by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
A big black 18-month-old Labrador retriever stole the show at last month’s Northeast Florida Association of Realtors Ponte Vedra Council breakfast at the Ponte Vedra Lodge & Club.
Cody, a termite detector dog from Nader’s Pest Raiders, visited with the Ponte Vedra Council and demonstrated how he detects termites. The dog successfully located termite cylinders placed around the room.
Randy Nader of Nader’s Pest Raiders told the crowd about Cody’s training and how he is a valuable asset when locating termites.
Clay Davis, who has been with Nader’s Pest Raiders since 1999, took on the responsibility of taking care of Cody and training him.
“Like most service dogs, termite detection canines live full-time with their handlers,” said Nader. “Clay and Cody have trained together daily since April and have worked in the field since early June. It is really impressive to see how they can detect termites behind walls where they would not normally be noticed by visual inspection. It’s truly amazing that the termites can be well-hidden and Cody can still sniff them out.”
He said the company used Cody to solve a few problems this summer.
“My policy is that we will bring Cody in if you request it and if he marks on a wall and indicates that he thinks termites are behind that area, we will open the area and repair it back to normal just to take a look and see if there is termite infestation,” said Nader. “Since we are also general contractors, we can do that.”
Nader said the reason he decided to add a canine to his company was in honor of Dennis Gandy, a termite department supervisor who died in early 2004.
“I would only do that if I was convinced the dog was extremely accurate like Dennis and would help solve our customer’s problems,” he said.