Summer Dog Training

All is going good here at Family Disaster Dogs...a new puppy coming next week and the Family Disaster Book is almost ready for Publishing !!! Then we begin training meet-ups at the park, everyone is welcomed. 

                                Daisy's resting, getting ready for new puppy training.


Wishing you all a great summer season filled with lots of dog training !

We'll Be Back!

 ( With pictures of puppy in training )

Read Below to Pack your dog's emergency evacuation backpack...and follow the lessons on the lesson page above to teach your family dog how to rescue you.

Spring 2013 Update

Hi Everyone,

First off, I want to apologize for not keeping up on posting lessons here at Family Disaster Dogs. The only excuse that I have for not being online is because I've been busy offline with the pet spa business I bought last year.

I'm happy to say we've grown to the point of moving into the much larger storefront space next door where we'll have a dog training room and offer Family Disaster Dog lessons in person. Along with dog training and professional all breed grooming we'll have dog daycare suites set up like home, play groups and afternoon yappy hour group play dates.

The lobby is being set up as a comfortable pet friendly wifi and coffee lounge where owners can mingle while pets enjoy our services in other areas of the store.

I have been working on the Family Disaster Book in my spare time, and do hope to have the editing and final copy ready for publishing in the next month or so. Please stay tuned for more online lessons and quick tips that will soon be coming your way. I'll be sending out book offers as soon as the publishing dates are set.

I'm planning a follow up book about how your dog can help you survive in extreme conditions or if your ever lost..although not many people get lost with a dog along.

Before I go here's a Family Disaster Dog tip;

Dogs have saved many children who have become lost by staying with the child and keeping them warm overnight.

If the child knew to hold the dog by the collar and tell the dog to "go home", the dog would most likely take the child home at a pace the child can handle because the dog will sense the urgency.

Most dogs know what the word  'home" means. Use the word often to teach your dog.

Most family dogs would rather go home instead of sleep in the woods overnight but they don't want to leave a member of the family behind.

Dogs have to be asked or they will wait.

Use this tip to teach your children how to use the family dog to go home in case they are ever lost.

This will work for adults who get lost too.

Quick Dog Training Tricks

 "Quick Family Disaster Dog Training" will be posted weekly along with two regular monthly lessons to show you how your family dog can come to your aid during an emergency or major disaster.

Quick Dog Training Tricks 

Teach your dog to pick up or retrieve objects by name or command 

1.  Teach your dog to play with a toy

2. Use a command or word like "Fetch, Go-Get, Retrieve "

3. When dog is retrieving the toy on command attach toy to an object you wish the dog to get for you or place the toy with the item.

4. Use the command or word like "fetch" with the objects name

5. Ask dog to find toy/object by the name or command you used

6. Once dog is bringing you the toy and object remove toy

7. Ask dog to find object by name

8. When dog finds or brings you object then praise dog with toy and play

Once dog is retrieving object you ask for you by name then you can add other object by names

Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham Fetching

Important Dog News~~~~~~~

Pet Food Recalls and other great pet care advice 
can be found at Wendy's Animal Talk

Family Dogs and Working Dogs Scent Discrimination

Family Dog and Working Dog 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.

Amber and Incredible Sue

I smile in remembrance of Ezra as I write this..I couldn't 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, humans 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 don't train Bloodhounds they train us. Family dogs of all ages act naturally like the Bloodhounds when they stay close to their owners, bring your their toy or follow 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.

When we train our family dogs to find objects by name we are teaching them to discriminate.

You can learn how to train your family dog to discriminate by going to our lesson page here. or click the page button at the top of this page.

Coming Soon "My Puppy Can Find Me" picture book that teaches your child and dog to work together so they are never lost and can find you ! 

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