Clean Training for High Drive Dogs with Sarah Owings

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Sarah Owings from Cyber Dog Online Training about clean mechanics for training and working with high drive dogs. Science Highlight: Detecting small and cryptic animals by combining thermography and a wildlife detection dog Why do mechanics matter? Clarity shapes all learning. …

Poop is Brown Gold: Genetic Analysis with Tara Wilson and Misa Winters

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Misa Winters and Tara Wilson about laboratory analysis of scat after field collection. Science Highlight: Duration of urination does not change with body size What can we learn from our scat samples? Genetic analysis (what species, what individual, what did it …

Intelligent Disobedience and Cue Hierarchies with Tony Harvey

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Tony Harvey about intelligent disobedience. Review Highlight: JPinCB says “Kayla’s authentic, enthusiastic interest in all of her guests and topics, paired with her knowledge in a variety of scientific fields makes this podcast fun, interesting, and informative. If you have any …

Things to Consider When Starting a Conservation Detection Dog Program

If you’ve used conservation detection dogs in the past or are considering them for future projects, you may wonder whether it’s better to just get a dog yourself versus hiring an expensive outsourced team. There are a lot of factors to consider when starting a conservation detection dog program from …

Breeding Detection Dogs with Kate Graham, Part 2

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla is back for part two with Kate Graham from Katalyst Kennels about breeding detection dogs. Science Highlight: Effects of maternal investment, temperament, and cognition on guide dog success What is important to consider for pregnant broods? Appropriate exercise for pregnant broods to keep …

Why Do Conservation Detection Dogs Make False Alerts?

In January 2022, the K9 Conservationists Team was hired to come to Kenya to help with a struggling conservation detection dog program. Action for Cheetahs in Kenya has two experienced detection dogs paired with two very green handlers. Our job was to help mentor the handlers and create new best …

Kenya and K9 Conservationists Update

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla provides an update on what she has been doing in Kenya, announces the new K9 Conservationist course, and answers some questions from patrons. Transcript (AI Generated) Kayla Fratt (KF) 0:01Do you have your own passion projects that you’d like to turn into a …

Breeding Detection Dogs with Kate Graham, Part 1

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Kate Graham from Katalyst Kennels about breeding detection dogs. Science Highlight: Effects of maternal investment, temperament, and cognition on guide dog success What health testing is important in the field? Pay attention to health conditions in the breed, like orthopedics (OFA …

How to Keep Bats Away from Wind Turbines with Jo Lock

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Jo Lock of Nose No Limit and Conservation Dogs Collective regarding her paper about using antecedent arrangement to help reduce bat fatalities on wind farms. Science Highlight: The relationship between the number of trainingsessions per week and learning in dogs Links …

How Can Conservation Detection Dogs be Paired with Other Survey Methods?

Conservation detection dogs are a very powerful tool for finding hard-to-find samples. Pairing conservation detection dogs with other survey methods can strengthen the impact of your research and gather additional information. Conservation detection dogs really excel at finding cryptic, elusive, rare, or widely dispersed species. However, detection dogs generally are …