K9 Conservationists

In this episode, Kayla Fratt sits down with legendary Alaskan wildlife ecologist Dr. John Schoen to explore the past, present, and future of the Tongass National Forest. With nearly five decades of boots-on-the-ground research, John’s groundbreaking work has reshaped our understanding of how logging practices directly impact black-tailed deer, salmon, and the broader temperate rainforest ecosystem...

Kayla Fratt chats with Liza Rothkoff- a 3rd year PhD student at Texas Tech in the K9 olfaction lab- about her most recent paper, "A preliminary study on the impacts of exercise intensity and duration on gastrointestinal temperature and odor detection performance of dogs". They discuss dog selection, study design, results, and what Liza hopes handlers will be able to take from the study....

Today Kayla Fratt is joined by Calum O’Flaherty and Dr. Tim Hofmann from the Cheetah Conservation Fund about to discuss livestock guardian dogs, cheetahs, and a very unique approach snake avoidance training. Snake bites are a huge problem in Namibia. With CCF losing upwards of 10% of their guardian dogs each year to snake bites. CCFs newest approach in how they train their livestock guardian puppi...

Today, Kayla Fratt is joined by Murrelet Halterman for an in depth discussion on managing multi-year conservation dog projects. Having recently completed three multi-year wind farm projects, Murrelet dives into the challenges of project acquisition, recruiting detection dog handlers, and the nitty-gritty side of long term project management. If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes into the logisti...

Join Kayla Fratt and favorite of the podcast, Paul Bunker to discuss his fantastic new workbook "The Detection of Buried Targets by Canines". Kayla and Paul delve into the challenges of buried hides and how just digging a hole and covering your target doesn't cut it. This workbook is fantastic for working K9 handlers or anyone who wants to become a more skilled and knowledgeable trai...

Today Kayla Fratt chats with Wes Binder who studies cougars (also known as mountain lions or pumas) in Yellowstone national park. Learn about this unique (but tried and true) method to find these elusive cats and then how they safely bring the cougars down from the trees to perform vital research. Hear first hand stories from the field and how Wes and the team found more than just a cougar on one...

Join Kayla Fratt and special guest Caden Christopher for this somewhat unorthodox episode of K9Conservationists. Today we're stepping away a bit from conservation detection dogs and imagining what a better world for our canine companions would look like if there were no borders, no financial constraints, breeding and dog placements were truly in the best interest of the dog and people, and so on....

In this puppy-tastic episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla Fratt chats with Lauren Wendt of Momentum K9 LLC about her years selecting, raising, and preparing puppies for various lines of work. Lauren is a highly, highly accomplished trainer that just so happens to have trained upward of 9 puppies for various jobs. Lauren has basically perfected the art of puppy selection and rearing! In her new on...

On this week's episode of K9Conservationists Kayla Fratt chats with Debi Deshon the pack leader of Mussel Dogs and Dogs with Jobs. Debi discusses the process of screening prospect dogs, training, and what happens when the dogs tells her that this job just isn't for them. Connect with Debi and her amazing work! Mussel Dogs musseldogs.info Instagram @mussel_dogs Facebook: Mussel dogs Dogs wi...

Join Kayla Fratt, co-founder of K9Conservationists, as she chats with Reetta Kangaslampi, a PhD researcher from the University of Eastern Finland and Dr. Natasha Underwood, an ecologist, environmental consultant, and specialist conservation detection dog handler about their journeys raising cocker and springer spaniels for detection. Reetta and Natasha discuss how they went about choosing their pe...

If you haven't heard part one- we highly recommend going back and listening to that fist! Then head right back here and listen to this second part of our two part interview with Emma Gaalaas Mullaney, PhD. Learn more about her roll as the director of detection and search and rescue at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and about the extraordinary dog teams she works with today. Host: Kayla Fratt...

In this episode of K9Conservationists, Kayla Fratt is joined by Emma Gaalaas Mullaney as they discuss her heterodox (unconventional) approach to selecting and raising detection dogs. In this episode, Emma discusses her first detection dog, Toby, and how his unorthodox breed, personality, and drive lead Emma to her deep understanding and empathy for not only Toby, but for the dogs she works with to...

Check in with all THREE co-founders of K9 Conservationists as they go over all the highs and lows of 2025. Kayla, Rachel, and Heather discuss their organizational roles, major project wins, team expansion, handler and dog highlights, and lessons learned from fieldwork across Texas, Wyoming, Maine, Alaska, and beyond. If you want to know everything K9C has been up to in 2025- this is the episode fo...

Ever wonder how a seasoned handler selects their new co-woffer? Kayla Fratt, co-founder of K9Conservationists, walks through her process of how she selected her newest recruit Skipper! Kayla talks about how she went about finding potential candidates, how she screened over 70 dogs, and how she finally landed on Skipper. If you're looking to find your next detection dog and want to know all the...

Kayla Fratt of K9Conservationists wraps up her Alaska fieldwork mini-series with a deep dive into life on the Island Wolf Project. She shares what a day in the field really looks like from loading the boat at dawn, hiking through temperate rainforests, relentless rain, and working with the Barley, Niffler, and Itooma across 25+ remote islands. Kayla answers Patreon questions about how she chooses...

In this episode of K9Conservationists, Kayla Fratt chats with Alison Pearce Stevens, author of Detective Dogs: How Working Dogs Sniff Out Invasive Species. They discuss the inspiration behind her new book, her experiences shadowing detection dog teams, and what it was like to bring the story to life. Alison’s website https://apstevens.com/   Get a signed copy! Don’t forget you can personalize your...

It’s time to bust some myths and challenge some hot takes of the conservation detection dog world! Join Kayla Fratt (K9 Conservationists), Paul Bunker (Chiron K9), and Meg Barnes (Detection for Good) as they tackle common claims and controversies that impact dogs, handlers, and the field as a whole. From “training your dog on Kong will ruin them”, to “good training can fix anything”, to “working a...

Join Kayla Fratt (K9Conservationist) for a enlightening conservation with Kyoko Johnson and Marlee Monahan (Conservation Dogs of Hawaii), Sally Dickinson (Virginia Tech), and Arden Lumenfall (New York-New Jersey Trail Conference) as we learn about how organizations across the USA are engaging with their communities and using the power of volunteer detection dog teams to help further research and i...

In this episode K9 Conservationist co-founder, Kayla Fratt, continues her story about her PhD research and Alaskan field season with a raw and honest look at what “ugly training” really means and why it matters. Kayla shares the realities of working detection dogs in unpredictable weather, adapting when field plans fall apart, and facing the heartbreak of realizing that not every talented dog is a...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, co-founder Kayla Fratt speaks about her PhD research. This episode covers background on the Alexander Archipelago wolf, some past research done by other biologists, and how dogs fit into the picture. She then discusses dog selection, onboarding, and training for this project. This episode ends with Kayla and her field technician Grace missing the ferry to Al...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Ruan and Tina De Flamingh form Green Trax about incursion dogs. Links Mentioned in the Episode: Science Highlight: Domestic Dog Scent Marks Trigger a Behavioural Response in Wild Wolves Where to find Ruan and Tina:   Website   You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patreon at patreon.com/k9conservationists. K9 Conser...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Crystal Wing about toy play to modulate arousal.  Links Mentioned in the Episode: Previous Crystal Wing podcast The Moving Canine Science Highlight: Wildlife detection dogs effectively survey a terrestrial amphibian, but differ among individuals, weather and habitat Where to find Crystal: Linktree | FDSA   You can support the K9 Conservatio...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Ryan Tate about Phytophthora and pigeons.  Links Mentioned in the Episode: Evaluating scent detection dogs as a tool to detect pathogenic Phytophthora species Science Highlight: Should the cocktail training method cause a stir? Training frog generalist detection dogs with combined species samples Where to find Ryan: Website | Facebook | Ins...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Sarah Jackson from New York-New Jersey Trail Conference about sticky sage. Links Mentioned in the Episode: None Science Highlight: Impact of variations in training schedules on dogs’ acquisition and retention of an odor detection task Where to find Sarah: Website   You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patreon at pa...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Jo Laurens from The Force Free Gun Dogs about gundogs. Links Mentioned in the Episode: None Science Highlight: Switching to marine prey leads to unprecedented mercury concentrations in a population of coastal Alaska wolves Where to find Jo: Website | Force Free Gundog Group You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patr...