N/A

This is Ken Ramirez. He's Executive Vice President and Chief Training Officer for Care and Prior Clicker Training. He's a biologist, a behaviorist, and a trainer of animal trainers. He does it all. He says his job is to help people understand the science behind animal training and especially odor detection training.

Which makes sense, though I imagine it's hard to do in practice.

Which makes sense, though I imagine it's hard to do in practice.

Which makes sense, though I imagine it's hard to do in practice.

Yeah, Ken says trainers have to be really careful that they don't, like, always leave their human scent on training materials, for example. This was exactly why Colette was so nervous the first time she and Jack went out looking for wild whale scat. Because Jack was going to have to make this connection all on his own.

Yeah, Ken says trainers have to be really careful that they don't, like, always leave their human scent on training materials, for example. This was exactly why Colette was so nervous the first time she and Jack went out looking for wild whale scat. Because Jack was going to have to make this connection all on his own.

Yeah, Ken says trainers have to be really careful that they don't, like, always leave their human scent on training materials, for example. This was exactly why Colette was so nervous the first time she and Jack went out looking for wild whale scat. Because Jack was going to have to make this connection all on his own.

That what he was supposed to find wouldn't have other smells from the training scat, like Colette's smell or the Tupperware container.

That what he was supposed to find wouldn't have other smells from the training scat, like Colette's smell or the Tupperware container.

That what he was supposed to find wouldn't have other smells from the training scat, like Colette's smell or the Tupperware container.

Oh, but he did it. I mean, Jack, he made that cognitive smell-o-vision leap all on his own. He did. Even knowing how good a dog's nose is, though, it is astonishing. And it just sounds like a lot of coordination on Jack and Colette's parts.

Oh, but he did it. I mean, Jack, he made that cognitive smell-o-vision leap all on his own. He did. Even knowing how good a dog's nose is, though, it is astonishing. And it just sounds like a lot of coordination on Jack and Colette's parts.

Oh, but he did it. I mean, Jack, he made that cognitive smell-o-vision leap all on his own. He did. Even knowing how good a dog's nose is, though, it is astonishing. And it just sounds like a lot of coordination on Jack and Colette's parts.

It really is. And that's where this other component comes in, which is trust. Both Colette and Ken told me that these types of projects work because of the unique human-dog relationship that can form when it's built on trust, which is ultimately what Colette had to rely on when she was out in the boat with Jack.

It really is. And that's where this other component comes in, which is trust. Both Colette and Ken told me that these types of projects work because of the unique human-dog relationship that can form when it's built on trust, which is ultimately what Colette had to rely on when she was out in the boat with Jack.

It really is. And that's where this other component comes in, which is trust. Both Colette and Ken told me that these types of projects work because of the unique human-dog relationship that can form when it's built on trust, which is ultimately what Colette had to rely on when she was out in the boat with Jack.

We love a conservation success story. We do. Tell me about what other projects conservation dogs are working on.

We love a conservation success story. We do. Tell me about what other projects conservation dogs are working on.

We love a conservation success story. We do. Tell me about what other projects conservation dogs are working on.

Yeah. Ken Ramirez actually told me about his project relocating sea turtle eggs after an oil spill. He got this small team of dogs and handlers together to locate buried eggs on the beach so people could move them before they hatched and swam into the oil spill. Dogs are sniffing out beetle-infested wood and cryptic endangered stoneflies.