Combining a Love of Dogs with Conservation with Co-Founder Heather Nootbaar

In this episode of K9 Conservationists, Kayla interviews co-founder Heather. They discuss how Heather got into the world of conservation detection dogs, her experience before K9 Conservationists, and how she met Kayla. 

Science Highlight: Using Scent Detection Dogs in Conservation Settings: A Review of Scientific Literature Regarding Their Selection

We Discuss:

Heather's dad, who showed bearded collies when she was a kid

Heather's history as a zoology major in college, then working in zoos and wolf sanctuaries

How diving way into animal behavior and dog training landed Heather a job with conservation dogs

K9 Ellie's temperament and how that challenged Heather to grow

How Heather made money and survived financially through unpaid internships

How Heather selected Ellie for work - and what she'll do differently next time

The pros and cons of working with a dog who's more food-driven than toy-driven

What Heather learned in a K9 Nosework class that helped (and didn't help) as a working dog handler

The hiccups Ellie and Heather experienced during their first wind farm job

How Kayla and Heather met and joined forces

Where Heather is excited to see the field progress in the future

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

Ep. 15: Puppy Temperament Tests Aren’t That Predictive With Dr. James Ha

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