In Harmony with Dogs

07/01/2020

Nose Work is coming back! We've social distanced for months (it seems like forever) and we finally finding ways to get out of our homes again. We have a great opportunity to enter an ORT that requires almost no travel. Sign up for this Odor Recognition Test so you can continue to compete in NACSW trials.

K9 Nose Work Group Classes, Private Training, Trial and Event Hosting

08/02/2019

Learn about the fascinating field of training dogs to find lost pets from the industry’s top expert, Kat Albrecht-Thiessen! This 2-day seminar will demonstrate the step-by-step process of training dogs to detect the scent of cats and to trail (track) the scent of lost dogs and other species.

05/30/2019

Wednesday was another banner day for K9s 4 Conservation and Team Kennie. On our way to investigate possible turtle nesting activity on Mustang Island, we came upon turtle tracks and what looked like it might be a fresh nest. Kennie alerted on the precise location of the nest and another Turtle Patrol volunteer confirmed that he thought the nest was in that spot. Sure enough...another 102 eggs for the Head Start project.

While a crack team from the ARK (Amos Rehabilitation Keep) collected the eggs, we were deployed to investigate two other reports of turtle sightings . Unfortunately, there were no more that day. It is truly a team effort!

The photos show turtle tracks and the site of the nest. It's no wonder that these go undetected! Nests in locations like this must be discovered within a few hours or there is a risk that the nest will be flooded during high tide.

05/27/2019

This weekend SeaWorld's Park to Planet event brought attention to conservation efforts around the world. The public had a chance to listen to some of the world's leading conservation partners and animal experts, “Jungle Jack” Hanna, Guy Harvey and Chris Fischer.

SeaWorld asked the K9s 4 Conservation team to be there to share our direct "boots on the ground" experiences and help increase public awareness of ongoing conservation efforts. As members of the team, Kennie and I spent Sunday talking to people about our amazing dogs and sharing information on how they could become involved. It was tremendously rewarding to see people realize that every person can potentially make a difference.

And then we found a couple minutes for a photo opp.😁

05/25/2018

This is such a sad story about what humans have done to our beloved canine companions. Being a responsible dog owner has many dimensions and begins long before you decide what food to feed and how to train your dog. When animals are bred selectively for a trait, other unexpected traits pop up. A great example of this was the Belyaev studies in Russia in which foxes bred for tameness also developed black and white (Border Collie-ish) markings. When deciding on your next canine companion, whether you adopt or seek out a pure bred dog, understand what your decisions actually support and perpetuate long-term.

In their quest to exaggerate certain features, breeders have created a dog with multiple health issues that has difficulty walking and breathing.