K9 Conservationists

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla talks candidly about some mid-season musings.  Links Mentioned in the Episode: None You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patreon at patreon.com/k9conservationists. K9 Conservationists Website | Merch | Support Our Work | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Simone Mueller about Predation Substitute Training. Science Highlight: Performance of Pugs, German Shepherds, and Greyhounds (Canis lupus familiaris) on an odor-discrimination task What is predation substitute training? A force free protocol to stop predatory chasing. What are the steps? Management/prevention: stay in contact with the dog w...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Dr. Jessica Heckman from Dog Zombie about Breeding Functional Dogs. Science Highlight: Advancing Genetic Selection and Behavioral Genomics of Working Dogs Through Collaborative Science What is functional breeding? The population is no more at risk of X disease than the dog population as a whole. Also prioritizing behavioral wellness over lo...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Grant Blackley from Orkney Native Wildlife Project about transitioning from airport screening detection dogs to working with conservation detection dogs. Science Highlight: Olfaction-based Detection Distance: A Quantitative Analysis of How Far Away Dogs Recognize Tortoise Odor and Follow It to Source What is similar between airport detectio...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Gregory Herin from Getxent to discuss Getxent tubes.  Science Highlight: Noninvasive Identification of Herpetofauna: Pairing Conservation Dogs and Genetic Analysis  Links Mentioned in the Episode:  University of Otago Graduate Thesis   Getxent Product Sheet Where to find Getxent: Website | Facebook | Instagram  | Li...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Meg Parker from the Center for Large Landscape Conservation to discuss thinking bigger in the world of conservation detection dogs.  Science Highlight: Factors That May Affect the Success of Scent Detection Dogs: Exploring Nonconventional Models of Preparation and Deployment  What does it mean to be “thinking bigger” in the field...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla hosts multiple guests as they answer one of the top questions conservation dog handlers get: how did you select your conservation detection dog? You can find our guests online here: Jo Lock:      Website | Instagram | Facebook Lindsay Ware:     Website | Instagram | Facebook Conservation Dog Collective:   Website...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla hosts multiple guests as they answer one of the top questions conservation dog handlers get: how do you get into the world of conservation detection? Jo Lock's reply begins at 4:27 Lindsay Ware's reply begins at 10:48 Laura Holder starts at 18:19 Rachel Hamre's reply begins at 26:55 Arden Blumenthal starts at 29:55 You can find our guests online here:...

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 Action for Cheetahs in Kenya. We talk about our future hopes for the team with Action for Cheeta...

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 met Kayla.  Science Highlight: Using Scent Detection Dogs in Conservation Settings: A Review of Scientific Literature Regarding Their Selection We Discuss: Heather's dad, who showed beard...

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 Relationship Between Sniff Frequency, Odor Discrimination, and Receptor Neuron Activation in the Rat...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla answers some questions from Patron Meg! We discuss when and how to introduce alerts, target odors, and a variety of life skills. We also talk about whether or not sports and other "hobbies" may harm your detection K9's performance and much more. Science Highlight: Search strategies for conservation detection dogs Links Mentioned in the Episode: Playlis...

In this bonus 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 can acknowledge them, but not disturb them We don’t just want the dogs...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Edwin, a conservation dog handler at Actions for Cheetahs in Kenya. Kayla spent 6 weeks with Edwin and Naomi helping move the program forward before Heather and Rachel (also from K9 Conservationists) arrived to spend about a month each with the program. Stay tuned for more updates! Links Mentioned in the Episode: Where to find ACK: Website...

In this bonus episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Naomi, one of the conservation dog handlers at Actions for Cheetahs in Kenya that she spent 6 weeks with before Heather and Rachel arrived in Kenya.. Links Mentioned in the Episode: Where to find ACK: Website | Facebook | Vaccination Facebook Page | Go Fund Me You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patreon at p...

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 her selection? Taylor: How has the welcome been with t...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Arden from the New York New Jersey Trail Conference about her work helping build coalitions and use detection dogs to mitigate invasive insect and plant infestations. Science Highlight: Detection dogs in nature conservation: A database on their world-wide deployment with a review on breeds used and their performance compared to other method...

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. The clearer you are with your dog, the more successful they will...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Tony Harvey about intelligent disobedience. Review Highlight: JPinCB says “Kayla’s authentic, enthusiastic interest in all of her guests and topics, paired with her knowledge in a variety of scientific fields makes this podcast fun, interesting, and informative. If you have any interest in dogs, nature, travel, science, even pursuing your d...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Misa Winters and Tara Wilson about laboratory analysis of scat after field collection. Science Highlight: Duration of urination does not change with body size What can we learn from our scat samples? Genetic analysis (what species, what individual, what did it eat, sex typing) Morphological diet analysis (fur, bones, teeth, plants, insects)...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla provides an update on what she has been doing in Kenya, announces the new K9 Conservationist course, and answers some questions from patrons. Links Mentioned in the Episode: K9 Conservationists Course You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patreon at patreon.com/k9conservationists. K9 Conservationists Website | Merch | Support O...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla is back for part two with Kate Graham from Katalyst Kennels about breeding detection dogs. Science Highlight: Effects of maternal investment, temperament, and cognition on guide dog success What is important to consider for pregnant broods? Appropriate exercise for pregnant broods to keep them fit, which is better and safer for whelping and recovery Ge...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Kate Graham from Katalyst Kennels about breeding detection dogs. Science Highlight: Effects of maternal investment, temperament, and cognition on guide dog success What health testing is important in the field? Pay attention to health conditions in the breed, like orthopedics (OFA hips and elbows), echocardiograms, and eyes Look at the brea...

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Jo Lock of Nose No Limit and Conservation Dogs Collective regarding her paper about using antecedent arrangement to help reduce bat fatalities on wind farms. Science Highlight: The relationship between number of training sessions per week and learning in dogs **Link the Jo Lock paper Links Mentioned in the Episode: Where to find Jo Lock: &n...

In this bonus episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla speaks with Mary Wykstra from Carnivores, Livelihoods and Landscapes, about the work they are doing with Actions for Cheetahs in Kenya. Links Mentioned in the Episode: Where to find Mary Wykstra: Website | Facebook | Vaccination Facebook Page | Go Fund Me You can support the K9 Conservationists Podcast by joining our Patreon at patreon.com/k9cons...