What to listen for: “The first thing that you have to ask is, ‘Why?’ And if you can ask the why… that leads us to a training plan.” Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, break down why "opting out" has become a buzzword that may obscure more than it reveals. While the term sounds empowering (giving dogs agency and choice), they argue it can become a label that prevents handlers from addressing underlying training gaps. Robin shares the story of 15-year-old Rae, who "opt

What to listen for: “We put a lot of effort into how we pick the best dogs. But maybe we should also have some discussion [about] how we pick the best handlers.” In the second half of the conversation with Dr. Jennifer Essler, our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, discuss her current research and future goals bridging academic science with real-world handler expertise! At SUNY Cobleskill, Dr. Essler's conservation work demonstrates how detection dogs fill practical nich

What to listen for: “My pet project has always been to take what you guys as professionals see in dogs, and your ability to accurately assess them, and write it down and put it into numbers and words.” Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, sit down with canine cognition researcher Dr. Jennifer Essler. She unpacks her journey from coding Capuchin monkey videos in a windowless lab to studying fairness in wolves and dogs. Starting with music studies before discovering comp

What to listen for: “Can you do it here? Can you do it there? Can you do it everywhere? … Go read some Dr. Seuss.” Our hosts Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett explore generalization as the foundation of reliable detection work. Together, they reveal generalization as extending far beyond simple obedience across locations. It encompasses odor variability, environmental context, behavioral chains, and handler presentation. They explain how explosive and narcotic sources vary like

What to listen for: “Dogs can literally smell time.” Our hosts, Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing, break down how time, airflow, and placement reshape detection dog work! They kick things off by describing a week of hides left up to 96 hours, the longest-out scenario that reveals how odor pools migrate and change. Drawing from this experience, our hosts brainstorm creative ways to design hides that can better help your dog read scents. Central is the concept of "

What to listen for: "Get a dog, take the dog you have, start training, do it yourself. Yes, the client dogs will come, the other pieces...

What to listen for: Training your dog to adhere to your criteria consistently is not a cut-and-dry process. It’s one of the trickiest...