Dogs as Team Players

How to Encourage a Dog to be your Team Mate and Partner 

Washee Thunderfoot 

Learn to love and watch a dog accomplish what they set out to do. Capture that moment that resides in all of us. The moment of accomplishment of though, focus, action and movement in perfect harmony.

This harmony in nature is what brings into creation the art of being able to put in motion a single thought transformed in real life from the joy of the moment.

Dog love to please us, they have proven time and time again throughout history that they will do for us anything we ask or need with tail wagging joy and total commitment.

They learn early on to come to us and ask us to take them for a walk, to feed them and to love them.
They know how to get our attention and we've all heard about how well our dogs train us.

A well trained dog is actually a partnership built on trust and love with its handler. Dogs that are trained to fear being wrong are not working with their handler as a teammate, as a partner. They are reacting from fear of punishment and have learned that the handler will scare them if they do that behavior again.

They have not learned to think of the performance but of the punishment. Even the slightest punishment puts the dog's attention on what you are doing "to" him and not what you are asking them to do at the moment "for" you.

We want your dogs to be thinking of what they can do for you instead of what you might do to them.

Training dogs with food rewards can bring on a similar response as punishment where the dog is only working for the food or for what you will do to them or give them and not with you as a team member.

Food therefore, is only recommended as a way to motivate the dog to begin to pay attention to the handler's clues and once this is established, the food should be withheld and replaced with praise and encouragement that leads to teamwork.

As a team player your dog will be a reliable and trustworthy partner working with you toward a common goal instead of working in response to fear, punishment or food.

2 generations of Search and Rescue Dogs
Akelia and Chaos- mother and son 1997-2009
 Raised by us with the parent dogs, Nikki and Shotgun (1990-2003)

All rights reserved including photo

Amber S Higgins 2015

Family Disaster Dogs

On March 11, 2011 a tsunami was generated in Japan that spread as far as the Oregon Coast. This event set off our emergency warning system and tsunami sirens that woke the whole town up with evacuate calls to each house at three in the morning.

While I sat on the sofa, prepared and waiting to evacuate with my retired Search and Rescue Bloodhound, Daisy, the idea of Family Disaster Dogs came to me.

I look at her and thought the average family dog could help its own family during emergencies just like search dogs do.

I realized the importance of a family dog already on site and how much valuable time this could save.
And, how easy it could be for the average family to teach their dog to rescue them and find family members in the comfort of home whenever they had time.

The more I thought about the idea the more dog training lessons came to mind and I began to write the Family Disaster Dog Book and this site that night with Daisy by my side until the end of the first draft like she would have been to the end of a trail. Miss Daisy passed away as the book’s draft came to the end in Sept of 2013.

Bloodhounds taught me that one of our biggest fears and chores during a disaster is losing or finding a loved one. Twelve years spent training them and other dog breeds in search dogs skills taught me that every dog has the ability to find its own family members or friends.

Dogs do these skills on their own every day without us noticing. Teaching your family pet to come to your aid during an emergency is not as difficult as one might think.

Our dogs are usually following us around very willing to offer a helpful paw whenever we need one. All we have to do is learn how to ask the dog for help in unusual or disaster situations.

These lessons take into consideration that family dogs come in all sizes, shapes, ages and personalities like the families they live with. Each lesson is tailored to fit into a family situation and the home is the class room.

For this reason, this book is not the ordinary step by step manual of how to train your dog to be on a leash doing exactly what you say.

Search dogs have to think on their own like family dogs do while interacting in human activities which makes a family dog the ideal student for search dog purposes.

Search dog handlers have to learn to work with a dog’s natural ability and most of the training involves learning how to read the dog’s actions, along with how to have the dog show us what they find.

House dogs do this every day by showing us when they want to play with a favorite ball or go outside for a walk. Most dogs are not obedience or police dog candidates; they are pets whose owner has taken the time to show them what to do.

House dogs are preforming search dog skills all the time without us recognizing or knowing they are. When the family dog follows children around the yard or comes to find you at dinner time they are doing what search dogs do.

Your dog is finding, searching, locating and signaling you.

Oregon Bloodhound Rescue

Go to the Lessons Page above for Free Lessons

Preparing for the worst disasters with your dogs

Check out our new online Classroom where you can learn how to train your dog in the comfort of your home at your pace. Once you sign up its good for life, no renewal fees.

My new girl in training

Prepare  

By preparing for the worst
You learn what to do
With practice your actions become habits
And turn the worst into steps you walk to survive
Fear is replaced with the knowledge of knowing what to do
Confidence is restored
Especially when you have a partner, you can count on…
Like your dog

In memory of Miss Daisy 2001-2013
Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham

In Memory of Sue 1997-2008
Rea Valley's Incredible Sue
Certified Mantrailer
Book of Champions

Shop for Family Disaster Dogs t-shirts, mugs, dog items and more at our Cafepress store

Visit my Amazon Author Page to read my books for Free 

Check out my new children's book "My Puppy Can Find Me" Waldorf Publishing

Updated Backpack List

Hi All,

Miss Daisy and I updated the Family Disaster Dog Backpack list tonight. You can find the page in the menu above. I'm getting the book ready for publishing and it will be ready soon. Not to much longer. I want to thank you for all the following and patience. This has been a 2 year project of building this blog and writing the book.  There's more to come as soon as I'm onto that trail.

Daisy is doing good, she sends all a big old Bloodhound slobber..:)  and Willie G too and new pup Thunderfoot Watchee

Willie with buddy Mio