New Audible Book Coming Soon-Start Mantrailing Train a Dog to Find People

 Here's the News!

New Audible Book Release

December 2022  

A Great Gift in time for Christmas 2022 !

This book is training dogs around the world to find people and now everyone will be able to listen to the step by step lessons on a phone while in the field working the dog with the Audible book.

 If you have ever thought wanted to find a fun outdoor activity to do with your dogs or get involved in finding missing persons with a dog this book is for you! Already training and working scent dogs or Search dogs? This book will help you get started or possibly learn a few skills to hone your dog's skills.

This book is tailored to all breeds of dogs, all ages and sizes of pups can learn to find people. Amaze your friends and family with how fast and easy your dog can find them! You and your dog will be finding a hidden person the very first day when you follow the easy step by step instructions and pictures. 

You can learn about K9SAR and what it takes to be a Search and Rescue dog team that is called out to find lost and missing persons or you can just have a fun sport to do with your dogs.

The book Cover dog Amber with her handler are a members of RRI No. Scotland

The book features pictures of American and UK mantrailing teams 

Below is USA Mantrailing Team Bella working a hot trail after a person

Have a listen to the sample preview of the Family Disaster Dog book at audible for no cost to hear how the book will sound on your device at this link to the Family Disaster Dogs audio book. 

 Here's my author page where you can hear all my books  

 

 

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click to See and buy the paperback and e-books directly from me at the book shop page

Have a Great Dog Day!

Coming soon to Family Disaster Dogs Online-weekly posts to Train a Dog to Find People

 Hey everyone, 

Here's hoping your 2022 is off to a great start!

Over the next couple of  months I will be posting weekly about how to start training a dog to find people for the fun of it, for sport and for search dog work.

The upcoming posts will be a great way to have a fun activity to do with your dogs! 

Plus, friends and family will be amazed at how quickly your dog can find them !

Some dogs need an activity that helps them to destress and relax just like people do. The upcoming posts will give you and your dog a great way to do just that!

Reactive dog? Hyper Dog? The skills you'll learn are a great way to redirect that energy in a safer calm controlled situation. 

Here's my dog and I getting ready to track a hidden person down!

Copyright A.Higgins

Did you know there are dog sports that use the skills search and rescue dogs do? 

In the sport of K9SAR, dog and owner/handler teams practice and have fun finding hidden people with a dog. Here's a cool site to learn more about the sport which is slowly gaining interest in the USA and much more popular overseas. If you would like to get involved in the sport, feel free to contact me. I can help you train and participate. 

All breeds and age of dogs are welcome.  

Mainly though, I will be posting because with the increase in natural disasters we are seeing worldwide I want to help everyone learn an easy way to find family or friends in the event anyone was to go missing.  

Also I want to encourage and help anyone interested in learning how to volunteer for Search and Rescue get started. 

Although the posts will give everyone a fun way to spend time with dogs, family and friends additionally, those who wish to advance into dog sports and search dog work will learn how to get started. 

Let's have some fun this year, and follow our dogs!

Be sure to sign up for the newsletter and upcoming posts at the pop-up window. (reload page for pop up). Feel free to use the contact page above in the page menu to learn more. You can find Family Disaster Dogs on Facebook with a simple search to follow, like the page and join the group.

Stay safe out there,

Amber

Founder and author of Family Disaster Dogs

Coming in 2021 a new Scent Dog Book, New Family Disaster Dog Site and more

 Coming in 2021

Welcome to the New Year 2021! 

With the start of the new year, I want to wish everyone the best in the coming months. 

I want to say Thank you for the support the last year, for the many visits, shares and comments to my articles and the Family Disaster Dogs blog, Facebook page and group. (look FB up)

Thank you for following me on Twitter at #UrDogCanRescueU   

It's come time to update this blog and make a few changes that will benefit you, me and dogs. 

copyright 2020

Here's what I'm working on for 2021 

A New Dog Training Book 

I hope to have this new dog training book available by spring 2021. As the book comes together I will share more news about what type of training. Be sure to sign up for newsletters in the pop-up window when you go to another post or first visit this post or join from the email box below this post. You can follow me on social media links below to get updates too!

A Whole New Family Disaster Dogs Website 

I've started to built a main FDD site several times over the years and the main reason I didn't is that this blog worked well. 

The page you are reading right now is a page of a blog that grew to look like a site. This way of getting information to everyone around the world has worked well for many years and grown to over 250 pages of articles I have wrote with a whole menu of pages. There are many daily visitors seeking more about search dog training and scent dogs.

In order to continue sharing a whole lot more information about dog training for disasters and missing persons plus make the info easy to find. I'm working on a new website that will include dog training courses, books, lessons, newsletters, a member's area, and more. I will making my books available directly from me, the author and dog trainer not only Amazon for those of you who would rather buy directly. I'm tired of the middle person web places making more than I do on my hard work. The books will stay on Amazon, Google and sites but also be available for download and purchase from my new site. All my courses will be available as direct download from me too. 

Once the virus is under control and life back to allowing me to have in-person events I will post updates for book signings, public speaking at community gatherings and dog training.

Feel free to contact me to talk dogs.

Stay safe and well out there!

 

Amber Higgins 

 

Tracking and Scent Discrimination

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

Tracking and Scent Discrimination

This article explains how your family dog can tell the difference between you and another person or object. This information applies to Family Disaster Dogs, Tracking Dogs and Trailing Dogs as well as any dog who is using its nose to find an object, person or pet.

Scent discrimination can be a complicated and complex subject.

When I was first learning Bloodhound handling and training with my dog Sue, our SAR dog mentor and instructor, Lt. Ezra Roberts explained the basics of scent discrimination to me in what I continue to believe is the easiest way possible.

Me and Sue

I smile in remembrance of Ezra as I write this..I could not of asked for a better mentor.

He said, " When a Bloodhound smells a chocolate cake they smell every ingredient of the cake. The flour, sugar, eggs and coco while other dogs smell only the chocolate cake. "

This is the difference between a dog trained to scent discriminate. They smell one scent out of many many scents.

Dogs that are not trained to scent discriminate will search for only one scent, such as, live human scent but not each individual person within that human scent. They will find any human scent and all human scent in a certain search area by air scenting, tracking and  grid working. They will find every person or object's scent they are trained to find, such as bombs, drugs, human live and remains. They are trained using only one scent article or smell.

Other dogs are trained to find many different scents or a scent they are given by the handler. These dogs are scent discriminating when they find a drug or object the handler asked them to find.

Service dogs who are trained to get the newspaper, slippers and dropped items of their owners are scent and sight discriminating. They know your slippers from another person's slippers.

Bloodhounds are different in that they process the ability to scent discriminate naturally. When a Bloodhound is given a scent article they start looking for that scent without much training at all. The handler gets most of the training and not the dog.

We do not train Bloodhounds they train us. Family dogs of all ages act naturally like the Bloodhounds when they stay close to their owners, follow the owner around the house or bond with a special family member.

These dogs are choosing to discriminate. All dogs can discriminate and they do naturally.

It is up to us humans to take advantage of this natural ability in the dog and teach our dogs what we wish them to find or who.

Cert. Mantrailer " Rea Valley's Incredible Sue" 1996-2008 

Sue's pups went to work as Search Dogs too
14 states in the USA!
Canada and So. America too

Rea Valley's Incredible Sue is featured in this book !