Tautahi K9s

25/08/2026

For those of you who aren't aware -TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DOG DAY - so in all the turmoil we deal with on a day to day basis, take a moment to reach over and give your k9 mate(s) a well deserved cuddle !!
This day raises awareness about global dog welfare and recognises working dogs and the roles they play in our societies.

I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to share my life and work with some amazing dogs - so never forget the dedication these animals show you no matter what circumstances they find themselves in.

The current Tautahi team ready for action !!!

24/08/2026

A huge shout out to all who made it up to Pukenui in the far north, to attend our Odour Imprint and Tracking fundamentals workshop held over the past weekend. Brilliant to see so many keen handlers and dogs - a major thank you to Lynn Kincla and Carmel Pako for inviting us up and making this happen.

21/07/2026

Bryn and his faithful shadow ❤️

21/07/2026

Beautiful morning to hit the road - the old boy gets along at a leisurely pace these days 😉

10/07/2026

If you happen to be up in the winterless north in late August ? - Come and join this workshop. Spaces are filling fast so register your interest.

07/07/2026

Our first Puppy Socialisation course for the winter season, starts tonight at 6.30pm in the Paerata Community Hall, Pukekohe.
Over 6wks, I cover everything you will need to know to successfully help your latest family member integrate into the new environment and how to socialise it correctly.
Join us and set your pup up for success 😊

For more information check out the Services page on the website

USAR-trained dog trainer Alex Schanzer offers behaviour, scent work / detection, tracking and puppy classes across Franklin and the Auckland region.

30/06/2026

Repetition, repetition, repetition - thats the name of the game at present. Variable change this session, was depth. Truffle piece was down around 200mm and left for 15mins before Tama set off. A nice little NE breeze and he hit odour going past the log, a quick check down wind and then back to the log to nail the source - nice work 👍

26/06/2026

I really enjoy building training resources for the disciplines i teach and am involved in, with my own dogs.
When tracking its really important to understand how the environmental conditions affect the scent picture your dog is utilising - keep in mind, where you think the odour is and where the dog picks it up are very often not the same place so an app like this is an excellent tool to use to see the variables at play.
I recently formatted this web app with the help of Claude AI - and with afew tweaks, it has produced exactly what i have asked for.
If you want to learn from your training sessions (and who doesn't?) a tool like this is awesome. Its records the track layer, then overlays the dog and and any scent articles you drop for the dog to find and indicate on. At the conclusion of the session you can then produce a data summary which is ideal to keep in your training log, to gauge progress.

For everyone who learns tracking with me, i will pass on the link to download this app for your training use. It lives on your phone and uses its native GPS to run, so no need to upload to cloud servers etc. Pretty damn easy if you ask me !!

22/06/2026

Next step in the Truffle training - ability to work through environmental noise as a distractor, in this case the variable is novel substrate in which the truffle is hidden. Just mowed the paddock so lots of fresh wet grass - perfect for this step !!

Tama worked through well and found the source no
problem 👍

21/06/2026

Got to meet this lovely girl today - she's starting her tracking / trailing journey and if today is anything to go by - will well and truly ace it !!
The Black and Tan C**n Hounds are a unique breed, beautiful nature and awesome scenting dogs👌
Really looking forward to seeing how she develops.