Leveraging Terrier Instincts with Miriam Ritchie

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Miriam Ritchie from the New Zealand Department of Conservation about leveraging your dog’s instincts to conduct a job. Science Highlight: Impact of weather conditions on cheetah monitoring with scat detection dogs Patreon Questions: Taylor: Are they hunting the rodents? Does that affect …

Hide Placements for Training Success with SAR Handler Ann McGloon

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Ann McGloon from Seeking Scent about precision tracking and using hide placement to get the most learning application for your dogs. Science Highlight: Wildlife detection dog training: A case study on achieving generalization between target odor variations while retaining specificity All …

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 …