Episodes > 110 > Pet Tales

Brandon: The "Termite Terminator"

There are working dogs...and then, there are dogs that work. You're going to meet a dog that gets up everyday and goes to work saving peoples homes...and he is the best in country at his job!

Meet Brandon, the termite-sniffing Beagle...that's right termite sniffing. Brandon works for Brandon Pest Control in Jacksonville, Florida and his job is to visit homes and sniff out and locate termites that might be lurking there.

How is this possible you ask? Brandon is a highly trained dog who works closely everyday with his partner Rick Perez to detect termites.

What separates Brandon from a human inspection is that humans can only see 33% of a home, but because of Brandon's acute sense of smell he can locate termites behind walls, under ground, behind stone and brick, and more. A Beagle's sense of smell is actually 400 times stronger than that of a human!

Brandon can sniff out termites better than humans, but how does he stack up to other dogs? Well, last year in a study at the University of Florida, Brandon tested better than any other termite-sniffing K9 in the country.

So how does a beagle find termites? "We don't have X-ray eyes, but they have X-ray noses," said Bill Whitstine, owner of Florida Canine Academy in Safety Harbor, who has trained and sold over a hundred termite dogs to clients throughout the USA. "They can smell through walls, where we can't see through walls."

University of Florida researchers have found termite-sniffing canines 96% accurate in finding hidden termites. But if you're thinking of training your own pooch to do this, bear in mind that there's about a $10,000 to $15,000 price tag to the training. If you don't plan on doing it for business reasons, your termite-free house could put you in the dog house!