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Congratulations to our devil weed dog handler @bet

Congratulations to our devil weed dog handler @betabitzer on her new position at the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Response Team or @crbhawaii whose mission is to protect Hawai`i’s communities, industries, and natural environment from the threats and impacts of CRB.
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CRB or Oryctes rhinoceros, native to Southeast Asia, are a threat to palm species outside of their native range. Detecting their breeding sites is important to prevent further infestations in the surrounding areas and other parts of the island via accidental transport of infested material such as mulch and felled trees.
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Roberta describes her new position:
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“I am the K9 Team Lead. The K9 teams are used for detecting CRB breeding sites. It is a fairly new program, established 2 years ago, so it requires support to further develop and get established. COVID has impacted the program so there is lots of catch up work to do! I have a long list of responsibilities, but the main objectives are to support the K9 teams with planning, record/data keeping, scheduling, developing SOPs, training and surveying.”
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We look forward to hearing more from Roberta about their K9 teams’ work!
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Photo 1: Roberta with her devil weed dog @qanagator
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Photo 2: CRB detection dogs Rider and Bravo (photo courtesy of CRB Response)
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Photo 3: CRB lifecycle
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#invasivespecies #coconutrhinocerosbeetle #invasiveinsects #conservationdogs

Happy Aloha Friday! We conducted some field traini

Happy Aloha Friday! We conducted some field training today with K9 Jojo and her handler David, whose 2nd dog Briar was also featured in a post recently. When training green dogs, we like to visit previously cleared hotspots.
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According to @oahuisc devil weed seeds are usually viable for a year, but up to 6 years in ideal conditions...so the cleared areas need to be rechecked. It’s a good opportunity to visually survey for seedlings and also train the dog on live targets in a field environment, which is quite different from using training aids in a controlled environment, whether it’s a leaf cutting or a potted plant.
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Jojo had a great time sniffing out plants today, and we pulled several plants. A good day of hunting!
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#spanielsofinstagram #devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #DemolishTheDevilWeed #invasivespecies #invasiveplants #birddog #birddogsofinstagram #cockerspanielsofinstagram #cockerspaniel

Today we began conducting “training surveys” a

Today we began conducting “training surveys” at Waimea Valley, a beautiful botanical garden on the North Shore of O`ahu. This valley provides habitat to `alae `ula, or Hawaiian gallinule, an endangered native waterbird species. Conservation of natural resources and perpetuation of the traditional Hawaiian culture are both important aspects of Waimea Valley’s mission. This includes predator control for mongooses, rodents and feral cats.
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It won’t be possible to eradicate these pest mammals from the area, since there isn’t predator-proof fencing and it’s not an island surrounded by water. However we aim to collect incidental data that will help the staff target their trapping efforts and identify patterns, while also gaining valuable field experience for our K9 teams. Mahalo @waimeavalleyoahu for your support of our program.
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In the photos are K9 Henry and handler Alli, investigating areas of interest.
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#invasivespecies #predatorcontrol #mongoose #goldendoodlesofinstagram

We’ve shared these in a video story before but i

We’ve shared these in a video story before but in case you missed it, we wanted to share it as a post. Many of you already know about the amazing landmine-detecting rodents of @apopo.center and probably read about Magawa, the 5-year old African giant pouched rat that recently retired after a distinguished career. Detecting Danger is a must-see film about these @herorats - it documents not only the training and field work processes, but also how these rats were originally found in the wild, then bred and raised to become the social working animals they are now.
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The other highly recommended documentary is Rodents of Unusual Size, about nutria, a HUGE rodent species that was introduced to the US for the fur trade in the 1930s but is now destroying the swamp ecosystems of Louisiana. It is an interesting take on invasive species, including ways to get the community involved in detection and eradication.
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Both movies are available on Amazon for nominal rental fees. We hope you enjoy them. We’d love to hear your thoughts afterwards!
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#giantafricanpouchedrat #gambianrat #detectionrats #workingrats #snifferrats #nutria #invasivespecies

Several of our teams spent the last couple of Mond

Several of our teams spent the last couple of Mondays surveying an area within @kualoaranch for devil weed. We’re happy to say that no wild targets were found. Parts of the 200 meter buffer zone surrounding ground zero (where a single immature plant was found in January by Kualoa staff) were too steep and thickly vegetated for us to survey but we covered the rest of the area that was more accessible. Total distance covered by the dogs was 40km (24 mi), and the total by the dog handlers was 20km (12 mi). Mahalo to all teams for their hard work!

A vehicle search to put a smile on your face on th

A vehicle search to put a smile on your face on this Aloha Friday! Nahenahe the young tan boy, is undeterred by the old man who showed up out of nowhere to groom him. Mahalo to All Good Dogs for their donation (and this cute bonus toy) to help with our detection rat project.

Check out their website for nose work supplies: www.allgooddogs.biz

Briar is the newest K9 member of our invasive plan

Briar is the newest K9 member of our invasive plant program. She’s a 4-year old Brittany full of hunt drive and stamina. She and her handler David enjoy game bird hunting during the winter season, and thought that devil weed hunting in the off season would be a great way to help the environment and keep Briar out in the field. On a recent training survey, we revisited an area we’re monitoring, and Briar helped us find some seedlings that we didn’t see. We have high hopes for this huntress!
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#brittaniesofinstagram #brittanyspaniel #devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #DemolishTheDevilWeed #invasivespecies #invasiveplants #brittanyspanielsofinstagram #birddog #birddogsofinstagram

Our recent post about podcasts was quite popular,

Our recent post about podcasts was quite popular, so we decided to do a follow-up post including additional podcasts and episodes featuring conservation dogs, working dogs, and scent detection in general. Enjoy! DM us with your email address if you’d like a list of episode web links.
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The Hero Besides Me @herobesideme with host Shana T.
~ Episode April 29, 2021: Dealing with Mussel Pain with Debi DeShon of @mussel_dogs
~ Episode April 22, 2021: It's Electric! with Mike Hadsell on electronic storage device detection dogs
~ Episode May 13, 2021: Pooper Troopers with Karen Reynolds of Environmental Canine Services
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Working Dog Collective @working.dog.collective with host Holly Cook
~ Season 1 Episode 3: Saving Turtles with Christian Fritz of @k9s4conservation
~ Season 1 Episode 8: Flyaway Geese with Rebecca Gibson of @flyawaygeese
~ Season 1 Episode 9 (coming out June 3): with yours truly @conservationdogshawaii
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Drinking From the Toilet with host Hannah Branigan
~ Episode 102: Nosework Alert with Lucy Newton
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K9 Conservationists (formerly Canine Conversations) with host Kayla Fratt @collies.without.borders
~ Episode May 18, 2021: Sourcing Odor with Stacy Barnett of Scentsabilities Nose Work
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K9 Mindfreak by host Canines on Duty
~ Episode April 9, 2021: with Michele Maughan of @scik9.mm discussing odor catalyzation
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K9 Top Tales @k9_top_tales with host Sonja Nordstrom
~ Episode June 9, 2020: Anti-Poaching Dogs of Africa with Linda Porter
~ Episode June 22, 2020: TV Heroes with Sue Chipperton (our volunteer dog handler who is an animal trainer for movies and TV!)

Maligator vs Velociraptor! Can anyone guess where

Maligator vs Velociraptor! Can anyone guess where we were today? Three of our dog-handler teams spent the morning surveying for devil weed at this beautiful location in windward O`ahu. A single devil weed plant was found here a few months ago, so their staff scoured a 200 meter buffer zone to look for additional plants. Fortunately none were found, but they asked our dog teams to also survey the area so that they could have higher confidence in declaring it clear. A few more dog teams are scheduled to survey it next week.
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#MalinoisMonday #velociraptor #devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #invasivespecies #invasiveplants #invasiveplant #demolishthedevilweed #malinoisofinstagram

We started odor imprinting with the 4 ratties usin

We started odor imprinting with the 4 ratties using a substitute target odor. Rats are neophobic by nature, including towards new foods, because it’s essential for them to assess potential toxicity for survival purposes. We paired their top 3 favorite foods (nuts, fish treats, and banana) with the target odor and presented it to each of the rats. The young ones, Junior and Nahe, were investigative of the new scent but accepted the treats. By the 2nd and 3rd reps they were navigating around obstacles to get to the treat/odor combo. On the other hand, the adult rats Tony and Winky were very hesitant on the first few presentations, and even chonky Tony who is the pushy food-motivated LabraRodent of the pack, would not accept his favorite salmon treat in the first rep. However, because we used their favorite familiar foods, the suspicious adults took the treats by round 3. Play video with sound on for an anthropomorphic narration. (We also tested the rats with new containers that didn’t contain the target odor, to ensure it wasn’t an issue with new containers.)
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We chose to start with Simultaneous Classical Conditioning to encourage the rats to overcome their neophobia. We will soon transition to Delay Classical Conditioning and then Operant Conditioning.
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We’ve also been testing out Fred Helfers’ remote reward delivery device (separately from odor imprinting) and that’s going really well. More updates will be posted soon!
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Happy Aloha Friday from our office for the day! An

Happy Aloha Friday from our office for the day! And no, we’re not in Africa. 😁 K9 Solo helped scout a new area that the devil weed teams will be surveying over the next couple of weeks. There was a variety of terrain types that are quite different from the trails that they’re accustomed to. Should be fun!
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#wilddogofwaialua #devilweed #invasiveplants

Happy Tongue Out Tuesday from invasive plant detec

Happy Tongue Out Tuesday from invasive plant detection dog Ula! If it feels like you’re having déjà vu, that’s because we posted about the same dog, same plant species, same location exactly a month ago. Ula and his handler Julie revisited the trail this past weekend to do a more detailed search of the area where they previously located devil weed. And it’s a good thing they did. Great job Team Ula!
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📸 : @julie.rivers.67
#labradorsofinstagram #labradorretriever #devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #DemolishTheDevilWeed #invasivespecies #invasiveplants #chocolatelabsofinstagram #tongueouttuesday

Congratulations to the dog-handler teams of Hanale

Congratulations to the dog-handler teams of Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, who successfully completed their field assessments this past weekend. We were blessed with beautiful weather and ideal wind conditions.
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For those who are new to our feed, below is a bit of background on this program. Avian botulism is a food-borne disease that can kill waterbirds, including the native endangered species that reside in Hanalei Valley. When a bird ingests enough toxic invertebrates, it can die of botulism. If that bird’s carcass is not quickly removed from the environment, flies lay eggs on the carcass, creating the possibility for other birds to eat the toxic maggots and subsequently get sick or die. The visual survey volunteers have been doing a fantastic job keeping an eye out for any sick or dead birds. The K9 teams will be an important added olfactory tool in the surveillance effort. This is the first K9 program of its kind in the Hawaiian islands, and CDH is stoked to help with its establishment.
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@usfws #kokuaforkoloa #avianbotulism #hanaleinationalwildliferefuge #conservationdogs

As a follow up to our recent post, we are excited

As a follow up to our recent post, we are excited to announce that dog training legend Terry Ryan will present a 2-hour webinar as a fundraiser for our new "rat in a boat" pilot project. Terry's son lives on O’ahu, so over the years, Terry has come out here numerous times to teach educational events, including chicken workshops. And Terry's grand-dog Bodhi has worked as conservation dog partner to our trainer Kyoko on a variety of projects, so Terry has a special place in her heart for Hawai’i's wildlife and ecosystems. Please see more details below. Mahalo for your support!

Webinar: How Animals Learn; How People Teach Them
Date: Friday June 11th, 2021
Time: 2-4pm HST / 5-7pm PST / 8-10pm EST

Mannerly dogs, agility chickens, detection rats – the methods used to train these animals (any animal!) for their tasks is amazingly similar. And simple. With slides, video and helping participants practice their mechanical skills, the foundation for conditioning and training an animal with positive methods will be presented. Whether you’re a new pet parent or an animal trainer preparing chickens for a workshop, we think you’ll learn something new and fun. No prior experience needed.

For webinar outline and registration info, please visit the event page on our website conservationdogshawaii.org. Recording is available even if the live event is finished.

📸 1 of Terry and grand-dogger Bodhi by Alex Lee (who attended Karen Pryor Academy in Hawai’i, where this photo was taken!) 🐕‍🦺 #wildwahineowaimea

📸 2 of Bodhi at Kawailoa Wind Farm, O’ahu

Rats have a bad reputation due to their prolific b

Rats have a bad reputation due to their prolific breeding and ability to wreak havoc on ecosystems. However they’re also known to be very intelligent creatures, capable of even outperforming humans in certain cognitive tasks (Vermaercke, 2014).

We have embarked on a new pilot project which aims to utilize scent detection rats to help curb avian botulism. The rodents will be an additional tool to supplement the existing efforts of detection dogs and human visual surveyors. Avian botulism occurs all over the Hawaiian islands but our project application will focus on Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, which has a unique environment that consists of wetland taro farms.

Our plan is to place a trained (and safely contained!) sniffer rat on a remote controlled miniature boat that will navigate crosswind through the rows of taro plants in the extra large units that can be challenging for the dogs and humans to clear.

We’re excited to partner with Fred Helfers to test out his Remote Reward System. The device will enable us to remotely reward the rat with food after it correctly alerts on a target.

We realize this project sounds crazy, especially since we’re also training dogs to detect invasive rodents, but it’s no joke. We like to stay open-minded for the sake of wildlife conservation. It won’t be a simple process to prepare and test the various project components but please stay tuned for updates!

📸1: Ms Rachel the Pi-rat by u/greatermystery on Reddit

#detectionrats #conservationrats #avianbotulism #kokuaforkoloa #fredhelfers #hanaleinationalwildliferefuge

Happy birthday to K9 Toad and congratulations on h

Happy birthday to K9 Toad and congratulations on her first detections of wild devil weed in the field! At a year old, she is the youngest dog in our team and perhaps the most enthusiastic. For her first find today, she ranged far ahead on the trail, found the plant, alerted, and waited there for handler Sue to catch up to her and confirm the target. What a good girl! For her second find, she suddenly veered off trail, so we followed her, then we humans visually spotted a single immature plant about 25 feet from the trail. We managed to get a little video clip of Toad finishing her find. We wish we’d panned the camera to the left to catch her sudden u-turn when she caught odor again. (Play with sound on to hear us cheering for her. 😁)
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While it’s not a good thing to find more invasive plants out there, we are always happy for our dogs, who think of it as a big game!

📸 features K9 Toad and @tailsticks

#devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #DemolishTheDevilWeed #invasivespecies #invasiveplants #blueheelersofinstagram #cattledogsofinstagram

This is our third and last (for now) post featurin

This is our third and last (for now) post featuring the dog-handler teams of Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge.
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Kim Rogers has a long history of volunteering for the wildlife refuges of Kaua'i, in roles including botulism surveyor, docent and even park ranger. She was first attracted to the beautiful places - Hanalei NWR and Kīlauea Point NWR. Then, she learned about the amazing birds — endangered and endemic species with amazing stories of survival and biology.
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In addition to her volunteer work, Kim is an outreach coordinator for @kauaiisc where she focuses on ‘ōhi’a conservation. She is also an award-winning writer and photographer who has written about a variety of wildlife and environmental subject matters, from albatrosses to snails to coral sperm. (More at www.KimSRogers.com) We think of Kim as a trifecta: her full-time day job, part-time independent work, AND volunteer position are all dedicated to environmental conservation!
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Kim has been a member of Kaua’i island's K9 Search and Rescue team (with her dog Nickel, a trailing hound), so naturally when the avian botulism detector dog study came about at Hanalei NWR in 2017, she was interested. She volunteered as biological shadow for the canine teams during the study surveillance, and she also participated in the final trials as a dog handler for K9 Bodhi. Kim is now training towards becoming a certified team with Aussie Shepherd Xena in the new K9 program.
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Asked what she's found to be the most interesting, challenging, or fun in the process of preparing for certification and surveys, Kim says: "With my K9 SAR background, it made perfect sense to use canines for botulism surveys. However, I soon learned how challenging the conditions are in Hanalei valley, in general, and around taro loʻi, in particular, illustrating how scent moves in mysterious and unusual ways."
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Thank you for your dedication to this work. We wish you the best in your journey!

📸 of Laysan albatrosses or mōlī by @kimsrogers Albatography

You asked for it, so we made it! Color die cut sti

You asked for it, so we made it! Color die cut stickers are now available at our online store. Link in bio. Mahalo nui loa to everyone who purchased a shirt or tank, or helped spread the word about our fundraising campaign which helps support our conservation programs.
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#chromolaenaodorata #invasiveplant #devilweed #RunninWithTheDevilWeed #CDHCollectorsItem

A nice cooling off spot for K9 Toad during her dev

A nice cooling off spot for K9 Toad during her devil weed survey with handler Sue today!

Today is the last day of Native Hawaiian Plant Month. While we’re looking for invasive plants, we do encounter native plants while out in the field, and we are aware of the negative impact that invasives have. This inspires us to work even harder to protect our ecosystem. 🤙

#luckywelivehawaii #invasiveplants #chromolaenaodorata #devilweed #invasivespecies #demolishthedevilweed

📷: @tailsticks

Caption this 🤪 We tested some of the features

Caption this 🤪

We tested some of the features of the @dogtraofficial Pathfinder TRX GPS collar and we are quite happy. Some features we like include:

* Very easy to pair devices
* Easy to email track file to yourself from smartphone app. No need to connect to a computer wirelessly or with a cord.
* Surprisingly doesn’t use much of your smartphone battery power when tracking the dog
* Google satellite map can be used for free within the app
* 2-second update rate (Garmin Astro 430 is 2.5 secs)
* Price is right at $380 USD

There are a few more features that we’re still testing and/or learning about. We’ll do a follow up post in the near future.

Happy Aloha Friday!

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