K9Sensus Foundation

12/18/2025

Thoughtful Thursday: Goals to support consistent choices

This is the time of year I spend time looking where I want to go with the Foundation, where my training is going with each dog, and of course, make some goals or hatch some ideas which may end up percolating all year. I also spend some time reflecting on where I've been, what worked, what didn't, and also feel a little guilty that my dogs didn't get worked enough. You know, typical dog trainer stuff.

As you look toward 2026, consider shifting your focus from outcomes that support each of those goals. Ask what allows progress to hold up under pressure. Clear understanding, thoughtful repetition, and reliable skills are what make progress feel steady, even when conditions change. This isn’t about speed or polish. It’s about stability.

This is a good time to pause and choose intention over urgency. Progress doesn’t require rushing. It requires direction.

I'm setting goals centered on what strengthens my work and training. Sharp timing. Clarity in communication and time blocking. I'm revisiting the reasons behind why I do what I do, what I practice, and how I practice it.

I'm focusing on incremental change and not skipping steps. When the foundation is sound, forward movement starts to feel natural rather than forced.

Across disciplines, whether you’re training dogs, coaching people, or refining your own skills, progress becomes more flexible when the foundation is strong. Learning adapts more easily. Communication becomes clearer. Growth feels more constant, because it has something solid beneath it. The ability to adjust without starting over, to problem-solve without losing confidence, and to keep moving forward when things feel unpredictable. Confidence doesn't appear by chance. Skills and progress are built through consistent choices, often in moments that feel simple or unremarkable.

Thoughtful goals, grounded in what truly supports progress, create the conditions where confidence can grow.

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The K9Sensus 2026 calendar is live. Make sure to check it out! https://www.k9sensus.org/training-courses

12/16/2025

There are some really great 'aha' moments in this episode. Including: “The power is not in perfection. It's in the ability to take those adjustments and flex on those adjustments.” Let us know what yours are!

Our hosts, Robin Greubel and Stacy Barnett, welcome veteran retired USAR handler Bob Deeds, whose journey from compulsion-based training to positive reinforcement transformed both his career and the field itself!
His career trajectory spans volunteer search and rescue in the early nineties through Texas Task Force One, where he deployed to the World Trade Center with his partner, Kenzie.

The devastating loss of Kenzie in a 2007 training accident nearly ended his career until his friend Sonja Heritage called at 2 AM with a powerful message: quitting meant Kenzie died for nothing.

Bob credits Bob Bailey's chicken workshops as the single most transformative experience for his training mechanics. The fast-paced chickens force observational skills development whether trainers want it or not. Those mechanical skills translated directly to his dogs: when his Malinois Remy would nip holes in Bob's shirt from frustration over poor timing, Karen would smile knowingly.

The dog was using positive punishment to remind Bob to pay attention to delivery, timing, and criteria!
Now teaching directionals to pet dog owners and planning chicken workshops with Robin in Iowa, Bob teaches that directional control isn't about perfect patterns, but recovery.

As handler Shirley Hammond told him after his first FSA certification, disasters aren't perfect, and recovery from mistakes matters most!

You can find all the links you need here:
https://www.k9detectioncollaborative.com/post/bob-deeds-fema-k9-s-nosework-and-chicken-workshops

12/10/2025

Here's a reminder of our 2026 calendar! I know some of you may want to support someone in coming to one of the events. The great thing is we now have an option through our donate button for you to designate a student that you want to support. It's sort of like providing them with a mini scholarship or buying them a gift certificate! I will reach out to them personally and let them know that they have an outstanding person who has provided them with a scholarship! Training and working dogs takes a community.

This applies to ALL of the courses offered through K9Sensus and K9 Detection Collaborative! Including the ones found on our online store.

Donate: https://go.levitate.ai/?s=5befXaVIHc&source=donationSurvey
K9Sensus in person events: https://www.k9sensus.org/training-courses
K9Sensus Online Academy:https://k9sensusacademy.thinkific.com/
K9 Detection Collaborative Events:https://www.k9detectioncollaborative.com/events

Go TRAIN!

12/10/2025

Check it out!

You can read the article at https://rogerabrantes.com/2014/06/10/the-dogs-color-vision-and-what-it-means-for-our-training

"Do Dogs See Colors? What Does It Mean for Our Training?"
If you work with dogs, these questions matter. Most trainers assume they know the answer; fewer reflect on what it actually implies for practice. I wrote this short article in 2014 and have just revised it. The science remains fully current—and the training implications are as relevant as ever. I hope you find it useful. I would be glad to hear about your experiences with color.

12/06/2025

Put Dog instead of horse and think about all the foundational behaviors we need to do our work!

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀?

Because every “neat” moment you see in the ring - the clean flying change, the tidy rollback, the effortless distance - is built on a mountain of basics: rhythm, balance, straightness, clarity, repetition, and trust.

The real magic lives in the base of the pyramid - not the shiny bit at the top.

Advanced work only works when the foundations feel solid, repeatable, and understood by both horse and rider.
And that’s exactly what creates the horses who are genuinely 𝘧𝘶𝘯 to ride… the ones who jump easily, land balanced, turn like a dream, and both accelerate and wait when you ask.

So yes, I love riding the advanced stuff too.
But I love the basics more - 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.

12/05/2025

Take advantage of an amazing collaboration! Bob Deeds, Deeds Canine Connection, and I are partnering to offer Chicken Workshops!

Mastering your Mechanics will sharpen your timing, observation skills and mechanics, in this hands-on 5-day workshop where you’ll step into the roles of learner, trainer, and coach. And yes—you’ll be training chickens to improve your focus, clarity, and reinforcement skills.

Your Instructors:
Bob Deeds – Bob is a retired Canine Search Specialist with Texas Task Force One (FEMA) and has trained dogs for narcotics, explosives, and accelerant detection and was part of a team that trained one of the first peanut detection service dogs in the country. His depth of knowledge, steady coaching style, and operational experience make him one of the premier working dog instructors in the U.S.

Robin Greubel – With over two decades of detection dog experience and an exceptional command of behavior science to her instruction. Beginning her career in 2001 with wilderness and human remains detection, she has certified dogs in explosives, narcotics, and fi****ms detection, adding extensive operational depth to her skillset.Robin completed the year-long Master K9 Trainer Program at the Scandinavian Working Dog Institute and excels at coaching the human end of the leash.

They’ll guide you in a supportive, fast-paced environment, helping you refine observation, shaping, timing, and communication—skills that transfer directly to dog training.

Why Train Chickens?
Chickens are fast, honest, and literal—making them the perfect tool to instantly reveal your timing and communication skills without the pressure of working your own dog.

What You’ll Learn:
✅ Marker timing & clear communication
✅ Shaping & building behavior chains
✅ Mechanical skill development
✅ Reinforcement strategies & behavior breakdown
✅ How chicken training translates to dogs

By working with chickens, you’ll learn to see behavior as data, not guesswork—building evidence-based decision-making that sets elite trainers apart.

This is where mechanical skill meets behavioral science—and where your mastery begins.

👉 Build the foundation every dog trainer needs to increase clarity, reduce training time, and improve real-world reliability.

📍 Join us for this one-of-a-kind learning experience—where you’ll train, think, and teach like never before.

More information here: https://www.k9sensus.org/chickenworkshops

12/05/2025

America's urban search and rescue teams are facing financial and political pressure. However, their work has never been more in demand, as weather disasters become increasingly common.

12/04/2025

Thoughtful Thursday: Being "Dangerously Good"

Raven is bouncing beside me as we walk into the local farm store. She's 5 months of joyous Labrador puppy that sometimes heels, sometimes pulls on her harness and in general I don't know which gerbil I have that day to work with. So I start asking questions.

Me: Hows the sliding glass door? Raven: What door?

Me: How's jumping on these bags?
Raven: Scary.
Me: Okay, lets throw treats on them and you can climb them several times.
Raven: Fine. For those treats I will run across them and back. Hold my beer.

Me: How about searching in all the drawers with your TFR on the end and people walking by?
Raven: I LOVE THIS! CAN WE DO IT MORE OFTEN!
Me: All of the repetition's weren't perfect, but yes, we can do this more often. Please remember to sit, not just stand and stare.
Raven: I LOVE SNIFFING!

All of these conversations happened, plus several more, in a 15 minute field trip. I realized I have become good (maybe not dangerously good, but at least pretty good) at reading puppy behavior and building a dog.

It pays to become dangerously good at something. I am a student of detection dog training. It’s the hours spent studying slightest changes in behavior when dogs are in odor/scent, the reps that sharpen your timing, the hides that push your assumptions, and the constant commitment to growth on both ends of the leash. Over time, that work creates depth—real skills and understanding that hold up anywhere. This is also the type of work that creates a fluent detection dog.

And once you have depth? That’s when you can diversify. Tackle new scent/odor. Add complexity. Build range. Explore different detection challenges with confidence because your foundation is solid.

Mastery in detection isn’t a finish line. It’s a lifestyle built on curiosity, resilience, and relentless training.

Keep training. Keep learning. Keep deepening your craft.
Because “dangerously good” teams don’t just handle the work—they elevate it.
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The 2026 DDTA is getting ready to start Jan 1! There is one spot open for someone wishing to elevate their game, no matter the odor/scent. Check out the website: www.k9sensus.org/ddta

12/03/2025

12/02/2025

It's Giving Tuesday!

At the K9Sensus Foundation, we coach canine handlers and trainers to decode animal perception and understand how dogs interpret and respond to the world around them. Our progressive, research-driven approach turns theory into practical skill, empowering teams to work in true partnership and strengthening the human end of the leash.

Your support makes this mission possible.
Every donation helps provide critical training to law enforcement, military, search and rescue, and other K9 teams who rely on these skills to save lives, excel in their disciplines, serve their communities, and enjoy partnering with their dog.

Please consider donating today and investing in safer, more effective K9 teams.

https://go.levitate.ai/?s=5befIrQS3c&source=donationSurvey