Giant schnauzer sniffs out homes' mold

PEKIN, Ill. -- Ebony is unimpressed with her lustrous black coat and her statuesque good looks. Her passion is mycology. Ebony is a mold detection dog.

For her, each job has special challenges. Some have surprising revelations.

The giant schnauzer graduated from Florida Canine Academy, where she learned to hone her natural gifts for olfactory perception. She can detect the presence of mold in parts per trillion and communicate the location of the mother lode.

School for Ebony was a transformative experience.

She enrolled as a young, excitable, often-bored 70-pound dog. She graduated three months and $12,000 in tuition later as a focused, happier, mold-sniffing professional.

Ebony's owners, Mike and Melenda Lanius, own a duct cleaning and mold clean-up business in Pekin called MoldBlasters and a subsidiary called Top Dog Inspection Services. That's where Ebony works. She has her own van that transports her to job sites in air-conditioned or heated comfort.

Matt and Susan Milby bought their 1960s home in Morton 1 1/2 years ago. Susan Milby is a nurse, and she's concerned with the allergy medications her son Joshua, 6, was taking. She said Joshua often woke up in the middle of the night with croup.

In their initial visual inspection, Mike Lanius and employee George Rickert identified areas of possible concern. Some of the cinder blocks in the basement were discolored from water leakage. A bathroom vanity and carpet had possible mold growth from water leakage. A large cabinet in the basement showed signs of past water damage.

With the visual inspection complete, Rickert went to the van and told Ebony there was "work."

They began walking around the room.

At the couch, Ebony dropped to a sitting position. That's her way of indicating the presence of mold.

"The kids spend a lot of time on that couch," Susan Milby said, obviously concerned.

Lanius said, "We don't disregard places where she alerts, but it's not always an indication of a big problem. A lot of times, carpets hold mold spores in them."

The inspection continued, and Ebony sat at each location Lanius had visually identified.

Then came the surprise.

She sat each time Lanius led her by the furnace. It was a forced hot air furnace. Lanius began to examine it more closely. He unscrewed an evaporator pad and found it totally full of mold. He examined some more and found a filter. Pulling it out revealed a panel totally clogged with a dense colony of green, blue, white, black and yellow mold.

"Mold on the filter means it is being circulated throughout the whole house," he said, urging the homeowner to buy a replacement immediately.

Lanius said mold is a significant problem in central Illinois. People are increasingly recognizing that mold can trigger allergic reactions, sinus problems and other illnesses. Since returning from canine school last spring, Ebony has had a steady stream of jobs.

"Before Ebony went to school, she was hyper and bored. She was bouncing off the walls," Lanius said. "Now she's a lot calmer. She has a job, and she loves it. Say 'work,' and her ears pick up."

Melenda Lanius said, "She is one working girl who never has a case of the Mondays."

Ebony is also cross-trained in morels.

"We love to mushroom hunt," Melenda Lanius said. "This spring we know 23 acres of woods near Delavan where we'll take her. That should be interesting."