In today's mini episode Kayla Fratt discusses how she prepares her dogs to work with all kinds of different people on and off the field. Starting from dog selection and the steps she takes to insure her dogs are confident around new people.



Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David

Transitioning handlers

Important updates on Barley (King B), the K9Conservationists crew, and the podcast going forward. As always, thank you all so much for you support. If you would like to make a donation to Barleys lymphoma treatment you can do so here:

https://donorbox.org/barley-lymphoma?t=donor_wall#info

If you want to learn more about the King Barley's legacy and other ways to support, check out this awesome website made just for celebrating Barley

https://k9c-barley.my.canva.site/long-live-the-king

Updates on Barley, K9C, and the podacst

Connect with Melissa McCue-McGrath! [https://melissamccuemcgrath.com/]

https://melissamccuemcgrath.com/



Melissa McCue-McGrath gets humped and peed on professionally more than she thought she would in this line of work. She has written two books. The first, "Considerations for the City Dog" was written for her clients in Boston who needed support for living with dogs in an urban setting, and the second, "Misadventures of the World's Okayest Dog Trainer" is for people who are curious about what it's like behind the scenes working with clients and dogs.

Melissa paved the way as the first American resident certified by the British Animal Behavior and Training Council, thanks to the Professional Association of Canine Trainers, also based in the UK. She's a Victoria Stilwell Academy faculty advisor, a trainer for Grisha Stewart's dog training academy, and was part of a nationwide study to see if pet dog trainers, like Melissa, could train pet dogs - like many of your dogs at home - to find an invasive species. There were six dogs in Melissa's cohort two years ago, and this year, the year the invasive Spotted Lantern Fly is predicted to be in her home state of Maine, Melissa has a total of 22 dogs at the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk Maine who can find the invasive spotted lanternfly...in a controlled setting :)



Sniffing out the Spotted Lanternfly as a Newbie with Melissa McCue-McGrath

Join us for a fantastic conversation with Lauralea Oliver of k9inSCENTive about the art of selecting rescue dogs for detection work.

With over 25 years of professional experience, Lauralea brings a wealth of knowledge to the table, having selected and placed numerous working dogs with handlers and conservation projects across the country. She has mastered selecting the traits that make a shelter dog excel in the field- and, crucially, knows exactly when to walk away.

The core theme of this episode is simple but vital: "Say no to the maybes" and only move forward with a dog you are absolutely sure about.

Check out K9inSCENTive here [https://k9inscentive.com/]

https://k9inscentive.com/

Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David

Don't Take the Maybes with Lauralea Oliver

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. John dives deep into the complex history of timber politics, the vital distinction between old-growth and second-growth habitats, and why forests hold profound intrinsic value far beyond just timber and venison.

We also highly recommend checking out John’s book, Tongass Odyssey, to not only go more in depth on what's discussed today- but to also see some fantastic side by side photos of old growth and new growth forests to appreciate the drastic distinction between the two.



John Schoen and the Tongass Roadless Rule

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.

Read the full study here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159126000614



Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David

Exercise Effects on Detection Dog Acuity with Liza Rothkoff

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 puppies to avoid snakes could be a huge game changer not only for their dogs, but for guardian dogs everywhere.

Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David



Livestock Guardian Dogs and Snakes with the Cheetah Conservation Fund

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 logistical marathon of a multi-year study, this is the place to start!



Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David

Managing Multi-Year Conservation Dog Projects with Murrelet Halterman

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 trainer. Paul brings over 40 years of K9 detection knowledge and experience not only to the workbook but to today's podcast.

( PS: There are some minor audio issues throughout the podcast due to internet issues during recording. We've mitigated them as much as possible. )



Purchase all Paul's workbooks here:

https://chiron-k9.com/publications/

Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David

The Detection of Buried Targets by Canines by Paul Bunker

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 of their adventures 🐻



Host: Kayla Fratt

Editor: Sara Fangton

Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs

Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder

Website: Meg du Bray

Patreon: Madison David

Using Hounds to Tree Cougars (for Research!) in Yellowstone with Wes Binder

Kayla fratt (@kfratt) · Zencastr

Kayla fratt (@kfratt)

Welcome to the K9 Conservationists podcast, where we’re positively obsessed with
conservation detection dogs! Join us every week as we discuss detection dogs,
ecology, conservation, dog behavior, training, and much more. K9
Conservationists is hosted by Kayla Fratt, CDBC and co-founder of K9
Conservationists. Along with her two co-founders, she trains dogs to detect
data. Support the work we do at patreon.com/k9conservationists.