finding his foe

Question
i have a one year old mini schnauzer so smart and protective.  i recently have a small mouse problem. can i train him to alert me to mice or can he get sick if to interfere with there germs?

Answer
The best way to eliminate mice is to set up traps. I set mine up in sort of a close circle with some dog kibble in the middle or glued to the trap trigger. You can also set them up facing a wall as mice like to run along walls and will run over a trap (or two or three set up side-by-side) and get caught. We get mice in here every fall since we are out in the coutry, and I do battle with them every fall once it starts to get cold.

Most likely the worst thing mice can give your dog is fleas. I wouldn't worry much about anything else. You might be able to train your dog to alert to the mice, but I think it is so much easier if the dog already has an interest in fur. Our Peter started out hunting grasshoppers, and quickly switched over to fur. When he was a puppy, he told me where to set all my traps by his sniffing in certain areas, like under the kitchen sink.