K9 Detection Collaborative

What to listen for: Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, break down how time, airflow, and placement reshape detection dog work! They kick things off by describing a week of hides left up to 96 hours, the longest-out scenario that reveals how odor pools migrate and change. Drawing from this experience, our hosts brainstorm creative ways to design hides that can better help yo...

What to listen for: “Search and rescue work is the volunteer profession that you pay to do and is one of the most stressful things you can ever do, because somebody else's life could depend on what you're doing.” In part 2 of their conversation with Steve White, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett ask about the development of Hydrated Intensive Tracking (HIT), which evolved from experiments...

What to listen for: Two-thirds of The Dames of Detection, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, welcome Steve White, a veteran law enforcement K9 trainer whose 46-year career began in military working dog handling in 1975. Steve discusses the challenges facing modern police canine programs, particularly how vendor-driven training models often prioritize efficiency over optimization, which creates sessi...

What to listen for: "Get a dog, take the dog you have, start training, do it yourself. Yes, the client dogs will come, the other pieces will come, but get yourself out there." 2/3 of our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, sit down with Katelyn Graham from Katalyst Kennels, who shares her expertise in breeding and training Labrador Retrievers for detection tasks while managing a mult...

What to listen for: Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, dive deep into a counterintuitive training philosophy sparked by their recent interview with Petra Ford: sometimes accepting imperfection creates better performance in complex behavior chains. The conversation began with Petra's story about reinforcing her dog even when she knew it wasn't sitting perfectly squ...

What to listen for: Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, do a deep dive into their recent Intentional Handling and Hide Setting camp where, during a sweltering week in Iowa, seventeen detection dog teams discovered how unconscious body positioning can make or break a search! The breakthrough moment came on Thursday during an outdoor search. A handler, diligently following ins...

What to listen for: “We’re always inspired by the students and all the hard work that goes on. It blows my mind every single year.” Today, our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, reflect on their recent experience at Distraction Camp 2025, where handlers and dogs from across the country gathered on Robin's Iowa farm to build deeper relationships through the chaos of real-wo...

What to listen for: “I don’t just pet them, I go, ‘this is why you train the way you train, remember that’” Today, two-thirds of the Dames of Detection, Stacy Barnett and Crystal Wing, welcome back obedience trainer Petra Ford to talk about why she believes in a “you do you” approach to dog training. When her dog Zesty dropped eye contact during their first championship run, instead of demanding c...

What to listen for: "I care about my dog's emotional state, how they're feeling, and how confident they are. And I work on that a lot." Two-thirds of the Dames of Detection, Stacy Barnett and Crystal Wing, sit down with obedience trainer Petra Ford, who unpacks the importance of seeing dogs as individuals, not assumptions! Real progress, she says, starts when you stop correctin...

What to listen for: “You’re putting so much pressure on yourself, and that’s impacting your dog.” Today, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing chat about what they’ve been up to lately, including their recent experience at the Muscatatuck Open, a high-level canine detection seminar known for its complex scent theory drills and immersive training. They discuss how the seminar’s i...

What to listen for: Robin Greubel and Crystal Wing return with the brilliant Katylynn Sloan for part two of their conversation on the intersection between chemistry and K9 detection! “Train with as much variety as often as you can, in the weirdest of circumstances you can possibly get to, with as many groups and as many people as you can.” Katylynn dives into one of the most misunderstood topics i...

What to listen for: “The dogs are so good at what they do, it’s brain-boggling.” Today, 2/3 of our hosts, Robin Greubel and Crystal Wing, welcome Katylynn Sloan, a chemist with the U.S. Secret Service, to explore the eye-opening intersection of science and canine detection work. With a PhD in chemistry and years in explosives research, Katylynn brings a fresh lens to how odor behaves, how dogs det...

What to listen for: "To truly understand your dog, embrace the power of observation, question the environment, and engage with the nuances of their behavior." Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Crystal Wing, and Stacy Barnett, take a deep dive into the role of critical thinking for handlers. We’ve all been there—reading a viral dog training post and feeling an emotional gut-punch, or second-guess...

What to listen for: In the third part of the series on consistency, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing dive deeper into what makes consistency such a challenge—and how to truly make it work in real life. Staying consistent isn’t just about following a routine. It’s about self-awareness, emotion management, and breaking behaviors down into manageable slices. The Dames of Detec...

What to listen for: In the second part of the series on consistency, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing take a closer look at the mechanics of consistency, from creating intentional setup signals to reinforcing behaviors for longevity! You’ve probably heard about marker timing and reinforcement. Today, our hosts take a fresh look at the finer details—like how you stand, where...

What to listen for: “You’re constantly writing and rewriting a contract with your dog.” Today, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing tackle the power of consistency, the pitfalls of “lumpy” training, and why even small slip-ups can throw your dog off track. They break down how to build a rock-solid training environment and avoid the hidden traps that sabotage progress. “The clea...

What to listen for: Training your dog to adhere to your criteria consistently is not a cut-and-dry process. It’s one of the trickiest balancing acts in dog training: when to hold the line and when to make adjustments within behavior chains. “Consistency is not about perfection, but predictability.” Dog handling, whether for sport or operational detection, is both an art and a science–which means e...

What to listen for: Today in K9 Detection Collaborative, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing discuss the keys to successful virtual training. “Virtual coaching is student-driven. Anything propelled by student drive, drives results.” Making the switch from in-person to online coaching can be a tough sell for many. But as our hosts explain, there can be many limitations to your...

What to listen for: Our hosts Robin, Stacy, and Crystal tackle not just the technical, but also the legal considerations of cross-training your dogs. After all, when a dog is run through both narcotics and explosives detection work and engaged in a high-stakes operation, the consequences can be disastrous if they are unable to respond to the right odors on time–simply because their training emphas...

What to listen for: Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, reflect on their recent two-part conversation with Denise Fenzi and her strategies for ensuring steady, measurable progress when training your dog. “Learning is a fragile place. Being correct is a reward in itself.” Denise is a staunch advocate for finding your compass—a guiding principle that does wonders not just in y...

What to listen for: In part two of their discussion with the brilliant Denise Fenzi, our hosts Robin Greubel and Crystal Wing explore the delicate dance between striving for precision and cherishing the quirks of canine behavior! “Your dog has to have a lot of ‘want to.’ If they don’t have a lot of ‘want to,’ they’re not the right dog for the job.” Denise explains why picking the right dog for the...

What to listen for: “If I cannot, in five repetitions, isolate a variable down and get it where I want it, I do need to stop. That doesn't mean the next time we'll be successful. What that tells me is, don't do the same thing again and again and again. And there's been a lot of variation. Isolate that variable. It looks good now. Put it back in a chain, it doesn't look goo...

What to listen for: Today, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing reflect on key takeaways from their recent conversations with Diana Bunch , Jack Thorpe, and Annissia Justice – all expert handlers with a golden nugget or two (or 100s) around cadaver dog and disaster response training. From avoiding the "ego hide" trap, to getting more out of nose time, to the importanc...

What to listen for: Today, 2/3 of the Dames of Detection - Stacy Barnett and Crystal Wing - are sitting down with special guest Diana Bunch, an Air Force veteran-turned-search and rescue trainer. Diana shares her inspiring journey from the military to the world of disaster response, running through her various experiences in various search scenarios, from wilderness expeditions to urban disaster z...

What to listen for: In the second part of the two-part discussion, our hosts, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, continue their interview with expert trainers Jack Thorpe and Annissia Justice. Drawing from their recent experience doing search and rescue in the aftermath of the floods brought on by Hurricane Doreen, our guests do a deep dive into their best tips and strategies around cadaver dog trai...