K9 Conservationists

Check in with all THREE co-founders of K9 Conservationists as they go over all the highs and lows of 2025. Kayla, Rachel, and Heather discuss their organizational roles, major project wins, team expansion, handler and dog highlights, and lessons learned from fieldwork across Texas, Wyoming, Maine, Alaska, and beyond. If you want to know everything K9C has been up to in 2025- this is the episode for you!Host: Kayla FrattEditor: Sara Fangton Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder Interns: Evelyn Combs and Grace KoskiWebsite: Meg du BrayMentoring group: Madison Davis

Ever wonder how a seasoned handler selects their new co-woffer? Kayla Fratt, co-founder of K9Conservationists, walks through her process of how she selected her newest recruit Skipper! Kayla talks about how she went about finding potential candidates, how she screened over 70 dogs, and how she finally landed on Skipper. If you're looking to find your next detection dog and want to know all the nitty-gritty on how that happens- this is the episode for you!Massive shout out to Thrifted Kittens Animal Rescue for their help and taking such amazing care of Skipper (then Pretzel) https://thriftedkittens.org/ Want to follow along on Skippers training journey? Consider joining the Pateron! We have monthly training calls where Kayla will answer your questions and you can get valuable insight from other handlers in the field. https://www.patreon.com/k9conservationistsHost: Kayla FrattEditor: Sara Fangton Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder Interns: Evelyn Combs and Grace KoskiWebsite: Meg du BrayMentoring group: Madison Davis

Kayla Fratt of K9Conservationists wraps up her Alaska fieldwork mini-series with a deep dive into life on the Island Wolf Project. She shares what a day in the field really looks like from loading the boat at dawn, hiking through temperate rainforests, relentless rain, and working with the Barley, Niffler, and Itooma across 25+ remote islands.Kayla answers Patreon questions about how she chooses search routes, when to work dogs on- and off-leash, how to stay safe around bears and wolves, and how to navigate the somewhat unpredictable logistics of boat-based surveys. She also breaks down what she packs, how her and the team collects data, and how the dogs’ different search styles shape the team. Barley’s veteran brilliance, Tooma’s breakout finds, and Niffler’s scat sprint days.And of course: wildlife highlights! Breaching humpbacks, puffins, swimming black bears, playful wolf pups on camera, and the thrill of finding fresh wolf tracks. Kayla also shares preliminary diet and DNA results from her 2024 samples. Then looks ahead to next season as Barley transitions to “professor emeritus” and her new dog Skipper begins his paw-pprenticeship to fill Barley’s big paws.Host: Kayla FrattEditor: Sara Fangton Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder Interns: Evelyn Combs and Grace KoskiWebsite: Meg du BrayMentoring group: Madison Davis

In this episode of K9Conservationists, Kayla Fratt chats with Alison Pearce Stevens, author of Detective Dogs: How Working Dogs Sniff Out Invasive Species. They discuss the inspiration behind her new book, her experiences shadowing detection dog teams, and what it was like to bring the story to life.Alison’s websitehttps://apstevens.com/ Get a signed copy! Don’t forget you can personalize your copy, just put your desired personalization in the comment box when ordering.https://francieandfinch.com/ Host: Kayla FrattEditor: Sara Fangton Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder Interns: Evelyn Combs and Grace KoskiWebsite: Meg du BrayMentoring group: Madison Davis

It’s time to bust some myths and challenge some hot takes of the conservation detection dog world! Join Kayla Fratt (K9 Conservationists), Paul Bunker (Chiron K9), and Meg Barnes (Detection for Good) as they tackle common claims and controversies that impact dogs, handlers, and the field as a whole. From “training your dog on Kong will ruin them”, to “good training can fix anything”, to “working a dog is unethical”. These seasoned professionals break down why these ideas persist, why they’re wrong, and what good, ethical, and evidence based training really looks like. Hot takes we BUST in this episode include: If you train your dog on Kong/essential oils you will ruin them!Detection dogs can’t do any other sports or it will ruin them!Good training can fix anything!Your dog wouldn’t do ___ if you were a better trainer!You should starve your dog to make them work harder!Confine your dog to a small kennel for days to “build their desire to work”!Making your dog work is unethical!!!You can’t train directional cues without an ecollar!Force fetch is the only way to teach a dog to retrieve!Our guests:Meg Barneshttps://www.instagram.com/detectionforgood/ Paul Bunker https://www.instagram.com/chironk9/ Host: Kayla FrattEditor: Sara Fangton Guest logistics: Brooke Schoeder Intern: Evelyn Combs Website: Meg du BrayMentoring group: Madison Davis