Heather Stieler joins us on HFA to discuss three types of K-9 Training Log software that are available for handlers to use.

Heather calls the Texas Hill Country home but was raised all over the US. She currently works from home as a Software Specialist. Heather became interested in SAR as a way to serve her community in a fun and exciting way that also included her Malinois’ Ren and Misha. Heather and K9 Ren are a certified live area/air scent search team through IPWDA. Heather and K9 Misha are also a certified human remains detection team through IPWDA.

During this episode we do a break down of three currently available Detection dog training software (Balto, RescueDogs, and Dogbase) and perform a comparison of each software. We walk through some of the Pros/Cons of each software and discuss what makes each solution distinctive.

If you are looking for a new and improved way to track your dog's training, this is an episode that you do not want to miss.

***Please take the time to visit the website of each software and decide which solution works best for your personal needs.

References mentioned in this episode:

Alamo Search and Rescue: https://alamoareasar.org/

Balto K9: Balto

RescueDogs: RescueDogs: The Search Dog App

DogBase: DogBase

Michelle Metzner joins us on HFA for the second time to discuss troubleshooting the Recall/Refind for 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.

In part two with Michelle we focus on troubleshooting the Recall/Refind for Live Find dogs and how to work through some of the common issues that handlers face with their dogs. For this episode we took actual questions that Michelle has received from K-9 handlers and listened to Michelle troubleshoot how she would work through fixing the issues being faced by handlers.

If you are teaching your dog the Recall/Refind or are having issues with any part of the behavior chain this is definitely an episode that you will want to listen to.

In this episode of HFA Christy Bormann joins us to discuss Category 5 K9 and their process of taking shelter/rescue dogs and turning them into search K-9s.

Christy has been involved in K-9 Search and Rescue for over 20 years and has done both Wilderness SAR and Urban SAR throughout her history in Search and Rescue. Christy is a founding member of Category 5 K9 and serves as the K9 Training Coordinator for Texas A&M Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team. Christy has certified and deployed multiple K9s in disaster environments across the globe.

During this episode we discuss the work of Category 5 K9, and their mission of taking unwanted dogs and putting them in the hands of capable detection handlers across the U.S. We also spend time discussing how Christy evaluates shelter dogs to determine if they are the right fit for Urban SAR, Wilderness SAR, or detection jobs.

If you have a passion for Shelter/Rescue dogs and turning them into working dogs, this is an episode that you do not want to miss!

References mentioned in this episode:

Category 5 K9: https://www.cat5k9.org/

Texas A&M Task Force 1: https://texastaskforce1.org/

Cat 5 K9 Evaluation Process: https://www.cat5k9.org/screening

Category 5 K9 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CAT5K9/