Working dogs, wild data, field reality.
K9 Conservationists follows the practical world of dogs trained for conservation research, from cougar collaring support in Yellowstone to mussel detection and puppy selection. The show suits listeners who want science, field logistics, and dog training discussed with real working-dog nuance.
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K9 Conservationists is a specialist podcast about conservation detection dogs and the people who train, handle, and learn from them. Its center of gravity is practical science. Episodes use real field problems to explore how dogs help collect ecological information, support research teams, and reveal data that humans would otherwise struggle to find. The show is not limited to scat detection. Conversations have followed hounds helping tree cougars for collaring work in Yellowstone, spaniels being raised for future detection jobs, dogs used for invasive mussel work, and teams operating in wind-farm and forest contexts. It has a strong training spine. Puppy selection, early socialization, breed tendencies, reinforcement, motivation, agency, and handler decision-making come up again and again. The show is also unusually honest about mismatch. A prospect may succeed in odor training and still fail when a pontoon boat sloshes at a ramp, and K9 Conservationists makes space for that reality without treating the dog as the problem. Short moments of field texture give the conversations their force. Camera traps produce unexpected otter data. Hounds work in small numbers. A team plans for backup dogs because injury, rehab, cactus, fatigue, and long deployments are part of the job. The dog is treated as a working partner with limits, preferences, and information the handler cannot directly access. That makes the show valuable beyond its niche. It is about conservation, but it is also about humility around animals, evidence, and fieldwork. Listeners hear technical vocabulary without the stiffness of a lecture. They also hear the community infrastructure around the work: guest logistics, group coaching, puppy courses, skill shares, and ongoing education. K9 Conservationists is best for people who like their dog content specific, science-adjacent, and grounded in actual deployment stories. It rewards patience. The payoff is a rare look at a field where training choices, animal welfare, and ecological data are all tied together.
Made for: For dog trainers, conservation workers, wildlife researchers, scent-work handlers, and curious listeners who want detailed working-dog conversations grounded in field practice.
What sets it apart: The show pairs ecological fieldwork with granular training talk, treating dogs as decision-making partners whose welfare and fit matter as much as their performance.
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.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
K9 Conservationists makes conservation fieldwork legible through the training, judgment, and canine behavior behind detection-dog research.
K9 Conservationists treats the working dog as both a field partner and a source of scientific evidence. Kayla Fratt leads detailed conversations about how detection teams are selected, trained, and deployed, keeping canine behavior tied to the practical demands of conservation…
A sloshing pontoon ended one dog's boat-sniffing career; you'll understand why nobody forced the issue.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Yellowstone hounds, cougar collaring, and camera-trap labor keep the science concrete.
Kayla Frat shifts Canine Conservationists beyond its usual non-invasive scat-detection lane and into Yellowstone, where Wes Binder, a PhD candidate at Oregon State University, discusses Yellowstone's wolves and mountain lions.
A practical, welfare-minded look at breeding dogs for lives they can actually fit.
Dog welfare turns here on fit: what people breed dogs to be, and whether those traits make sense for the lives those dogs are likely to have. The discussion looks at the pull of military symbolism, herding ability, and working or sporting purpose, then asks a plain question: are…
Puppy selection is treated as a serious working skill, not a cute guessing game.
Kayla Fratt and Lauren Wendt keep the conversation centered on the practical work of choosing and raising a puppy for conservation detection. It moves through Lauren's first puppy-raising course with Archie, her long history with sporting and working dogs, and the process of…
A practical look at when a promising dog no longer fits a field job.
The episode centers on a practical conservation-dog question: what happens when a dog can do the odor work but still is not the right fit for the field.
A practical look at the careful, surprisingly difficult choice of a conservation detection puppy.
Kayla Frat's conversation with Rita stays with the real-world choices behind bringing a conservation detection puppy into a multi-dog home. Rita, a PhD student working with a dog trained to detect the European spruce bark beetle, walks through meeting the breeder, seeing the…
A grounded look at detection dogs, handler trust, and conservation fieldwork.
Emma's conversation stays on the practical side of conservation detection dogs, treating the work as a partnership between handler and animal. It emphasizes trust in the dog's agency while keeping attention on GPS, wind, and the rest of the field conditions.
A focused look at how Toby's scent drive reshaped one trainer's approach to reinforcement.
Detection-dog training gets a practical wrinkle in this conversation with Emma Gallus-Millaney, Director of Scent Detection and Search and Rescue at the PenVet Working Dog Center.
A grounded look at working dogs, recovery, and the systems that keep field work moving.
The piece keeps its focus on the practical side of conservation detection dog work, with rehab, rotation, long field seasons, and the value of having more than one dog ready when plans shift.
Serious nonfiction, patiently argued.
Particle accelerators, compost piles and Queen's guitarist, all explained.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
Kat Serafina asks for donations to fund a GPS collar and her travel to speak at the African Canines in Conservation Conference.
Interview with Caroline Finlay about a pilot study using detection dogs to find endangered curlew nests in Ireland.
Kayla Fratt interviews Natasha Underwood about her commitment to continuing education in conservation detection dog training and her work with various dog breeds.
Interview with Tim Hofmann about his PhD research using detection dogs to study cheetahs and African wild dogs in Namibia.
Kayla Frat interviews PhD candidate Wes Binder about using hounds to tree mountain lions for research collaring in Yellowstone.
Kayla Frat and Caden Cristopher discuss their visions for the future of dogs and people, focusing on conservation detection dogs and canine welfare.
Kayla Fratt interviews Lauren Wendt about selecting and raising puppies for conservation detection dog work.
Kayla Fratt interviews Debi Deshon about her career training conservation detection dogs, focusing on invasive mussel detection and other projects.
Kayla Frat interviews Reetta Kangaslampi and Dr.
Emma Gaalaas Mullaney describes her role as director of scent detection and search and rescue at the University of Pennsylvania’s PenVet Working Dog Center, a small nonprofit with about 15 staff and an “army” of volunteers.
Emma Gaalaas Mullaney, Director of Scent Detection and Search and Rescue at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, explains why she calls her approach to selecting and raising detection dogs “heterodox.” Toby, her adult mixed-breed search and rescue dog, becomes the central example as she contrasts him with more typical toy-driven working dogs and describes how his low-to-low-medium arousal, strong odor focus, and environmental motivation shaped training.
K9 Conservationists’ “Year in Review 2025” centers on how a small detection-dog nonprofit shifted from short field trips to longer recurring work, especially the wind farm project with Rewild Pacificor and USGS.