Growing as Consultants for Scat Dog Teams: A Co-Founder Conversation

In this episode, we sit down with Heather Nootbaar and Rachel Hamre, cofounders of K9 Conservationists. We dive into the work we did in Kenya, especially what Heather and Rachel worked on after Kayla went home. We also discuss what we found surprising, inspiring, challenging, and fun about working with …

Combining a Love of Dogs with Conservation with Co-Founder Heather Nootbaar

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla interviews co-founder Heather. They discuss how Heather got into the world of conservation detection dogs, her experience before K9 Conservationists, and how she and Kayla joined forces.  Science Highlight: Using Scent Detection Dogs in Conservation Settings: A Review of Scientific Literature Regarding Their Selection …

Get to Know K9 Conservationists Co-Founder Rachel Hamre

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla interviews co-founder Rachel Hamre. They discuss how Rachel first got into dog training, her many jobs as a field tech, how she and Kayla met, Rachel’s season handling Barley, and her journey with her new dog Suki. Science Highlight: Why Sniff Fast? The …

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 …

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. …