Not All Days are Good Days I wake up nervous, having barely slept. Today is our first day at the wind farm since October 2021. I’m partially excited to handle Barley again, and partially nervous that Niffler won’t be as brilliant as I remember. He is still very young (21 …
Detection Puppy Raising Questions with Meg Barnes from Detection for Good
In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla answers some questions from Patron Meg! We discuss when and how to introduce alerts, target odors, and a variety of life skills. We also talk about whether or not sports and other “hobbies” may harm your detection K9’s performance and much more. Science …
Action for Cheetahs with Mary Wykstra
In this bonus episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Mary Wykstra from Carnivores, Livelihoods and Landscapes, about the work they are doing with Actions for Cheetahs in Kenya. Transcription (AI-Generated) Kayla Fratt (KF) 0:01Do you have your own passion projects that you’d like to turn into a podcast? Let …
Safe Animal Interactions with Skylos Ecology
In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with the Skylos Ecology Team, Tracey Lyten and Fiona Jackson, to discuss how to work safely around wildlife and livestock. What are your expectations/goals around detection dogs and wildlife? Safety is top priority! Teaching the dog that the animal is there, they …
Canine Ergonomics 1 & 2 (Patreon Book Club Notes)
As part of our monthly Patreon Benefits, we have a book club. For the next few months (summer to fall 2022), we’re reading Canine Ergonomics by William Helton. These rough notes are for chapters 1 and 2 of the book and include heavy quotes of notable passages from the book. …
Laughing and Learning with Naomi Kung’u from Action for Cheetahs in Kenya
Kayla sits down with Naomi, one of the conservation dog handlers at Actions for Cheetahs in Kenya that she spent 6 weeks with before Heather and Rachel arrived in Kenya. Naomi talks about her hopes as a female K9 handler, how the dogs are helping her learn to be more …
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 …
Collaboration, Invasive Plants, and Insects with Arden from New York New Jersey Trail Conference
In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Arden from the New York New Jersey Trail Conference about her work helping build coalitions and use detection dogs to mitigate invasive insect and plant infestations. Science Highlight: Detection dogs in nature conservation: A database on their world-wide deployment with a …
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. …