Technology turns to dogs to sniff out 18 types of mold.

With mold claims and costs escalating, unlikely detectives are joining the effort to help root out the problem: trained dogs.

Long known for their expertise in tracking drugs and bombs and sniffing out arson, "mold dogs" are now being trained to identify 18 types of mold commonly found in homes, said Bill Whitstine, who owns and operates the Florida Canine Academy. The academy has trained dogs to detect bombs, drugs, money, weapons, termites, and now, mold.

As a former fire marshal and fire investigator, Whitstine has worked with insurers before and used trained dogs to help pinpoint arson.

After conducting research with microbiologists at Auburn University, Auburn, Ala., and spending several years training the first mold dog, Whitstine has now trained and certified 36 mold dogs.

"The advantage of dogs is unlike other tests, that can tell you if you have mold, but not where it is, just like a drug dog or a bomb dog, a mold dog can pinpoint the mold," Whitstine said. "It lowers remediation costs and time."

Dogs respond to the mold by sitting down, and pointing with their noses, he said. While they can recognize 18 different types of mold, they do not indicate which specific mold they are sensing. After the dog indicates mold is present, the dog's findings are verified by a lab--laboratory, not Labrador.

However, insurers so far haven't jumped to use the dogs. State Farm, which sponsors training for arson dogs, hasn't used the mold dogs yet, and has no plans to do so. "I'm sure the dogs can do what they are trained to do, but I'm not sure if we have a use for them," said Tom Hagerty, a spokesman for State Farm in Florida. "Locating the mold isn't a problem, as far as claims go." He said the dogs could be helpful from an underwriting perspective or perhaps potential home buyers could use them to see if a house is mold-free. Allstate also said it has no plans to use the dogs.