Using dogs to sniff out mold in homes

1. Read the story byCNN San Francisco reporter James Hattori.

"Let's go to work. You ready?" the woman says to her dog.

Sydney is a two-year-old mixed Labrador retriever who abhors spores. She is sniffing Laura Herlow's house, hunting for mold.

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Sydney is one of about ten animals who have spent hundreds of hours with a police dog trainer in Florida. Now she's certified to detect mold.

"Good girl."

"So what does that mean? What is she indicating there?" asks an observer.

"She is indicating that she has detected mold somewhere in this vicinity right here.

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Herlow, whose young son suffers from epileptic seizures, turned to Sydney after getting frustrated with several other mold contractors.

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"No. I would rather trust a dog and have an unbiased opinion," says Herlow.

"She's got it. She's found mold where we haven't suspected it and we have looked further and verified that she was correct," says Sydney's handler. Including this unlikely spot around a shower but away from any openings.

"The professional mold cleanup company is going to contain this area and take this shower assembly out," says one of the mold company's employees.

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"We've been using dogs for bombs and drugs and other scent work but it is just in the last eighteen months that people are making the connection that dogs are a great tool in the mold industry," says Mold Detectives employee.

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Traditional detection methods can drag on for weeks, sampling and then waiting for test results and then testing the air at a cost of up to thousands of dollars.

"With the dog we can do that same exact testing for less than $500 and pinpoint exactly where the mold is so then the cleanup costs are substantially less."

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"Mostly respiratory problems, a lot of asthma, trouble sleeping, pain everywhere." Until she moved out of the family home. Then Sydney found that toxic mold had spread from the bathroom under the flooring into Janelle's bedroom.

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"No."

"But the dog sniffed it?"

"Yes. Which is I think awesome."

While experts say it is unclear just how bad toxic molds can be to human health, worried homeowners now have a new weapon to unleash.