Free Dog Training Lessons

The author's Daisy

The reason for the Family Disaster Dogs site and free lessons listed below.

Is to train as many Family Dogs as possible to be able to assist every family in the World when emergencies strike. 

In doing so, time can be spared waiting for response from other rescue teams who upon arrival can work to further aid the family in the situation.

When a large scale disaster strikes, such as tornadoes, Katrina and the tsunami earthquake in Japan, time is critical to survival. Search teams have their hands full with a large number of call outs. 

The trained Family Disaster Dog can help rescuers by saving time because the dog is on location at the time of the incident.

Additionally, at least one family member is trained in the basic Search And Rescue techniques so they can help their own family and friends while awaiting outside response. Learn how-to find a person with your dog.

Another benefit  of having your dog trained to help you in an emergency is that if your neighborhood is cut off from outside help (which happens) then you can help your own loved ones and neighbors. 

Just think, if all the neighbors have dogs then you can form your own search and rescue team just like a neighborhood watch group.

This site will help you in all areas of setting up your own dog and friend's dogs to assist in any disaster or missing person incident.

If a grandmother or child wanders away and gets lost, you can help. If your family is camping, take your dog. 

Very few people get lost with dogs with them and if anybody wanders off the trail then you can ask your Family Disaster Dog to go find them. 

All you have to do is read the lessons pages, work with your pet and email if you need any advice. 

Note: These lessons are for family dogs and are not how-to train a professional working dog which is much more complex. Although working dog trainers may find some useful tips here as well. For professional working dog lessons contact me from the contact page.



Here is the page with a long list of survival items you need to pack and how-to pack them

In the Page Menu on familydisasterdogs.com

Find what Equipment is needed page on the Equipment Page

There is a Glossary and Terms of Words Used Page

Learn why a Scent Article is the easiest way to find a person, on this The Scent Article Page

Learn How-to Evacuate with a Dog's Help 

Full Free Lessons listed on the Lesson Page and in the blog date list at the bottom of this page are over 200 dog related training and care articles..click a date to see more.

These are some of the lessons on the link page with links to the most popular

Lesson 1: Taking scent and scent articles above link on the Scent Article Page

Lesson 2: To Leash or Not to Leash

Lesson 3: Start Searching for a lost person is included below in #4

Lesson 4:  "Find it!" Start looking for a lost person or object

Lesson 5: How to use a Tracking Leash part 1

Lesson 6: More Leash Work  part 2

Lesson 7: Tracking Leash part 3

Lesson 8:  Avoiding Burn Out

Lesson 9:  How to stop bad behavior

Lesson 10: How to hide from a dog

Lesson 11:  Scent Behavior

Lesson 12:  How to Read a Dog

Lesson 13:  How to Train your dog to do a Building Search

Lesson 14:  Train your dog to do an  Air Scent and Area Search

Lesson 15: How your dog will be  Indicating and Alerting a Found person

Lesson 16:  Is the dog collar on right?

Lesson 17:  How to use a Choker Chain Collar properly

Lesson 18:  How to use a leash

Lesson 19: Finding Evidence and Objects with your dog

Lesson 20: Planning Dog Training Courses and Routes   part 1

Lesson 21: Planning Dog Training Courses, Laying Trails  part 2

Lesson 22 : Advancing in Search Dog and Survival Training

Lesson 23: Aging Tracking Dog Training Courses and Trails

Lesson 24:  Learn Area Search Basics

Lesson 25: How to do Area Search Training

Lesson 26: How to do Cadaver Dog Training

Lesson 27: How a dog can Alert to Danger

Part 1: Teaching your dog to alert you to danger  Part 1 Alert to Danger

Part 2: Teach your dog Part 2 Alert to Danger

Lesson 28:  Dog learns how to come back to you after they find somebody or thing
which is called Teaching Refind or Return to Handler or Recall

Lesson 29: Your dog brings you items you need Retrieve and Go-Get Object

Lesson 30: Dog learns item by name to bring you Retrieve Object by Name

Lesson Test: How your dog will help you evacuate -What To Do when Alarm Sounds

Lesson 31: How to Find a Lost Person with Your Dog

Lesson 32: Training a Dog To Do Tracking

Lesson 33: Training a Messenger Dog -Go between 2 people

See a video of my family dog finding a person for the first time

Go to the Lesson Page in The Page Menu (top right sidebar) for links to each lesson.

Amber working a Bloodhound pup

You can also find these pages

Dog Bug-out Go-Bag Survival Backpack List and How-to

Links to Family Disaster Dogs Lessons

Emergency Links

K9 CPR –Emergency Breathing Technique For Pets

Good Luck and Be Ready !

See my Family Disaster Dogs ebooks and paperbacks at Author Page

Have a Great Dog Weekend!

Be Careful in the Winter Weather Everyone!

Visit FamilyDisasterDogs.com

Learn how your dog can rescue you!

3 Dog Nutrition Myths

https://pixabay.com/en/dog-friendship-nature-trust-1861839/

If you are thinking about adding a pet to your family or you have recently done so, one thing you need to get right is nutrition. After all, a healthy diet is important for all of us! However, the trouble is that there is a lot of misinformation out there today regarding what you should feed a dog. So, with that being said, in this blog post, we decided to put some of the most common myths to bed. Let’s take a look at these myths in further detail…

A dog’s age doesn't matter when choosing a diet - Feeding your dog a diet that is designed for a certain stage in their life is the preferred option. This will ensure that nutrition-related health risks that are unique to a particular breed or lifestyle are minimized. Life-stage nutrition is the term used to describe the process of feeding your dog a diet that is designed to meet its nutritional needs based on the dog’s physiologic state or specific age. This will ensure your dog has optimal nutritional benefits.

Dogs can only be healthy if fed a raw diet - This is another myth that a lot of people tend to believe today. However, there has been no scientific evidence to prove that raw diets are superior in a nutritional sense for dogs when compared to commercial diets and homemade food. An animal is only healthy if it consumes all of the essential nutrients it needs in the correct proportion.

Dogs should not be fed table scraps - Last but not least, there are lots of different articles online that state you should never feed your dog table scraps. However, table scraps don’t always mean unhealthy food. Of course, you shouldn’t simply throw your last slice of pizza into your dog’s bowl. However, some food scraps are healthy, for example, lightly steamed vegetables, rice, and pasta. 

There are a number of foods that can be given alongside nutritious veterinary supplies. Nevertheless, you do need to educate yourself, as there are also a number of vegetables and fruits that should never be given to dogs because they can cause a range of medical problems. This includes the likes of tomatoes and lemons, as well as other highly acidic fruits, and garlic, onions, avocados, grapes, and raisins.

As you can see, there are a number of myths about dog nutrition, and those mentioned in this blog post are only a mere handful. Hopefully, though, they have helped to give you a better understanding regarding what you should and should not feed your dog. If you are unsure, it is always best to talk to your vet. After all, your dog’s diet will be impacted by a number of different factors, including breed.

Weather Plays a Role in Training Dogs for Detection Work

Bloodhound- Wrinkledpups Daisy Mayham photo by A. Higgins

Weather plays an important role in training dogs, so let's talk a little bit about training your dog in the foul weather conditions. 

When working a search dog one has to work in all weather conditions and all possible situations in order to expose the dog to different environments and scenarios so that the dog and handler is familiar with each event or condition they may encounter in a real incident. This also teaches the dog and handler how to problem solve and work those situations better. 

This is also true with time of day and day of the week. 

People get lost in all types of weather, any time or day and many times the weather is why they are missing, such in floods or tornadoes. Disasters are often weather related so it makes sense to train with your dog in all types of weather plus most dogs do not mind the weather like we do but some do.

I have met many dogs that prefer to stay indoors in bad weather. I had a bloodhound named Yeti who even as a young pup refused to step into the rain. I would open the back door to let her in and she would be against the door standing four feet planted on the door frame. I could never figure out how she did that with four feet and fit in the door when she was grown up she would fall into the house from leaning on the door ! But pull out a harness and leash then out the door she would go to track anything down, rain, snow or hail. 

What matters is how fun we make training or work for the dog because they will go along for the fun of it, especially if they find it interesting.

All weather conditions affect the search scene and how the search will be handled by the dog and handler because of environmental changes that happen to the scent particles  when exposed to different variables. These variables can be temperature, moisture, humidity,wind, terrain  just to name a few. There is a whole science behind scent and weather.  

Keep in mind, you and your dog constantly learn from each incident or training because each incident is different in one way or another, no two are the same.  With scent dogs, no location is the same tomorrow as it was today because scents constantly change and move which is why it is important to work in all weather. 

Amber

Click here to Go to the Dog Bug-out Bags List (survival dog saddlebags)

Bloodhound - George
with me,
I owned his parents and grandparents, he went to live in Texas with another of my hounds when I moved west.

Click below to see free previews of the Family Disaster Dogs Book and How to Evacuate with Your Dog's Help!
Family Disaster Dogs

Get a First Aid Kit (275 Pieces 40 Unique Items) Family Emergency Disaster Earthquake & Survival. Large Portable Bag Ideal for Home Car Boat Kayak Backpack RV Sports Camping Hiking. Protect Your Loved Ones

Learn more in my Family Disaster Dogs book 

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