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: “Trust your dog, but trust your training first.” Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, welcome back veteran USAR handler Bob Deeds to talk about the artificial divide between working dog and sport detection communities, and why both sides desperately need each other! Bob shares his journey from FEMA disaster work into nose work, leading into his innovative "geo-scenting" protocol. This hybrid sport combines geocaching with scent detection using clove

What to listen for: "A chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and that applies to behavior change, too. So therefore, build fluency...

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: “Distraction Camp and Intentional Handling and Hide Setting are always one of my small joys on being able to see...

What to listen for: "I care about my dog's emotional state, how they're feeling, and how confident they are. And I work on that a lot....

What to listen for: “You’re putting so much pressure on yourself, and that’s impacting your dog.” Today, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy...

What to listen for: 2/3 of the Dames of Detection, Robin Greubel and Crystal Wing, return with the brilliant Katylynn Sloan for part two...

What to listen for: In the second part of the series on consistency, our hosts Robin Greubel, Stacy Barnett, and Crystal Wing take a...

What to listen for: “You’re constantly writing and rewriting a contract with your dog.” Consistency makes or breaks dog training—but...

What to listen for: “If I cannot, in five repetitions, isolate a variable down and get it where I want it, I do need to stop. That...

What to listen for: “Are we setting up hides in a way that our dog is becoming better and we're finding holes, or are we setting up hides...

What to listen for: “For the disaster, particularly this last one, you have to appreciate your emotional response that you’re going to...

What to listen for: "If we're a really confusing trainer, then our dogs have to be really damn confident because they’ve got to put up...

What to listen for: "I found that the things I taught in higher arousal have held up better in higher arousal environments. The things...

What to listen for: “Handling is not a recipe. It’s a craft.” Odor detection handling mastery comes down to hitting that delicate balance...

What to listen for: “I think by encouraging it [confidence] and allowing it to happen and letting the dog utilize what's fun and what's...

What to listen for: “When you're with your dog, you're working with the dog, and when he's resting, he's resting, and don't ask him to...

What to listen for: "You need to give the dog a bit more space, release the pressure, so that then the dog has the option of leaving the...