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We had a fun group training session with the devil

We had a fun group training session with the devil weed teams today. The muggy conditions and light wind created some interesting challenges for the dogs. Mahalo to @hawaii_dlnr @oahudofaw for letting us train at their base yard. And big thanks to our dedicated volunteers and their dogs for the time and effort they put in to help detect and eradicate invasive species! @tailsticks @betabitzer @qanagator @sandi.sue1 and Julie
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#devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #invasiveplants #invasivespecies #conservationdogs #NW4C #demolishthedevilweed #womeninconservation

With rain, salt water, heat and red dirt being so

With rain, salt water, heat and red dirt being so prevalent in Hawai’i, it can be challenging to keep dog leashes clean. Leather tends to get moldy quickly, and nylon webbing can get stinky easily. Biothane has been a godsend for K9 fieldwork in the islands. In case you’re not familiar with the material, it’s polyester webbing with a rubber-like coating that makes it durable, waterproof and easy to clean.
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Below are some of the variations we appreciate for different applications:
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Super grip (photo 2) is a heavier weight leash with textured gripper beads. Great for working large or strong dogs on leash in wet environments and in locations with steep or uneven terrain where it’s essential to maintain control for safety reasons.
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The standard flat biothane (photo 3) comes in a variety of widths, thicknesses and colors. The flat material offers a certain amount of grip in most dry to semi-dry conditions, and is a great all-around leash.
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The rope (photo 4) is circular in shape and doesn’t offer much grip, but works well as a lightweight drag line on the beach or on a hike, especially if you get one without a handle.
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Featured in the main photo is volunteer dog handler @betabitzer with a 12-ft super grip leash on her devil weed detection dog @qanagator
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There are many vendors that sell biothane dog equipment but a few that we use regularly include Oahu-based Ruff Stuff and mainland-based @midatlantick9 and Palomine Lines.

Happy Aloha Friday and a Friday Fun Fact: the ques

Happy Aloha Friday and a Friday Fun Fact: the question of whether the Tyrannosaurus rex was an apex predator or pure scavenger was among the longest debates in paleontology. These days it’s accepted that the T-Rex was both an active predator as well as a scavenger. Sound familiar? 🐾😃
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📸 @tor.johnson.photography
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#alohafriday #apexpredatornotmonster #tyrannosaurusrex #wildwahineowaimea #sitpretty #labradorsofinstagram

Weimaraner Ruger is the OG of our devil weed progr

Weimaraner Ruger is the OG of our devil weed program and the 3rd feature of our Pet Photography Campaign. Please see details below and link in our bio.
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📸 @chipperton_photography
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Ruger will work all day to find his target odor in exchange for hot dogs, and he has zero interest in the occasional chicken, pig or even fellow dog that he encounters in the field. Ruger started his career in pet dog scent work classes but was recruited for field work due to his temperament, drive and physical fitness. In addition to being a dedicated detection partner to Ruger, his dog mom @sandi.sue1 is a wholesaler for @primalpetfoods raw dog foods and treats. We love how the photo of Ruger captures him “pointing” with a happy face!
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About our Fall 2020 Pet Photography Campaign: Arrange a pet photo shoot with @chipperton_photography and a portion of proceeds will be donated to our organization to help fund our programs, including the purchase of GPS collars for our devil weed dogs, and scent detection containers and training aid fruits for our melon fly dogs. Photographer Sue Chipperton is also a professional studio animal trainer with credits including the movies "Hobbs and Shaw" and "Jurassic World." You can be sure Sue will capture images of your pet that you will cherish for a lifetime.
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#NW4C #WeimaranersofInstagram #petphotography #dogphotography #phodography #devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #invasivespecies #conservationdog

One thing that may not be obvious at first glance

One thing that may not be obvious at first glance is that our non-profit organization Conservation Dogs of Hawai’i is run entirely by volunteers. The dogs involved in many of our proof-of-concept projects are pet dogs from the local scent work community. We hope to become a larger organization with paid full-time staff and a working dog kennel someday, but for now we are stoked to combine citizen science with canine scent detection.
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This video clip features scent discrimination tests for native plants ‘ākia, and training for devil weed ORT with: Ted and Weimaraner Flow; @4dogsandthe2cats and Chihuahua Zoe; Mary and Border Collie Annie; Kristine and @kaia_the_goldendoodle

Can you tell the trial ride aboard marine vessel “Imua” was a blast for Guinness? We don’t know if the motion sickness medication worked really well, or the dogs just don’t get seasick. Either way it was great to do a mini sea trial on the boat that will take these dogs and the Crazy Ant Strike Team to Johnston Atoll in December.
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The YCA project is being conducted independently of CDH by Country Canine but we will post updates and photos!
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📸 @tor.johnson.photography
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#mvimua #yellowcrazyant #anoplolepisgracilipes #johnstonatoll #boatdogs #gmanflyingnun #wilddogofwaialua

Kendo is the second feature of our Pet Photography

Kendo is the second feature of our Pet Photography Campaign (more details below or visit the link in our bio).

📸 @chipperton_photography

When CDH first contacted @oahuisc in 2018 to get their advice on a suitable target plant for our dogs, they suggested we try a proof-of-concept project on a native plant before training with an invasive plant, which comes with bio-security protocols to prevent spread. While it's already documented that dogs can sniff out certain plants, we had never done it ourselves. So we selected a native non-endangered plant called ‘ākia. We trained several dogs, including Kendo, the German Shepherd featured in this portrait. The ‘ākia proof-of-concept project was successful (scroll right to see a clip of Kendo's odor recognition test), and the rest is history. Shout out to @erinmcbish for her guidance with our invasive devil weed project over the last few years.
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About our Fall 2020 Pet Photography Campaign: Arrange a pet photo shoot with Chipperton Photography, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to our organization to help fund our programs. In addition to being a photographer, Sue Chipperton is a professional studio animal trainer with credits including the "Lost Puppy" Super Bowl Budweiser commercial with the puppy and horses. Pet animals that can be photographed include cats, horses, pigs, rats and more. You can be sure Sue will get your pet looking his or her best with her animal coordinating skills!
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#NW4C #VolunteerDog #GSDsofInstagram #petphotography #dogphotography #phodography

Like many conservation folks, we use tools to reco

Like many conservation folks, we use tools to record our survey tracks and targets so that we may analyze the data afterwards and submit them to collaborating agencies. Garmin has GPS collars made specifically for dogs, which allows for the recording of both dog and handler tracks. It’s useful when the dog is working off lead and ranging far from the handler. Professional devices can be a bit pricey but there are free apps out there that have similar functionality. The @alltrails app gives you access to over 100,000 trail maps and lets you record your hike. It can also turn your phone into a GPS tracker so you don’t get lost on the trail. What is your favorite device or app?
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📸 @tor.johnson.photography
#wildwahineowaimea #gpstracker #surveytool #datagathering

We are excited to announce our new campaign that w

We are excited to announce our new campaign that will showcase portraits of the dogs in our various programs through the amazing pet photography of @chipperton_photoraphy ~ Sue Chipperton has trained animals for Hollywood for over 20 years, including most recently @h50eddie the Lab in Hawaii Five-0 and @the_magnum_lads of Magnum P.I. With this campaign you can also arrange a photo shoot for your own pet, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to our non-profit organization. Please visit the link in our bio for more info. Mahalo for your support!

The first dog we'd like to introduce is Winnie, an active and enthusiastic 1-year old Border Collie that is part of the Melon Fly proof-of-concept scent detection project. We are lucky that Winnieʻs person @morgan_pugh approached us earlier this year to see if weʻd be interested in collaborating with her. Morgan is an entomology masters student at University of Hawai‘i Mānoa and describes how the project came about:

"During my undergraduate career at UHM, I became intrigued with biochemistry and how the whole natural world was built atom by atom, like real life legos. After getting a pup of my own who has become such a big part of my life, and seeing how other people are integrating dogs into their work, I wanted to find a way to get her involved with my studies. After lots of research and a few helping hands, I came up with the idea to use dogs to sniff out the volatile chemicals produced by plants in response to insect herbivory in order to locate agricultural pests."

We look forward to posting updates on this project, as well as more portraits of our volunteer dogs.

📸 @chipperton_photography
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#melonfly #BactroceraCucurbitae #agriculturalpest #plantvolatiles #mitigatethemelonflies #NW4C #caninesforconservationists #bordercolliesofinstagram #petphotography #dogphotography #phoDography

“Early in the morning, up the trail. Mālie, en

“Early in the morning, up the trail. Mālie, enjoy the view.” Mālie means calm or serene in Hawaiian. That describes today’s morning wind conditions but not necessarily this active search dog @qanagator 😁 She and her handler @betabitzer had a big day in the field today and we think they’re sleeping well tonight. Report from volunteer dog handler Roberta:
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“Today was the most productive field survey we have had so far. Qana found numerous devil weed plants but two finds struck me as most interesting.
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At one part of the trail she energetically crawled under some bushes to try to get to something. What a surprise that it turned out to be a 7 ft+ tall devil weed plant. It was blocked by thick vegetation that would make you think twice about venturing into the area, but not for Qana.
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On another occasion, she suddenly went off trail and circled the area a few times. There were many plants including lookalikes, so I was at a loss, but then she suddenly sniffed one of the plants from top to bottom, then alerted right next to it. I am not sure who was more excited about that find, me or her!”
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#devilweed #chromolaenaodorata #invasiveplants #invasivespecies #conservationdogs #maligator #belgianmalinoisofinstagram #demolishthedevilweed #NW4C

We were going to post this on Muzzle Monday but th

We were going to post this on Muzzle Monday but that sounded a bit morbid, so Happy Aloha Friday instead! The first photo is from the the avian botulism detector dog study at Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge a few years ago. The sign should probably say “Caution, Crazy Dog Ladies” instead 😁 While muzzles are not always required or necessary in conservation work, we want to share with you the different types we’ve tried and like, in case you ever find a need for them, e.g. working close to endangered species. We don’t use traditional basket muzzles because their tapered design doesn’t allow the dogs to breathe with their mouths wide open, something that is essential in field work to prevent over-heating. The ones featured below taper in the opposite direction or are square shaped.
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In the second photo, our stuffed Border Collie is wearing a blue metal muzzle that is the standard for @conservationdogsnz a program of @docgovtnz 🐕 It’s a nice solid design with the top part wide open so that the dog’s vision and smell are not blocked.
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The third photo features an older model of the New Zealand dog program that is made of lighter gauge wire. While the wires can get a little bent sometimes, we love this one because it’s lightweight and allows for good airflow.
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In the fourth photo is the Freedom Muzzle by @deantyler_ which we modified by cutting the top wires off. It’s heavier than the previous two but has a nice wide padded strap for the dog’s snout. (This particular photo shows a muzzle size too small for the dog but usually there is plenty of space for a wide open mouth.)
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The final photo features a purple biothane muzzle by @bumas_muzzle which we also modified for maximum sniffing by cutting off part of the top. We decided not to use this one for detection purposes because the coverage in the mouth area would block airflow, but we think it would be great for general training and behavior modification because the soft material and nose padding are quite comfortable for the dog. If you’d like more details or contact info on any of these muzzles please DM us!
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📸 Photos 1 & 3 by @tor.johnson.photography
#dogmuzzle #basketmuzzle #conservationdogs

Happy Aloha Friday! We’d rather be sailing with

Happy Aloha Friday! We’d rather be sailing with dolphins but we’re doing our part with the 2-week shutdown on O’ahu to bring the covid count down. Hoping to get back out on the hiking trails with the dogs soon!
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📸 @tor.johnson.photography
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#wildlifephotography #sailingphotography #dolphins #wakesurfing #alohafriday

Every day is #nationaldogday for us, not only with

Every day is #nationaldogday for us, not only with our working dogs but also our pet dogs. We love that we get to contribute to conservation and science while also tapping into the dogs‘ instincts and natural scenting abilities. To all of the dogs in our various programs, past and present, Happy National Dog Day...we appreciate you!
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📸: @oceanelyse - Elyse Butler shoots a variety of images for editorial and journalism. In Hawai’i you will see her work regularly in @hanahoumag She has a knack for capturing the connection between her subjects and their environment. Check out her feed!
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🐕‍🦺: Lea the #wildwahineowaialua #dutchshepherds #dutchshepherdsofinstagram

After a training session, we cut open a zucchini i

After a training session, we cut open a zucchini infected with melon fly larvae and compared it with a non-infected zucchini. From the outside (skin) they looked the same so it was interesting to see how much of the insides the larvae had eaten. The zucchini “meat” had also turned a tan color, which was larva feces rather than fruit decomposition. The larvae infecting this particular zucchini were late in the developmental stage, but we hope to eventually train the dogs on earlier stages of larva and egg.
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📸 Photo of K9 Gracie by @morgan.e.pugh / Baylor DLR
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#melonfly #BactroceraCucurbitae #agriculturalpest #plantvolatiles #mitigatethemelonflies #NW4C #caninesforconservationists #aussiesofinstagram

We’ve been learning lots and having fun at our t

We’ve been learning lots and having fun at our training sessions. Here are some photos and video of the dogs being exposed to a zucchini infected with melon fly larvae, versus control zucchinis. This is only the beginning and we don’t want to jinx it but...so far so good!
📸: @morgan.e.pugh / Baylor
🦮: Ruger, Kendo, Winnie
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#melonfly #BactroceraCucurbitae #agriculturalpest #plantvolatiles #mitigatethemelonflies #NW4C #caninesforconservationists #weimaranersofinstagram #gsdofinstagram #bordercolliesofinstagram

After many months of planning and discussions, we

After many months of planning and discussions, we are excited to move forward with assisting Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge in establishing their in-house detector dog program for avian botulism surveillance. This will be a collaboration between multiple organizations and will not be an easy task, but we are motivated by the potential to prevent or curb outbreaks. This photo was taken a few years ago during a joint @usgs and @usfws study to determine the efficacy of detector dogs for this purpose. Read more about avian botulism and the detector dog study at the Projects / Avian Botulism page on our website (link in bio).
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📸 @tor.johnson.photography
#avianbotulism #koloamaoli #wildwahineowaimea #hanaleinationalwildliferefuge #kokuaforkoloa

Day 1 of melon fly PVC training is in the books! W

Day 1 of melon fly PVC training is in the books! We were so focused on training the dogs that we forgot to get any pictures of the training but here is Labrador Yogi snoozing in his car at the end of the session. In addition to imprinting the dogs on the plant volatiles specific to melon fly infection, we will teach them to discriminate between infected plants and artificially injured plants. In the following weeks, we will feature photos and bios of the 5 dogs (and their handlers, if they’re not shy about it 😁) that are participating in this initial pilot project. Stay tuned!
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#melonfly #agriculturalpest #Bactroceracucurbitae #mitigatethemelonflies #fruitfly #plantvolatiles #NW4C #CaninesForConservationists

We’re so relieved to have dodged a bullet last n

We’re so relieved to have dodged a bullet last night with Hurricane Douglas, and we are looking forward to beginning the melon fly project this week as planned. Meanwhile here are some old photos of devil weed dog Qana and yellow crazy ant dog Solo playing. In the field of animal behavior, researchers often refer to this as “play fighting” because it includes behaviors seen during real fights that might look rougher than it really is. But when playing, dogs inhibit their bites and will often give their partner a competitive advantage by rolling on their backs or letting themselves be caught during a chase. They also use meta communication such as play bows to indicate their friendly intentions.
🐕: @qanagator
🐩: #wilddogofwaialua
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📸: @tor.johnson.photography

When the ball crazy dog doesn’t realize she’s

When the ball crazy dog doesn’t realize she’s on leash 🤪 This photo was taken by @oceanelyse for a story in @hanahoumag earlier this year. It wasn’t featured in the article but it is one of our favorite shots ❤️ #wildwahineowaialua #willworkforball #dutchshepherd #furmissile

📷: Elyse Butler

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! That’s what came to

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! That’s what came to mind when training the dogs in a variety of locations and conditions recently. While the yellow crazy ant surveys will take place in Johnston Atoll later this year, O’ahu currently provides training areas (with known YCA sightings) ranging from wet jungles full of mud and mosquitoes, to urban office parking lots. Training wildlife detection dogs is not always fun and games; in addition to there being target-related challenges, the environment can dish out regular beatings to the dog and handler. But Dr. Seuss’s poem sums it up well: “On and on you will hike...and face up to your problems whatever they are...So be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray...You’re off to Great Places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting so get on your way!” 👏 #ohtheplacesyoullgo #drseuss #yellowcrazyants #anoplolepisgracilipes #wilddogofwaialua #gmanflyingnun

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