King & Co Detection

27/06/2025

05/05/2025

Mr King (or should I say Mr Popular) has fans!

On a recent project, we passed multiple cow herds who came running over to Kingston, surrounded him, and yelled out after him when we moved away into another paddock.

For a typical dog, this would have been extremely frightening and may have elicited reactive behaviour. But King was able to calmly create space and keep working.

The animal interactions training that we do before a dog is operational is not just about keeping wildlife/livestock safe from being chased. It is also very important for the dog himself to learn to feel comfortable should he be approached.

23/04/2025

It was miserable weather this morning, but as long as there's treats, Marie is happy 😍🍬😄

11/04/2025

I have been very lucky to attend the Joint Symposium for Working K9s in Atlanta, USA.

What an incredible week of listening to fascinating talks and meeting incredible people from around the world!

I can't wait to get home and put some of these learnings into practice.

#

20/03/2025

A happy 4th birthday to Kingston!

Photo is a throwback of the day he came home with me. He seemed so grown up at the time but looking back he really was just a little boy.

And now, he's aged into a true gentleman ❤️

26/02/2025

The team at King & Co are taking a very overdue and well deserved break.

We'll be back to sniffing bat butts and responding to emails on March 10th.

23/01/2025

We discovered a hidden gem on our doorstep!

07/01/2025

Looking forward to another year of adventures with my best friends 👩🐶🐶🐶

📷: Tiffany Chapple

28/12/2024

Wishing everyone a calming and restorative holiday season.

We are enjoying the slow pace of this time of year - sleeping in, sniffing flowers, lazy fetch 💤🌺🥎

14/12/2024

Walkies for Alfie 🐾

As a detection newbie still in training, Alfie often gets left behind at home when we complete our morning surveys. Even though I'm pretty tired on our return (thanks 4am starts and 10+km hikes), young Alfred still needs his own stimulation.

Even when getting a dog for a job, it's important to think about how you'll satisfy their physical and mental needs when they're not working. Dogs aren't robots that you can switch off when they're not actively on the job. Will their type of energy suit your home life, not just your work life?

I like field labradors because they love a play, a sniff, a solid morning of work. But they also love a cuddle and a good nap. And as someone running her own business alone, having down time is really vital for me.

So this mornings enrichment for Alfie was a nice sniffy walk, some water retrieves at the river, followed by a snuggle on the couch 🥰

03/12/2024

Imagine this, but all over a dog.

It's certainly that time of year again when the grass seeds dry up and attach themselves onto everything and everyone. They can bury themselves into fur and between tiny crevices, often becoming well hidden.

We spend a long time after the days surveys checking the dogs from head to toe (and between every toe!).

While grass seeds can be found anywhere, the most common places we find them are the chest, between and under the toes and most especially between the hock joint and the paw pad on the back foot -the only way to remove them here is by rubbing a good brush up and down this area.

Working on handling skills with your dogs to allow all sorts of grooming, poking and prodding is essential for a conservation dog team.

28/10/2024

We have just finished our first wind farm detectability trials and are very pleased to announce a 100% detection rate!

The purpose of these trials is to test the efficacy of the dog team in finding their targets (bird and bat carcasses) across a range of varying ground conditions.

It is great to have confirmation that I am doing all the right things as a trainer and handler 😊

So proud of the dogs!

📷: Mallory Vistnes