Meet the team

A dog, man, and woman sitting on a park bench

Hee-do and Simon, his handler, were certified by the country’s top mold dog expert, Bill Whitstine.

We started Fido Finds Mold after our own experiences with hidden mold and dealing with chronic health issues that worsened with mold exposure.

Adopting our mold dog was a personal decision, not a business one. We dreamed of having a dog that could help us detect early issues with mold so we could keep our home safe. (And, we were finally ready to welcome a new pup into our lives after we lost our beloved dog a few years ago.)

Simon spent more than a decade in the healthy buildings space, exploring how the places we live and work affect our health and wellbeing. He worked alongside building scientists, engineers, sustainability experts, and healthy building specialists to understand everything from building materials and indoor environmental quality to the ways a building’s design and construction can create the conditions for moisture and mold.

We believe everyone deserves access to a healthy space and know that, for many people, that feels out of reach. Our goal with Fido Finds Mold is to help people figure out what’s going on with their space so they can move closer to that becoming their reality.

We’re honored to do this work for our community alongside our best fur friend, Hee-do.

Training and certifications

Hee-do and Simon were trained and certified as a mold detection team by Bill Whitstine, a pioneer in canine scent detection with decades of experience training working dogs. Hee-do completed more than three months of dedicated mold scent detection training, learning to distinguish mold from other odors and search a variety of environments, while Simon trained alongside him to properly guide the search and read his alerts. They continue training together and undergo regular re-certification as a working team.