In this podcast episode I speaak with Peter Kick who wrore the book Desperate Steps, tales of true wilderness mishaps in the the northeastern US. We talk about a few of the cases in Peter's extensively researched book. There are lessons not only for individuals, but also for search and rescue organizations.

Listen to an interview with physician and outdoor educator Thomas Welch, discussing bear behavior and how humans can behave to keep themselves (and the bears) safe in the wilderness.

This month I will be

talking with Shay Cook about canine decontamination.

Shay Cook has been a

certified canine handler for 18 years with California Rescue Dog Association

(CARDA) with certifications in Trailing, Cadaver and Wilderness Area. She is

also a member of Alameda County Sherriff Search and Rescue (ALCO) and Yosemite

Search and Rescue Dog Team (YODOGS) with over 200 searches. She holds degrees

in Business Management and Biology, is a Registered Veterinary Technician

(RVT), K9 First Aid instructor and enjoys doing SAR classes throughout the

state of California. Shay served on the CARDA Board of Directors, is certified

in HAZMAT, FRO, First Responder, CPR and has a SARTech II. Shay has been

training dogs since 1986 and has worked with dogs in schuzthund, guide dogs for

the blind, obedience, socialization and scent detection. Shay works at UC

Berkeley as a Research Compliance Analyst and enjoys bringing the scientific

perspective to dog training.

This month I will be talking with Catherine Louis about scent-specicific area search.

Catherine is a member of Wake Canine Search and Rescue (www.wcsar.net) in North Carolina.  She has been a board member and  president of that organization. Her duties have included  maintaining a ‘Continuous Improvement’ focus on canine and team standards . She has been an  air scent dscriminating handler since 2002  She formed a partnership with North Carolina National Weather Service to create and present a class to provide search responders with effective deployment methodologies to help maximize the probability of detection for canine search resources.

This month’s podcast features an interview with Deborah Palman , discussing how to work with agencies having jurisdiction

Deborah Palman  retired in 2008 after 30 years service as a game warden with the Maine Warden Service, the law enforcement division of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Twenty-eight of those years were as a K-9 handler and over 25 were as the K-9 administrator and trainer for the Warden Service K-9 Unit.

Deborah is a certified Master Trainer with the International Police Work Dog Association (IPWDA) and can offer certifications though IPWDA for cadaver detection, wilderness air scent search, evidence or article search, tracking, trailing, and water search. She is a Level II certified trainer with the United States Police Canine Association.

Deborah is also a Maine Criminal Justice Academy (MCJA) certified K-9 trainer and can offer credentialing through the MCJA if the dog handler is a MCJA certified law enforcement officer.

This month’s interview is a fun, artistic topic – dogs and poetry. My guest speaker is poet and philosopher, Rachael Briggs. She is a professor of philosophy at Stanford University, author of 2 volumes of poetry, had a poem selected for Best American Poetry of 2015, and has won the Thomas Shapcott poetry prize and Val Vallis poetry prize. Hear Rachael’s varied selections of favorite poems about dogs, as well as one of her own poems.

The May interview is part 2 of an interview with RobertNoziska. In this podcast we discuss canine motivation.

 

Robert J. Noziska,serves as the Special Operations Supervisor (SOS) and K-9 Coordinator for theUnited States Border Patrol, Special Operations Group, headquartered in ElPaso, Texas.  SOS Noziska has been assigned to the special operations unitknown as BORSTAR (Border Search Trauma and Rescue) since its inception in1998.    Additionally, Noziska was the driving force behindthe implementation of the Search and Rescue Canine Program for the BorderPatrol.  Agent Noziska, developed the techniques and training methods thatare currently being used by the Border Patrol SAR and Tracking canine teamstoday. Agent Noziska has been training Canine Teams for the Border Patrol since2001.  SOS Noziska is a certified Instructor for Human Remains Detection,Tracking/Trailing, Search and Rescue, Obedience and NarcoticsDetection.   Noziska was instrumental in the formation of theHorse Patrol Canine teams that are working on the southern border today, andwas the instructor for those teams trained at the Canine Center El Paso in thepast.  Agent Noziska is a Master Trainer/Lead Evaluator/Instructor for:United States Border Patrol, North American Police Work Dog Association,National Association of Search and Rescue, National Search Dog Alliance and theNational Narcotic Detector Dog Association.

SOS Noziska has turned his focusand his unique skill set on training U.S. Government personnel and other Stateand Local agencies.  His success is not only qualified by training invarious canine disciplines, but includes his sound understanding of search strategies,man-tracking and the Global Positioning System.  Due to his unique skillsets he has trained dog teams for foreign government agencies and has acted asa consultant for many agencies within our own government.  Additionally,Noziska has been credited for the training of “Back-tracking Canines” for theBorder Patrol.

My featured speaker today is Whitney LaRuffa, a long distance hiker and backpacker with 17 years of experience. He has through-hiked the Appalachian Trail, served two seasons as an Appalachian Trail ridge-runner, and hiked the John Muir Trail, Wonderland Trail, Timberline Trail and Tahoe Rim Trail. He has served as president of ALDHA-west (American Long Distance Hiking Association-West) and served as a planning member of the Pacific Crest Trail Days. He has backpacked with two trail dogs, Erwin and Karluk.In this podcast, Whitney shares his vast knowledge of all things related to backpacking with your dog. There is even more information on his website http://www.allgoodsk9adventures.com  which has sections on trip reports, tips and techniques, gear reviews (human and dog), talks, sponsors, and his blog.

Listen in for an interview with Matthew Zarella, Connecticut State Trooper and IPWDA (International Police Working Dog) master trainer. Matt tells us about the new documentary film Search Dog, as well as chatting about some of his experiences in his long career as a canine search and rescue handler.

Join today's podcast for a conversation with Dave Hall, author of winter in the Wilderness. He is an outdoor survival expert, and we will be talking about winter survival, with a special focus on fire making and shelter building. Dave is also founder of Primitive Pursuits, a nonprofit wilderness education program located in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.