Rat dogs - a tried and tested method
Hunting rats using terriers and different types of small dogs is a method that has been used especially in Europe for centuries.
In addition to the enormous damage that rats can cause, they can carry and spread over 20 different diseases. The dogs’ exceptional sense of smell and speed is therefore a very effective and humane method of eradicating rats.
You often find out very quickly that you have a rat problem because of this. the strong-smelling urine and feces of the rats. However, it is not uncommon to not see them until they become numerous. Rats are intelligent and neophobic animals, which means they can be very difficult to catch with traps or poison.
Our rat dogs can locate the rats, nesting sites and entry holes in an incredibly efficient way in all types of environments.
We work both outdoors and indoors.
Our rat dog services
Indoors
Have you got rats in your shop, warehouse, department store, restaurant or other indoor building that you need to get rid of quickly? Then we can help you. Our rat dogs have successfully located and trapped a single rat in a 55,000 square meter warehouse when no other methods worked.
Outdoors
Do you have a rat problem in a yard or around buildings and flower beds? We offer mapping of rat activity, localization of active rat holes and control by hunting and in some cases using ferrets.
Mice
Do you have a problem with indoor mice in a shop or other business? Our dogs are also trained to find and catch mice.
Ferrets are the natural enemy of rats. We use ferrets to push rats out of holes in the ground to the dogs who catch them on the outside.
Photographer: Helena Wellberg
Our rat dogs
Our rat dogs are carefully selected individuals who have great searching skills, stamina and courage.
It is not uncommon for dogs to have to search larger areas to find individual rats. The dogs must therefore have a sufficiently high search and hunting drive to be able to search for a long time before finding something.
A rat dog needs to be able to work in different types of environments that can be crowded, dark and hazardous, which places high demands on their environmental safety.
A rat dog also needs to be able to work together and close to other dogs and strangers without problems.
Last but not least, the dogs have to be incredibly fast and able to turn quickly to have a chance of catching running rats. Nor should they hesitate when bitten or attacked by an angry rat.
At present we work with dogs of the breeds hunting cocker spaniel, springer spaniel and Danish-Swedish farm dog.
How we work
Our dogs are trained to search for live rats/mice, nesting sites and active entry holes both indoors and outdoors. One of the most important things our dogs provide is information on where the rats or mice are entering, where they are nesting and any damage they have managed to cause. The dogs search systematically and under controlled conditions. When the dogs find a live rat or mouse, we use carefully designed methods to capture and kill it as quickly and humanely as possible.
The QDD has a special permit to hunt rats and mice with the help of dogs, which means that our dogs can trap and kill. The permit means we have specific guidelines that we have to adhere to. The well-being and safety of our dogs is always a priority.
We follow Sweden’s animal welfare laws.
Since winter 2022, QDD has performed over 200 rat searches and is at the forefront of pest control using rat dogs!
Why dogs?
In addition to finding the rats themselves, tackling a rat problem indoors requires finding out as quickly as possible how they got in and where they live, which can be very difficult for even the most experienced pest control technician.
The dogs have a great sense of smell and quickly find active entrance holes and nesting sites. Conditions are not always on our side to enable us to actually catch the rats, but that is not always the most important thing. With the information provided by the dogs, pest control technicians can take specific measures to catch the rats with, for example, snap traps much faster than they would otherwise be able to do.
The dogs are an invaluable tool for sensitive or intractable rat problems.
Book a search dog with Quality Detection Dogs!
We help both individuals and businesses with pest control.