Dog Facts

Andy training Palm Springs police and their German Shepherd police dogs

In America, dogs have been successfully used for many years by military and law enforcement to locate firearms, ammunition, explosives, narcotics, missing persons and chemical compounds used to build explosive devices. Trained dogs are also used for termite and mold detection and as service dogs for blind and disabled people.

Man's best friend is the latest weapon in the war on mold. Traditional detection methods can be costly and drag on for weeks. Certified mold dogs detect and pinpoint areas of mold which leads to lower remediation costs for homeowners, schools, businesses, and insurers. In Germany, government authorities have found that a typical office building search of approximately 200 rooms can take one dog eight hours to complete.

It takes more than 600-1,000 hours of individual training to competely train a dog to detect mold. During the investigation of a building by a dog, the professional handler gives special orders to instruct the dog to find mold. The dog handler interprets the behavior of the dog. At the places where the dog detects a mold odor, samples are taken for analysis. By this procedure, destruction of material is often unnecessary and additional costs can be avoided.

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