Donate
Partner With Us on Conservation Projects
Use the links below to jump to each section and learn more!We specialize in the inter-mountain west of the USA and Latin America. Hablamos español!
Carcasses
Dogs excel at locating bird and bat carcasses around wind energy facilities, even in dense vegetation or rugged terrain. Their ability to detect small or scavenged remains makes them far more effective than human searchers alone, helping researchers gather accurate fatality data for wildlife impact assessments.
Scat and Animal Sign
Dogs are incredibly useful for finding scat and other animal sign across challenging landscapes, enabling researchers to collect genetic, dietary, hormonal, and pathogen data without ever needing to capture or disturb the animal. This non-invasive method is ideal for population monitoring, food web studies, and ecological health assessments.
Insects, Mussels, and More
Our team has experience screening all types of watercraft for invasive mussels with speed and accuracy. Dogs can also locate rare, remnant, or pioneer populations of hard-to-find invertebrates and plants—supporting rapid response efforts.
What have our conservation detection dogs teams been up to?
Project goals: identify the presence and diet of mountain lions, bobcats, bears, and coyotes in the coastal zones of California through scat detection and analysis.
Project goals: estimate wolf occupancy on outlier islands, quantify the frequency of occurrence of prey species through wolf scat, and assess population connectivity between islands.
Project goals: assist in post-construction monitoring at wind energy facilities to detect bird and bat fatalities.
Project goals: assist with estimates of ocelot density on a wildlife refuge and a privately owned ranch in South Texas through scat detection. The S.P.E.C Lab already monitors these ocelots using scat collection, camera traps, GPS tracking collars, and spatially explicit capture-recapture methods.
Project goals: assist in scat detection and collection for species including jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay, and tayra to aid in food web analysis in the Petén Region of Guatemala.
Project goals: the study focuses on how the painted blades affect fatality rates for eagles, diurnal non-eagle birds, and bats. Experts hypothesize that both eagles and diurnal non-eagle birds can perceive painted blades, resulting in higher turbine avoidance.
How to Partner with K9 Conservationists for an upcoming project:
-
Connect with us for a free discovery call.
Here, we'll ask about your specific goals, previous or ongoing survey methods, your survey area, the target species, field safety considerations, and your questions regarding the conservation detection dog methodology.
-
Co-create a proposal, scope of work, and budget.
At this stage, we also discuss permitting, search strategy, and target species sample acquisition. We are happy to consult on effective dog-powered searches based on odor dynamics and target species behavior.
-
K9 Conservationists custom-trains the dog teams.
Trainers collaborate with you to understand your target species, safety considerations, and on-the-ground conditions that are relevant to the project. We specially train the dogs to ignore off-target species and/or to include a variety of species to meet your project goals. Handlers are also trained to discriminate between confusing scats, identify high-likelihood areas for your target species, how to identify other sign of your target species, and how to identify other potential hazards particular to your study area.
-
K9C dog teams go through pre-deployment evaluations.
This includes a fitness evaluation for both ends of the leash, blind trials to ensure that rates of specificity and sensitivity align with project goals, and that the dogs are adequately prepared for hazards such as wildlife and livestock in the study site. All dogs are trained to ignore prey species and livestock to promote safe working conditions in sensitive areas. Dogs can be worked on- or off-leash, though are usually most efficient off-leash.
-
Conservation detection dog teams arrive on-site.
We suggest allowing for at least a week of acclimatization and in-situ training for the dogs in areas with unfamiliar climates, terrain, and vegetation. This is especially important in hot or high-elevation sites. This acclimatization can be combined with pre-deployment evaluations in many cases. Detection distance assessments can be conducted at this phase.
-
Conduct surveys.
K9 Conservationists teams can work independently from GPS and maps provided by your team, or accompany your team in the field. Conservation detection dogs can generally complete 2-4 hours of intensive searching per day. Distance covered varies widely based on terrain, weather, vegetation, and number of targets in the area. Dogs work an average of two days in a row. Multiple dogs can be used to increase the ground covered and days worked while allowing for adequate rest.
-
Collect your data.
When a K9 Conservationist dog finds a target, the dog lies down with their nose pointed toward the target (without touching it). The handler then rewards the dog with a toy or snack. We collect the sample according to your protocols, record GPS location, take notes on the sample's condition, record information on the surrounding area, and more. We always collect the GPS tracks of the handlers and the dogs. Paired with information on weather and topography, this can help estimate the effective area covered, probability of detection, and/or detection distance.
-
Report and data handoff.
Once surveys are completed, it's time for us to debrief on what went well, what could be improved, and lessons learned. We will also compile all data points and reports per the scope of work. Don't forget to snap a photo of the dog teams with your team and all their finds!
Book your free exploratory call with K9 Conservationists today!
This scheduler is for project partners booking field surveys only.
If you're interested in mentorship, coaching, or learning how to become a conservation detection dog handler, please visit our Aspiring page to explore our programs.