In this episode of HFA Dr. Mark Marsolais joins us to discuss evaluating prospective SAR K9s utilizing the Brownell-Marsolais scale. Mark Marsolais is a Professor of Criminal Justice and Security at Thomas College. Sam Houston State University awarded him a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. In addition to his doctorate, Professor Marsolais has a B.S. degree and M.A. degree in Psychology. He specializes in teaching criminal justice, policing, homeland security, conservation law, evidence, critical issues, and special topics (e.g., Police Use of Force; Search and Detection K9s). Professor Marsolais ser ..read more

In this episode of HFA Ian Maslin joins us to discuss the importance of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) for SAR responders. Ian is a Certified Traumatologist from the Traumatology Institute and Certified from UMBC in Critical Incident Stress Management. He is an Advanced Approved Instructor with The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. A Peer CISM responder with British Columbia Search and Rescue Association, and Emergency Support Services. He is also a Community Care Nurse in the Lower Mainland of BC. Additionally he serves as the Training and Competency coordinator ..read more

In this episode of HFA Tim Baird joins us to discuss selecting the right breeder and puppy for your next SAR K9. Tim has been working with detection dogs for nearly 30 years, starting as a Patrol K9 handler before transitioning into a detection K9 handler. In his years working with dogs Tim has helped support K9 programs for many government agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Tim also helped develop the Vapor Wake program created by Auburn University to detect person borne IEDs. Tim also has extensive experience breeding and raising future det ..read more

In this episode of HFA Paul Bunker joins us to discuss imprinting your detection K9 on odor. Paul has been working with detection K9s for over 40 years in various aspects of detection. Starting with his 2 decades of experience handling detection K9s during his time in the U.K. military, followed by nearly 20 years of working with the U.K. and U.S. military training and deploying explosive detection K9s. Most recently Paul formed Chiron K9 based in San Antonio, TX to focus on research and supporting conservation and environmental detection programs with his K9s. During this episode we discuss P ..read more

Tiffanie Turner and Dr. Ben Alexander joins us on HFA to discuss the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University (FACTS). Tiffanie and Ben have been involved in SAR for over 20 years each, in for the last 10 years they have conducted seminars at FACTS for cadaver dog handlers. In this episode we give an introduction to what FACTS is and what handlers can expect to learn when attending. Make sure to stay tuned for Part 2, where we discuss the lessons that Tiffanie and Ben have learned over the last decade of conducting classes at FACTS. References mentioned during the episode: FA ..read more

Michelle Metzner joins us on HFA to discuss how to teach the Recall/Refind to Live Find Dogs. Michelle has been a SAR handler for over 30 years and has fielded multiple search dogs over the past 3 decades. Michelle is a leader on the K-9 Emergency Response Team based in Wisconsin and is also a K-9 Handler for Wisconsin Task Force 1. Additionally, she has served as a lead K-9 evaluator for the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) for many years. If you are looking to train your Area Search dog to perform a Recall/Refind this episode is the playbook that you need. Michelle takes t ..read more

In this episode of HFA we continue our discussion with Sonja Nordstrom on Selecting and Starting a Human Remains Detection dog in Part 2 of the conversation. In Part 2 we discuss in detail different methodologies of exposing dogs to odor, in addition to the odor imprinting process for green dogs. We also discuss dedication to odor, proofing off non-target odors and the all important TFR (mistakenly referred to by me as "FTR"). This episode is a great guide to HR handlers who are thinking of how to start their next dog, and provides great context and gotchas for adding odor to your dog. Mike S ..read more

Suzanne Elshult joins the show to discuss her 20+ year career in K-9 Search and Rescue.  We discuss Suzanne's dog Keb who won the American Humane Society's Hero Dog Award for Search and Rescue as well as her book "A Dog's Devotion: True Tales of a K9 Search and Rescue Team". https://suzanneelshult.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ADogsDevotion https://csdk9.org/ https://k9ff.org ..read more

Former Texas District Court Judge Kelly Case joins the show to inform our listeners of the legal implications of search and rescue that all K-9 Handlers should be aware of. Kelly Case has spent time as a Texas District Court Judge, Assistant District Attorney, and Criminal Defense Attorney and he provides us an overview of the legal aspects of search and rescue that's vitally important for all SAR team members to be aware of. Hunt-Find-Alert: Facebook Page Trejos v Texas (K9 Application of the Nenno Test): https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-court-of-appeals/1101233.html Nenno v Texas: https://c ..read more