Sometimes The lost pet will not respond even a well trained pet! 

Aron (Xena’s daughter) is a rock solid confident rottweiler I have always been proud of the fact she is quite the agility dog (there is a photo of her on top of a roof when she was searching the 9th ward in NO last year on my website.) Anyway the other night she did not come she likes to “hunt” and the yard is fenced so we did not worry. Hours later I realized she still did not come in or respond when I called. Finally I got the flashlight and started checking around the yard. NO dog! Naturally I assumed she had found a hole in the fence and was gone somewhere I checked the fence could not find a hole. What is the point of having pet detection dogs if you can’t use them to find your own pets? I got Chewy out to recheck the fence line with me. (There are no lights outside in the yard) “Check Check Check…” we went a long the fence at one point Chewy left me and dove under a bush. I called her out Chewy popped out bounced down on the ground then went back under the bush. (She had found River-the cat under a cart under that bush last week for training so of course I assumed she was playing me for a fool.) We repeated the scenario with her bouncing out happily indicating and bouncing back in and me telling her to get her “#$%! Back to work.” Finally I get down look under the cart there was Aron with her head caught in a loop of wire (the break line) under the cart! Twice before I had Chewy help I had passed within feet of this dog she did not make a peep. I’m thankful Aron did not panic and flip, and that her feet all touched the ground and that she is OK! But boy what an eye opener, we talk about preconceived owner opinions skewing the search, to see how close one can pass w/o a clue, and what a difference a competent trained dog can make. Chewy by the way is getting steak for dinner tonight, and I’ll be eating crow.

Up coming seminars for 2007

Lost pet detection

Introductory Lost Pet Detection Dog Seminar. March 2007 Maryland

If you think you might be interested in training or working a dog for lost pet detection this is the workshop for you. Topics include selecting and starting a pup/dog. Developing and implementing a practical training program. Learning theory, scent transport theory, search strategy, subject characteristics, about the business of lost pet detection. The seminar is a combination of lecture and hands on if you don’t have a dog yet a dog can be provided for you to practice with. 3 days $100.00

Lost Pet Detection Dog Workshop. July 2007 Maryland

Designed for K9 teams that have the foundation skills. This is primarily a hands on / “nose time” workshop. The emphasis is on search strategy by working scent exercises recreated from actual search scenarios. Effectively using flankers and multiple search dog teams. Utilizing additional equipment in the lost pet search. 3 days $100.00

Interested in hosting a workshop/seminar in your area?

FMI or a registration packet, vtotis@carr.org

One of Chewy & Brando’s searches for Bingo, a lost hound from a local rescue. I am asked frequently about the percent of success for our dogs when they search. My response is that the actual walk up find and recovery by a searching dog was low probably 20% HOWEVER the successful recovery of animals we help I believe is relatively high probably as much as 70 or 80%. I like to believe it may be because of our dogs contribution, getting the owner in the right area, or it may be because the owners that are committed to using all the resources available and call for a search dog are going to go the extra distance and get the job done. At any rate I believe the single most significant factor is the owner. Anyway here is a link to Bingo’s story as well as some other critters PAWS has in their rescue.http://www.paw-rescue.org/PawNewsletter/PAWShakes2006Fall.pdf