Method to check ground radiation using a dog and a Geiger meter - a suggestion

Hi there, I gather lots of people have been getting Geiger meters lately and could feel a little unsure how to use them to detect fallout.

Here is my procedure, using my dog as part of the detection system for ground fallout.

1. I have a dedicated moist towel to wipe doggie thoroughly after each walk, she roams about quite a bit and should collect radioactive stuff on the ground quite nicely in her fur. If it is raining, I use this towel to dry her up.

2. The towel is crummed together into a little ball and placed next to the Geiger counter to see if it produces any change to normal values.

3. Repeat once a day.

So far, no increase over normal values have been produced where I live but I think it is a rather sound method nevertheless. I would see any increase over normal (like 0.1 uSv/h) as significant, indicating contamination and a heads-up. Of course all measurements take place in a controlled environment with a known, stable background.

Input, please. Is this just stupid paranoia or could it be a useful method?

We had our share 25 years ago and I hate to see a repetition, we had nothing but spotty govenmental measurements to go by back then.

I'm perfectly open to the suggestion this is a totally meaningless procedure, that a Geiger counter cannot detect extremely small amounts of fallout like this. However, this was the best I could come up with.