K9 Conservationists

Our editor is on vacation, so we're taking a look back at some of our favorite episodes! This episode, all the way back from 2021, Kayla Fratt speaks with Dr. Nathaniel Hall to talk about lengthy searches for conservation dogs!
Discussed in this Podcast:
How does a dog’s sensitivity to scent affect their work?
All sensory systems are learned behaviors, so there will be genetic differences and learning history differences. Because of this, what one dog smells will not be the exact same as what another dog smells.
It depends on the concentration of the odor on how sensitive your dog will be to the odor. Their threshold of detection of a certain scent will increase if the concentration is reduced over time.

Motivation for long searches?
Performance is strongly dependent on the frequency in which targets appear
Reinforcing “all clear” signals can help with motivation in the event that there aren’t going to be a lot of targets for them to find.
It is important to not over-reward for “all clear” because then “all clear” can start to become more rewarding than finding the scent.
Make your “all clear” as equal effort as an alert response
If your dog is pre-prepared for not finding targets over a long period of time, it can help avoid an extinction burst and frustration

Links Mentioned in the Episode:
The Canid Genome - 2012 Paper

Where to find Dr. Hall:
Canine Olfaction Lab | Facebook

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This week, we’re sharing the full backstory of fan-favorite detection dog Niffler! Kayla chats with Anne Hong about Niffler’s complete life, sniffs, and adventures. From pandemic puppyhood and bat fatality surveys to Guatemalan jaguars, turtle searches, and the training bumps they tackled along the way.
Host: Kayla Fratt
Editor: Sara Fangton
Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs
Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder
Website: Meg du Bray
Patreon: Madison David

How does breakfast affect a detection dog's performance? In this episode, Kayla takes a deep, deep, deep dive into the 2026 paper, "The breakfast effect revisited: Dogs’ scent detection performance before and after a meal."
Kayla breaks down the research team's key findings, and why understanding the math behind the data matters just as much as the results themselves.
Read the original paper here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0023969026000883
Host: Kayla Fratt
Editor: Sara Fangton
Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs
Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder
Website: Meg du Bray
Patreon: Madison David

In this Research Review episode, we’re joined by Dr. Charles van Rees to dive into a groundbreaking 2026 paper from Oregon State University (published in Molecular Ecology Resources). We break down how single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels and non-invasive scat samples (many located by detection dogs!) are allowing researchers to identify individual prey animals consumed by carnivores. Join Kayla and Dr. Charles van Rees for a crash course in genetics, filtering out mixed DNA samples, and what this means for understanding predator-prey dynamics in the field.

Host: Kayla Fratt
Editor: Sara Fangton
Sci-comm intern: Evelyn Combs
Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder
Website: Meg du Bray
Patreon: Madison David

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