K9s Talking Scents #123 Lessons from the Texas Flood Deployment: Tim Houweling on K9 Disaster Response
In this episode of K9’s Talking Scents, Cameron Ford welcomes back Tim Houweling to share lessons learned from his recent Texas flood deployment — a 21-day operation that tested handlers, dogs, and entire teams across 120 miles of devastation.
Tim walks us through:
🐕🦺 The realities of long deployments in extreme heat and humidity
💡 Lessons on conditioning, acclimatization, and handler fitness
⚖️ The debate over rewarding dogs during real deployments
📋 Why blanks and negative searches matter just as much as finds
🌊 The unique challenges of water, mud, and wide-area flood searches
This episode dives deep into how handlers adapt, how dogs contextualize environments, and what it really means to trust your K9 when lives are on the line.
🔗 Learn More and Support:
👉 HD Search Dog Fund (Upcoming Disaster Dog Training)
👉 The S.I.R.E.N. Project (First Responder Mental Health)
💼 Sponsors:
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Chapters:
00:00 – Intro & Why Tim Returns
01:20 – Texas Flood Deployment Overview
03:30 – First Responders & Task Force Activation
05:45 – Mission Ready Packages & Team Makeup
08:15 – Challenges of 21-Day Deployments
12:00 – Heat, Acclimatization & K9 Conditioning
17:20 – Trusting Your Dog in Real Searches
21:45 – The Debate: Rewarding in Real Deployments
28:00 – Reading Dogs Under Stress & Context Cues
34:00 – Why Blanks & Negative Searches Matter
40:30 – Real-World vs Training Environments
45:00 – Handler Fitness & Long-Term Readiness
50:00 – Takeaways & Lessons for K9 Handlers
55:00 – Closing Thoughts & Resources