Rogues' Gallery

"Gator was Heath's original conservation dog... the reason he became a detection dog handler.

 

Nearly 20 years ago, Heath traveled to Jasper, Canada to conduct research on grizzly bears. He was not supposed to be the dog handler, and in fact, didn't even know the job involved detection dogs. Back then, even more so than now, this was an emerging field.

 

The graduate student working with Gator left him behind at the work site to go home to his family every night. This left Heath, living out of his car at the time, the sole caregiver to Gator. Well, as you can imagine, Gator chose Heath and Heath chose Gator and it soon became apparent that Gator would work for no-one else but Heath. He was the one who gave his love, respect, confidence, care, and a warm place to snuggle up to at night.

 

Gator could be credited with initiating much of what this field now knows about what a conservation detection dog is.

 

He was a trailblazer, or what we like to call a "tail blazer," in this field. I wish the world knew Gator's early contributions to this field, like being one of the first dogs to ever sniff for orca whale scat from the bow of a boat because he was a first in so many respects.

 

Gator was to Heath what Max is to me - his heart dog, through and through."

"Scooby was my other main dog and it may surprise you to learn, but I did not want to work with him at first. He was the dog no one wanted to work with.

 

He did not want to give up the ball and others found this a frustrating trait. He would bop up and down in excitement like Tigger when he was getting his working harness on because he loved working SO MUCH.

 

It was not until I started seeing things from Scooby's perspective that I truly understood what a special and incredible dog Scooby was.

 

If ever there was a dog meant to be a conservation detection dog, it was Scooby. We traveled the globe together, side by side - from Africa where he sniffed for big cats, to Cambodia for tiger research, Alberta for storm petrel burrows, and everything in between.

 

He didn't do this work for the credit, but because he was all-in, every day, for the pure joy of working with his bounder. In his later years, he became a coach for new people we were teaching, giving them confidence as they learned the skill of becoming a detection dog handler.

 

So, from being the dog that no one wanted to work with, he became one of our most trusty detection dogs and sniffed for over 40 species in his career.

 

I will never know another dog like him and miss him like I am missing a part of myself.”

"Captain was our soft and fuzzy velveteen rabbit detection dog.

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Many did not think he could be a detection dog because his fur was too thin (we hike through very thick, overgrown habitats). But with sufficient protective gear, this boy was born to be a detection dog. 

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He was a true athlete and loved to climb the tallest mountains, and never wanted the survey to end because he had so much joy in the work.

 

He came to us as an owner release - his family loved him so much and understood that Captain was meant for BIG things in this world.

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He just had so much heart. He didn't realize he was a tall, leggy boy and loved to curl up on laps like he was a much smaller dog. 

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He was not an easy dog to learn how to work with, because he held onto the ball, he loved it so much, but once a bounder gave him the time, actually bothered to get to know his sweet soul, and unlocked his heart, the only thing he wanted to do was find more data and play fetch."

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"Our golden boy was 18 years young.  You’d never know he was the oldest dog in our program in his later years because he had the heart of a puppy, always.

 

He had the biggest, fluffiest soul.  He friendly to ALL people and sometimes we joked that we could reward him for finding data with love and that he didn’t even need the ball, that’s how happy he was and how much he loved people.

 

He travelled the world to assist wildlife, from brown bears in the Pyrenees to Bobcats in Wisconsin, and moose, bear and caribou in the frozen tundra of Alberta.

 

Later in his life, he was an education ambassador and travelled to schools share his love of wildlife and conservation science with the next generation of hopeful biologists, scientists and nature enthusiasts.

 

His best friend was our small, fluffy black dog named Beckett.  These two were inseparable and looked like yin and yang when they curled up together by the fireplace at the end of a day in the field."

"Max stole my heart at hello.

 

A shy, quirky little fellow with a big bushy tail (not common for blue heelers) and one white whisker that was always askew, Max loved to get into mischief when he thought no one was looking. I always had to keep paper products away from him!

 

There were those who doubted Max's abilities early on because he liked to stick close to whoever was working him, and some thought that this would not make him an ideal detection dog, because our dogs need to explore and be curious to search for odours independently of their handler. Once I met him, though, and started working with him, I saw a completely other side.

 

Yes, he would go everywhere with me and was always my trusty shadow side-kick, but by giving him love, and guidance and embuing him with confidence, he felt comfortable finally coming into his wings and became a truly talented detection dog and the best companion I ever could have asked for.

 

He found grizzly bears, spotted owl pellets, mustelids and tigers.

 

He had rare cancer that stole him from me when he was 15 years old. Some may think that's a nice old age but Max was still so healthy when we learned he had aggressive cancer. Watching him try, so hard, each day, to overcome being sick was the hardest thing but that was him... giving his all, always, to be beside me wherever I went.

 

Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. "

"Alli was the fearless, stubborn, and incredible matriarch of our pack. She passed just shy of her 18th birthday. She was like the Little Engine That Could. 

 

Nothing deterred her and no project was too much for her spitfire skills. 

 

She detected endangered turtles under the surface of the water, she helped unravel the mystery of whether a threatened butterfly species were mating in the wild by locating the places where they fed, she found data in cavities underground with no foreseeable exit point! 

 

Really, her nose was incredible. She was an incredible teacher and taught many new bounders (conservation detection dog handlers) who came to learn the art of working alongside detection dogs. 

 

 

She also taught us respect and patience, two of the greatest gifts that a handler can have in this field, because once we learn that, we understand that these dogs are our equals in this work. 

 

We have as much to learn from them as we ever hope to share and impart to them. Alli leaves behind a huge gulf in our program- she was definitely our guiding light.”