Mixed-breed finds pests, bugs before humans can

WICHITA, Kan. -- Pest control companies are finding a new way to root out termites: They're using dogs like Radar.

Not "radar" as in fluorescent-screen, "ping-ping-ping" high technology, but "Radar" as in Midwest Pest Control's low-tech, "sniff-sniff-sniff" hound dog.

Though Radar may not be the only dog using his heightened sense of smell to find pests, to Tammy Hubbart of Augusta, Radar is "worth his weight in gold."

He's been on the job just a few weeks, but already gotten to the core of Hubbart's years-old termite problem.

"He found three great big mud tubes under here," she said, indicating an inside garage wall over a cantilevered wood floor.

Those mud tubes were full of termites that had been eating away at wooden supports under the family-room fireplace, despite the fact that Tony and Tammy Hubbart's house had been treated for termites by another company each year since they moved into the home.

Brett Dryden and Kerry Thomas, Radar's handlers, have more than 37 years of termite inspection experience between them and both are impressed at what the low-slung black pooch can accomplish with his nose.

Thomas said he had read about termite-sniffing dogs in industry literature but the technique has only been around 10 years.

It works because dogs can detect specific scents in small concentration when humans cannot.