner.

As you can imagine, it’s a dramatically different mindset!

And this mindset is the reason service dogs are so well-behaved, and so many “normal” dogs (even if they know cues like DOWN or SIT) are not.

How to Train Your Dog to Have the Same Mindset as a Service Dog

The good news is that you can train your dog to have the same mindset as a service dog as well.

That’s precisely where K9 Training Institute's free online workshop comes in.

It helps you to train your dog using the exact same techniques used by the service dog training industry.

It's being conducted by Dr. Alexa Diaz (one of the top service dog trainers in the U.S.) and Eric Presnall (host of the hit Animal Planet TV show "Who Let the Dogs Out").

Frankly, the techniques described in the workshop are fairly groundbreaking - I haven't seen anyone else talk of these techniques.

This is because it's the first time ever (at least that I know of) that anyone has revealed the secret techniques used by the service dog training industry to train service dogs.

The tips shared in this free workshop work on ALL dog breeds - from small breeds like Pomeranians and Chihuahuas to large breeds like English Mastiffs and Great Danes.

Also, puppies as young as 6 weeks old, and previously untrained adult dogs as old as 13 years, have been successfully trained using these techniques.

It's not a live workshop - rather, it's a pre-recorded workshop, which means that you can watch it at your convenience.

However, while the workshop is free, I am not sure whether it's going to be online for too long, so please check it out as soon as you can.

Here's the link again.

Mantrailing for Fun, Sport and Working Dogs from Family Disaster Dogs

Coming Soon...a new book that shows everyone how Mantrailing is a great activity to do with all breeds of dogs!

What is Mantrailing? 

Mantrailing is using a dog's natural hunting ability to find one person in a crowd.

Mantrailing is a bloodhound specialty that all breeds of dogs can do too!

Mantrailing dogs smell what we cannot see!

In my Family Disaster Dogs book I tell people how any breed of dog can find its family and friends who go missing. As a Mantrailing dog trainer for many years I use this type of training in my book and in person for family disaster dogs of all breeds. 

More recently, dog trainers, dog clubs and pet owners everywhere are starting to find out that this is a great activity not only for Search and Rescue dogs but for all dogs to learn as a fun play day outside or as a sporting event.

As I noticed Mantrailing becoming popular outside of K9SAR and after talking with a few trainers and SAR dog handlers/trainers, we realized there is a need for a book and step by step lessons to help show everyone how to do Mantrailing with all breeds. 

So I have been busy the last couple of months putting the knowledge I gained from 15 years of training and working with Mantrailing dogs and teaching others into a book with pictures and step by step instructions to help start dogs and owners/handlers on this amazing journey into the world of  finding hidden and missing persons with a dog. 

I'm writing the book in more or less three section, the first part covers a little history and what makes a mantrailing dog team. The second section gets everyone started in a very short time finding people with your dogs and pet dog owners who want to use this type of dog training as a fun game and outdoor activity will learn all they need in this second section. From there, you can go on to the next section to dig deeper and advance training for sport and competing in events or become a working search and rescue dog team. 

I will be posting more information soon. 

Be sure to follow Family Disaster Dogs on social media or sign up for the newsletters at the pop-up by refreshing this page. 

On Twitter you can find us under URDogCanRescueU 

Facebook there is a group and a page connected to each other and here is one link 

https://www.facebook.com/familydisasterdogs/

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

The Nose Knows! That's my bloodhound Daisy (RIP)

Below is me working my current dog partner Washee on a trail to find a hidden person. 

We are mantrailing 

Here's some of the dogs featured in the new book

Mark and Bella training to Mantrail

Here's Super Kludde 

who has so many titles from sport and working dog events to list 

He actually paints on canvas with a paint brush held in his mouth 

He's learning Mantrailing, as one of the first dogs to compete in 

Mantrailing as a sport in the USA

Here's a team from RRI-Scotland learning Mantrailing

Training Your Family Dog to Look for a Lost Person

Teach a dog to look for lost or missing persons

Family Disaster Dogs Daisy and Willie

This dog training lesson is easy to do at home and teaches a dog to use an article belonging to the missing or lost person to find that person. 

In dog work this is considered and often called scent discrimination because the dog learns to smell the "scent article" and look only for that scent or person. 

It is very Important to not contaminate the article with your own and other scents. 

Read More (click) and go to the free lesson page for many posts about scent and how-to teach working dogs tracking or pets to help its family locate missing family after a disaster. 

To get Started

Training your family dog to look for a Lost Person

You will need:

1. Your dog
2. 1 person who will hide from the dog
3. 1 sock, or hat or glove the "scent article" from the person who will hide

You can do this lesson indoors or outside with or without a leash, depending on the dog.

Start with a person your dog knows and hold your dog by its collar as the person slowly runs and waves at the dog to a hiding place that is easy to find and with only one turn away right now.

As soon as the person is out of sight,,, 

Hold the scent article, the person's sock, to your dog's nose, say "Smell" and then turn your dog loose and say "Find so and so" use the person’s name, follow your dog to the person.

Your dog, no matter what age will attempt to find them.

If the dog has a hard time at first it is okay for the person who is hiding to call the dog or encourage the dog to find them so the dog gets the idea. Later the person will not speak or move but hide.

You will learn as we get further in training to read your dog's clues, in the meantime, learn to watch your dog's moves and body language for indications and reactions that lead to the trail or person.

If the dog does not go fairly quickly to the person then encourage the dog to go with you and show the dog with excitement how fun it is to find the person. 

When they find the person, praise, praise, praise by you and the person shower this dog with attention and they will be so happy to do this again, you'll hardly be able to hold him. 

Here is Bo taking scent from the scent article in a plastic bag before we start on a wooded trail looking for a person who is hiding. Bloodhounds often put their whole nose in the scent bag.

A leash is not needed at first with your pet dog if you train in a fenced yard or with a dog who is use to free roaming.

Check out the Family Disaster Dog book for all the lessons in paperback and kindle!

The Purpose of the Wrinkles on a Bloodhound

The Purpose of the Wrinkles on a Bloodhound

pictured my bloodhound Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham (RIP) copyright Amber Higgins

Many people are amazed to see a bloodhound's wrinkled skin in person. This breed of dog is definitely a conversation starter while on a walk with its human companions as every bloodhound or wrinkled dog owner knows-everyone who sees your hound and doesn't know will ask, " Is that a bloodhound?" and "Look at all those wrinkles !" 

Did you know there is actually a purpose behind all that loose skin on these dogs? Let's explore why bloodhounds have really loose flexible skin, loads of wrinkles and long long ears, especially as pups.

Mother nature and intentional breeding methods have created dogs in every size and style of coat imaginable. Especially with the popularity of designer dogs or the mixing of purebred dogs. The bloodhound is one of the oldest breeds of purebred dogs bred exclusively to find people not hunt animals. The loose skin and long ears are on these dogs are for a reason and do serve a purpose which helps this breed excel in its work and be a specialists in what they do. 

This dog breed is Not named a Bloodhound because the dogs track blood trails. They smell much more than only blood !

No, the dogs are named bloodhound because the blood lines were recorded and kept by monks for hundreds of years-so the dogs were first known as "blooded-hounds". They are the first recorded pedigreed dog breed thanks to the monks! Look up the Chien de Saint-Hubert and St Hubert hound for more about the history of this wrinkly pup.

The loose skin and wrinkles falling all over the pups face sometimes is not fun for the dog. Imagine looking down a flight of steps and as you bend your head down, all your hair falls in your face, covering your eyes! This happens with loose dog skin too!

Many bloodhounds are very reserved, wary and can appear shy to people who don't know them. The dogs are known to be reactive sometimes, meaning they may react in strange surroundings by bolting away from what has suddenly drawn its attention. 

The dogs will often spook at loud noises and flashes of objects or movement. Not all Bloodhounds do this but many do and it's actually nothing to do with being shy or scared it’s more about not being able to see when the skin is slipping around on the head, also the dog is being smart and savvy trying to get away from what they cannot see.  

I learned this first hand from Incredible Sue, who would not let anybody touch her unless she had found them in work or lived with them and I for at least six months. She would follow and find anybody and proved to be incredible in many ways.

"Rea Valley's Incredible Sue" My first Bloodhound 1996-2006
Born in Indiana, raised and worked in Arkansas, retired in Oregon

Bloodhounds will look afraid to us when most of them are not, the dogs are only getting the bearings on their surroundings and using their senses to figure out what the noise was or flash of movement was from under a ton of wrinkles and loose skin that gets in the way.

Good trailing Bloodhounds can be very wary and shy of new things because they are always ready to work a scent so they pay attention to nothing but the nose.

When the bloodhound nose is down the eyes are covered by wrinkles and folds of skin that capture and trap scent around the dog's face and nose as the dog moves. The long ears have a purpose to flap side to side as the dog is moving, fanning the air up from the ground into the wrinkled face.

The Bloodhound's amazing scenting abilities rely on the nose and not eyesight so having wrinkles fall over their eyes is natural for them but this does lead to a sometimes clumsy dog and puppies who will accidentally walk into a wall. Going up and down steps can be troublesome for young dogs when the skin on their forehead fall over the face and eyes get covered as they look down steps and from high places.

Read more about How a dog uses its nose >>>>click here to go to the page 

Go to Family Disaster Dogs to learn how any dog can rescue owners and family

Get my Bloodhound books 

 Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham
2001-2013

Sambo 1999