The Working Dog Depot Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Daryl Gaunt began working with dogs by decoying for Inglewood PD in 1978. He also worked with the Los Angeles Schutzhund Club where he held the position of Vice President and Assistant Training Director. He then enlisted into the Army for eight years and was a military dog handler for four years. He worked as a Deputy Sheriff for Los Angeles County from 1991 to 2020 and was assign...

Send us Fan Mail Ron Cloward is a retired Lieutenant with the Modesto Police Department in California, bringing more than 35 years of experience in law enforcement and nearly 21,000 hours of K-9 training. During his 26-year police career, he handled three patrol dogs and, along with his final partner, Pele, earned Top Dog and Top Competitor honors in 1997. After being promoted to Sergeant in 2000,...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, Rich and I had a great conversation with Brent Verner. In my book, Brent is one of the unsung heroes. I asked for a brief biography and the several sentence segment below is what he sent. No fluff - just the facts, but there's so much more! In any occupation or industry, there are folks who talk a big game and then there are folks who have been there and done...

Send us Fan Mail Antonio is a 20-year retired combat veteran of the United States Air Force.  He completed his career in the Air Force as a Military Working Dog (MWD) program manager for twelve military units. His highlights while on active duty include being hand-picked as a Department of Defense MWD trainer, kennel master, unit trainer, pre-deployment senior instructor, and special tactics membe...

Send us Fan Mail Officer Gary Hadden is currently a Criminal Interdiction Unit K9 handler and Trainer for the Indianapolis Metro Police Department and is also a Task Force Officer for Homeland Security Investigations. Officer Hadden started his career in Broward County Florida in 1990 and became a K9 handler in 1995. Hadden has worked many interdiction details in South Florida, including the Blue...

Send us Fan Mail Simon Prins Simon is a specialist in animal behavior and training, with over 25 years experience of handling and training dogs for police and military operations. His ground-breaking work lies at the intersection of robotics, sensors, and canine abilities, contributing to remarkable success in a wide range of missions.  He has trained a multitude of dogs and handlers from special...

Send us Fan Mail Pacific Coast K9 started operations in May 2004 and specializes in exceptional high drive sporting breeds for detection work.  We train and sell approximately 120 dogs per year, with the majority of those being Labradors for single purpose detection work (narcotics, explosives, currency, arson, cadaver, etc.).  Our many satisfied long-term clients include the Transportation Securi...

Send us Fan Mail You can't help but take an immediate liking to Nic. He's humble and passionate about working dogs and helping handlers. As we celebrate our third season we couldn't have had a better guest on the show. We got to sit down with Nic at the ATK9 conference and hear his story. Clearly there are things Nic couldn't share with us, but his story is special and we are s...

Send us Fan Mail Mark Connolly K9 Command  A dedicated law enforcement officer with a deep passion for K9 work, Mark reentered law enforcement and is currently serving as a Police K9 Handler with his agency. With years of experience, he continues to bring his expertise in training and handling working dogs. A former Police K9 Handler and K9 Training Director for multiple departments, Mark has hand...

Send us Fan Mail Robin has been involved in detection work since 2001, beginning in wilderness and human remains detection (HRD), which expanded into disaster work. She trains and deploys with Nebraska Task Force 1 and Iowa Task Force 1. She is a certified explosives and narcotics detection dog handler.  ​Robin also works at the nexus of academia and business, managing people and relationships fro...

Send us Fan Mail I've known of the gentleman in this episode for over 30 years, but just actually met him face to face around 6 months ago. Ken is one of the pioneers as it relates to working k9's in the state of North Carolina. It is likely that he introduced the Malinois to police work in NC. The description below does not come close to describing his accomplishments or contributions t...

Send us Fan Mail No special guest for episode #50. We reflected on the previous 49 episodes and discussed changes that we have made to our detection and tracking. Some of these changes came from ideas from some of our guests. Some of these changes have proven to be very helpful with certain dogs, but the one constant is that they are not all the same. What works particularly well for one dog may n...

Send us Fan Mail We truly enjoyed interviewing Tony. There will likely be a second episode. After listening to this one we know you'll see why we need to have him on again. Lots of subjects were covered in a slightly longer episode than normal.  Tony Pallotta started training dogs in 1993, with over 25 years of experience thus far, his knowledge and experience has made him a leader within his...

Send us Fan Mail We have been truly blessed to have had some really great guests. We feel confident that you will enjoy our conversation with Bill Gaskins. Such a humble, knowledgable, gentleman with an impressive resume. Bill Gaskins US Air Force Retired (21 Years)  Law enforcement specialist/  Military Working Dog (MWD) Handler of 10 dogs  MWD Trainer: for 50 dog teams at 5 kennels  MWD Kennel M...

Send us Fan Mail Over the last 15 years, Steven Antommarchi has held the law enforcement titles of Patrol Officer, Canine Handler, Canine Supervisor, Canine Trainer, and Interim Chief of Police. His first encounter with a K-9 team was in New York City on September 11, 2001. He witnessed a search and rescue K-9 team fighting through horrible conditions, while overcoming serious injury for the sake...

Send us Fan Mail  From Elite Jockey to Premier Dog Breeder and Traine r David Cohen’s journey from the racetrack to the forefront of elite dog breeding and training is a testament to his lifelong passion for animals, discipline, and excellence. As a professional jockey with over 20 years of experience, David built a reputation for precision, patience, and perseverance—qualities that have seamlessl...

Send us Fan Mail We've got a special interview with two fine gentlemen. They are each well accomplished, but have unique stories. They may seem like an unlikely pair to be collaborating with each other which makes this story unique. This is a special episode about redemption and seeing the good in people in spite of past misdeeds. It took some intestinal fortitude and careful consideration to...

Send us Fan Mail Steve “Zane” Stoops spent the last 19 years as the Senior Combat Assault Dog Trainer (CAD) for the United States Joint Special Operations Command-JSOC, assigned to the 1st SFOD-D, located at Ft. Liberty, NC (retired January 2024.) He and a very small and exclusive group of Special Operators are innovators and developed many K9 training philosophies utilized today by the most elite...

Send us Fan Mail I first met Jessie some 8 years ago when she payed her way into a decoy class that I was teaching. She immediately impressed me with her athleticism and enthusiasm. At that time, she was simply a young law enforcement officer with and intense desire to become a k9 handler. She did her due diligence to make herself a viable candidate for the job and was rewarded with the opportunit...

Send us Fan Mail We have been after Ben for an interview for a good while. He is actually one of the first gentlemen we pursued when we began the podcast. It was in his best interest to wait until he had fully retired from the Army before we interviewed him.  Ben is one of those guys that makes you feel glad he's on our side! If your old enough to remember the original GI Joe toys you'll...

Send us Fan Mail Rich and I had a chat with two board members with ATK9. Paul Ludwig and JC Leblanc are both well known names in the working dog community. They provided pertinent information about the upcoming ATK9 conference in October. The number of world renowned instructors and format make this conference unique. Of course, there were many take aways as well as it relates to training. If you...

Send us Fan Mail It's especially rewarding for us to get an opportunity to interview a hard working man with integrity. That was certainly the feeling we had as we concluded the interview. Hope you all enjoy the conversation as much as we did.  Josh is a retired police officer after serving at Garland PD and Denton PD in Texas since 2003. During that time Josh held positions as a field traini...

Send us Fan Mail We had a great conversation with Rodney Spicer of Gold Coast K9.  Rodney shared how he became interested in working dogs in the 1980's.  He also shared his insights into puppy and working dog selection.  Rodney's transparency about his meager beginnings is refreshing. The theme that stands out is perseverance. We know that you'll enjoy what he has to say and most de...

Send us Fan Mail We got the bugs worked out since the last episode and we were both able to participate. We both really enjoyed this episode and feel as though there are many great lessons to be learned. Hope you all enjoy the conversation and get some nuggets of wisdom or inspiration.  Jay Nix,  is a Sergeant with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, in Florida, where he has served as an active-du...

Send us Fan Mail Caught up with Mike Lilley for an interview. Unfortunately, Rich was having some technical difficulties and could not join us. We will be rectifying this by the next episode. I believe you will find Mike's methods to be innovative and sound. The proof is always in the pudding. His name is more and more becoming synonymous with solid tracking. He's just one of the more hu...