Errors, Mistakes, and Failure in Conservation Dog Training

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla talks about mistakes, failure, and errors.  This week’s science highlight: You Are Not My Handler! Impact of Changing Handlers on Dogs’ Behaviours and Detection Performance. Sign up for our fundraising trivia night here or make a plain old donation here. Everything is just data; …

Fringe Alerts with Stacy Barnett

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla talks to Stacy Barnett about fringe alerts in detection dogs.  Episode suggestion: Get up and go for a little walk! What is fringing? When a dog alerts to odor outside of the preferred range of where the indication should be, aka too far …

Working with a Teenage Detection Dog

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla discusses what it is like working with a teenage dog and gives tips and tricks to get your young dog in the world of conservation work. Start small. Niffler searches in small plots, each search only commencing around 15 minutes at a time.  …

Signal Detection Theory with Dr. Simon Gadbois

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla Fratt speaks with Dr. Simon Gadbois to talk about signal detection theory and his conservation work. Discussed in this Podcast: Dr. Gadbois and his work in Nova Scotia What is signal detection theory?  Signal detection theory is a means to measure the ability …

Lengthy Searches with Dr. Nathan Hall

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla Fratt speaks with Dr. Nathaniel Hall to talk about lengthy searches for conservation dogs. Discussed in this Podcast: How does a dog’s sensitivity to scent affect their work? All sensory systems are learned behaviors, so there will be genetic differences and learning history …

Sourcing Odor with Stacy Barnett

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla and Stacy Barnett discuss sourcing. They cover what sourcing is and all you need to know about sourcing and nose-work.  What is sourcing? Dogs driving to the highest concentration of odor It isn’t ONLY the moment of the dog finding target, it’s the …