K9Sensus Foundation

10/19/2026

Good theory becomes useful when it changes what happens in your next training session. That shift from concept to practice is central to how K9Sensus Foundation approaches training.

A simple process can guide that shift. It starts with observing the dog's response, identifying the likely stimulus or environmental factor behind it, adjusting one training variable, and evaluating the result. In a distracting environment, for example, a trainer might change the search setup or their own behavior one variable at a time rather than guessing or trying to fix everything at once.

Explore K9Sensus Foundation's training and coaching resources at k9sensus.org/training-courses.

10/19/2026

Very excited and honored to be teaching at European K9 Camp next spring. This is a phenomenal event. I hope to see you there!

10/16/2026

A dog's nose can help answer questions that scientists can't always solve by sight alone. Conservation dogs are trained to locate wildlife s**t, eggs, invasive species, plant material, and other evidence of animal activity that would otherwise be difficult to find.

Deeply buried iguana eggs are one example of this process at work. The dog searches for a trained odor, the handler reads the dog's behavioral changes, and the team records or investigates the location. It clearly illustrates how detection skills translate across projects, no matter what the target is.

Find more conservation dog resources in our knowledge library at k9sensus.org/library.

10/15/2026

Thoughtful Thursday: The Rule I Promised You

A few weeks ago, in the middle of talking about why, I said something and told you I would give your a rule: I hold every trainer I train to one rule, and it has nothing to do with cues or search patterns.

Here it is:

My dog must have fun. Whatever else we learn is an added bonus. Yes, other things matter. Act like they don't.

That's it. That's the whole rule. It sounds too simple to be the thing I hold myself and every student to, but simple isn't the same as easy. On a bad training day, when certification prep is in full swing, the pressure is real, and the temptation is to grind through one more repetition to fix one more thing. This rule is what makes me stop instead. It's the difference between a dog who works because it has to and a dog who works because it wants to, and only one of those holds up when the stakes get real.

That's not just a nice sentiment. It's why K9Sensus Detection Dog Trainer Academy starts everyone on engagement and reinforcement systems before anything else. You can't act like the dog having fun is the only thing that matters if you don't actually know how to build engagement or structure reinforcement so the dog stays invested. Engagement and reinforcement systems must be built, on purpose. Without that foundation, "my dog must have fun" is just a nice thing to say.

That's also why the last few weeks weren't really about dogs at all. Your why, the questions you learn to ask, the trainer this builds, all of it only matters if the dog on the other end of the leash is still enjoying the job. Lose that, and none of the rest holds up.

What would change in your training if you actually acted like nothing else mattered but that?

10/12/2026

The Fall K9Sensus Store is open! We've added a couple of things for you, including this sticker/decal which you MIGHT want to put on your crate. If you have been through IHHS this last year or at ATK9, you know what it means!

https://k9winter2026.itemorder.com/shop/product/62573642/

10/12/2026

What a week at American Tactical K9 🐾

I spent it coaching the human end of the leash, which, if you know me, is my favorite place to be.

In Advanced Hide Setting for Odor Theory, handlers spent serious time reading their dogs: the nose hook, changes in pace, and sourcing behavior. In TFR Troubleshooting, we worked with each dog one at a time and focused on principles rather than methods. Each team left with a plan built for that dog and that handler, with hides set to reinforce the response we want.

My favorite moment came when handler after handler told me some version of “I didn’t realize hides could be set to troubleshoot my final response.” They can, and that’s where strong teams get made: hides that challenge the handler and the dog, and let odor do the teaching.

Huge thanks to the instructors I worked alongside: Paul Bunker (Chiron K9), Brad Gillespie, Todd Mona, Veritas K9, Marathon K9, Bellator K9, and all the others! You’re good company. And to everyone who stopped by the K9Sensus booth: thanks for the conversations, the questions, and the dog stories.

Handlers who were there: what’s the hide you’re setting first when you get home?

10/12/2026

If you are in the area, this is where you should be!

Colorado!!! Veritas Kennels is coming to the western slope. We ran this course as a pilot program for the military earlier this year and then it saw massive success at American Tactical K9 conference last week. Reach out to see how you can get on the roster for this phenomenal class.

10/11/2026

What a fantastic service for our working dog teams! Thank you Larsons Images

The man who captures the K9 moments for thousands and thousands of K9 teams. Erik Larson, thank you again for your work this week at ATK9
https://www.larsonsimages.com

10/08/2026

Thoughtful Thursday: The Proof Is in the What

Simon Sinek's Golden Circle doesn't stop at why. Why leads to how, and how leads to what. The what isn't the point. It's just proof, the visible evidence of everything happening underneath it.

A reason for training and a habit of asking why don't show up casually. They show up in what a handler actually does under real conditions.

Here's what K9Sensus Detection Dog Trainer Academy is actually building: a handler who doesn't just pass a certification, but one who can explain why the dog did what it did, why the handler made the call they made, and defend that answer to someone who wasn't there to see it happen.

You also leave with something nobody puts on a certificate: a filter for what to do with feedback, including the feedback you didn't want to hear. Take the meat. Leave the bones. File it for the next dog. Not every critic is worth listening to. The ones who are still don't get to decide what you're worth.

Sinek has a line I think about a lot: the goal isn't to do business with everyone who needs what you have. It's to do business with the people who believe what you believe. I believe in asking 'why'. Be curious.

Every trainer wants an easy answer. Curiosity is how you find the actual answer.

The Academy isn't built for the trainer who wants an easy answer. It's built for the one who keeps asking why.

That's the what. It only exists because of the why underneath it.

If any of this got you asking your own why, K9Sensus Detection Dog Trainer Academy is open for enrollment.
www.k9sensus.org/ddta