Teach the Family Dog to Find the Kids…..Why?

Why not?

How many parents out there have been in a panicked search for a child?  The knotted stomach and racing thoughts torment you until you find them playing silently in a closet, hiding away in a shed or sleeping under a bed. 

One of my favorite search game success stories is a mix breed dog we trained for the a very appreciative lady, who was hard of hearing. She suffered from anxiety often caused from hearing the shrills of her screaming children without being able to decipher where it was coming from. Usually it was just normal rowdy boy play, but never the less stressful for the young mom. 

I worked with her to teach Penny how to find the kids, come get mom and take her to them. Penny, mom and the boys loved this game and it is a very constructive way for dogs and kids to interact.

I had only worked Penny on this a few times during a 2-week Board and Train program using a blanket from the boys. I met with mom a couple times for basics obedience and an intro to search games. We played search games with the boys 2 or 3 times and they had played the game a few times at home when I received the tearful call because Penny had swam the river to find the boys playing with their dad. She was so excited by the success and it felt great to be apart of it.

Having Penny in her corner greatly reduced moms anxiety and the whole family had a fun way to give Penny the exercise and mental stimulation she needed to be a confident, well behaved, happy dog.

The idea to write this article came to me when I was laughing with my mom about my childhood.  When I was a toddler, she cleaned a huge mansion for a very wealthy family.  Her working conditions included being able to bring me with her; however, I was a curious, explorative child who would seek out small spaces to sleep when I tired.  She found me in closets, behind a water heater, under beds, in the yard and other random places.  One day I had been missing in the huge mansion for quite some time and I was found under a very low bed in an area of the house we had never been.  It wasn’t long before my mom realized I was not one to stay put, this arrangement was not going to work and gave notice.

The family dog might have saved my mom her job and certainly a lot of stress had it been trained to find me.  

Many families have lost track of sleeping, wandering, upset or hiding children. Kids with certain disabilities are prone to wandering or hiding.  A dog trained to find the kids can greatly reduce the time to find them and help you get your call into the authorities much more timely if needed.

Hopefully, you will never feel the angst of a missing child and searching becomes nothing more than a fun family game. Search games are a great outlet for your dogs energy, mentally stimulating, fun for the whole family, promotes constructive interactions, builds confidence, develops focus and attributes to forming a good relationship .  And hey, it could prove useful in finding your hidden or sleeping children.

For the above reasons and more, I am a huge advocate of teaching dogs search games as part of their basic training.  I offer workshops, private lessons and incorporate search games into group classes.  If interested in learning more or hosting a workshop, you can contact me at 360-668-0350, trina@acanine.com or PM me. I am passionate about search work and love special projects, so don’t hesitate to reach out with your ideas.