Working Dogs For Conservation Foundation

PARTNER WITH DETECTION DOGS TO FURTHER CONSERVATION. WD4C DOES THIS BY DEPLOYING DOGS ON CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH INITIATIVES WITH SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIPS, INNOVATION IN THE FIELD, AND MAINTAINING HIGH STANDARDS OF WORK AND CARE FOR OUR TEAM OF HIGHLY TRAINED DOGS.

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, WD4C HAS COLLABORATED WITH MANAGERS, RESEARCHERS, AND CONSERVATIONISTS TO DETECT NEARLY 40 SPECIES IN 18 STATES AND 16 COUNTRIES. MANY OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE BEEN GROUND-BREAKING WITHIN THE REALM OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY. WD4C PARTICIPATION AND CONTRIBUTIONS HAVE PROPELLED THE DISCIPLINE OF DETECTION DOGS FORWARD: FROM FINDING DIFFICULT AND NOVEL TARGETS LIKE A SUITE OF WIDE RANGING CARNIVORES, ILLEGAL WIRE SNARES, INVASIVE PLANTS AND INSECTS, SUBTERRANEAN ANIMALS, AND EVIDENCE OF INVASIVE FISH IN FRESHWATER STREAMS, TO WD4C'S GROUND-BREAKING WORK USING DOGS TO DETECT ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS IN FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS.WD4C ALSO SAVES DOGS. WE RECOGNIZE THAT MANY OF THE TRAITS THAT PREVENT DOGS BEING SUITABLE PETS SUCH AS REMARKABLY HIGH ENERGY AND TOY OBSESSION, CAN SIGNAL SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL TO BE A HIGHLY SKILLED DETECTION DOG. RECENT WD4C ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDE:--ALONGSIDE A PRESTIGIOUS GROUP OF PARTNERS, WE HAVE ENGAGED IN LONGSTANDING EFFORTS TO MONITOR SEVERAL ENDANGERED SPECIES ENDEMIC TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY OF CA. BACK IN 2011, OUR TEAMS FIRST ESTABLISHED THAT CONSERVATION DETECTION DOGS CAN BE TRAINED TO FIND THE TINY, CRYPTIC SCATS OF THE ENDANGERED BLUNT-NOSED LEOPARD LIZARD IN THE WILD. SINCE THEN, OUR DOGS HAVE FOUND HUNDREDS OF THESE SCATSWITH 89 OF THESE SMALL PIECES OF REPTILIAN EVIDENCE BEING FOUND IN A SINGLE SEASON AT ONE STUDY SITE ALONE! A 2020 PUBLICATION IN THE JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT SIMULTANEOUSLY DESCRIBES THE NEW GENETIC METHODOLOGY THAT WAS DEVELOPED TO GET SPECIES ID FROM WILD LIZARD SCATS AND THIS FIRST EVER PAIRING OF CONSERVATION DOG SURVEYS WITH NONIVASIVE GENETIC ANALYSIS. PLANS HAVE ALREADY BEEN CEMENTED FOR US TO CONTINUE MONITORING WORK IN 2021. --OUR DOGS HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO FIND BLACK AND GRIZZLY BEAR SCAT IN THE WILD LANDS OF MT, WHERE THEY ROAM LARGE DISTANCES. OUR DOGS ARE GATHERING INFORMATION ON WHERE THESE BEARS MIGHT BE MINGLING WITH BEARS FROM OTHER ECOSYSTEMS, PROVIDING GENETIC INFORMATION FROM SCATS WHICH CAN HELP MANAGERS BETTER UNDERSTAND THESE THREATENED POPULATIONS.--THIS PAST SUMMER OUR DOGS ASSISTED THE TETON COUNTY WEED AND PEST DISTRICT IN SEARCHING OVER 850 ACRES OF ISLAND HABITAT FOR THE ELUSIVE AND INVASIVE SALT CEDAR AND PERENNIAL PEPPERWOOD ALONG THE SNAKE RIVER IN WY. THESE SPECIES ARE DIFFICULT FOR HUMANS TO DETECT DUE TO LOW OCCURRENCE AND CAN FORM DENSE STANDS AND OUTCOMPETE NATIVE SPECIES. THANKS TO THE WD4C TEAM AND OUR PARTNERS, WE WERE ABLE TO DETECT 9 AREAS OF PERENNIAL PEPPERWEED INFESTATION, INCLUDING A LARGE ISLAND WHERE NO PLANTS HAD EVER BEEN PREVIOUSLY FOUND. --THE CONSERVATION DETECTION DOG, RUGER, CAME TO US FROM THE LEWIS & CLARK HUMANE SOCIETY IN MT. LIKE MANY RESCUE DOGS, WE DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT HIS EARLY LIFE, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT HE WAS THE ONLY DOG IN HIS LITTER TO SURVIVE PAST PUPPYHOOD. AS RUGER GREW, BOTH HIS TALENTS AND HIS CHALLENGES BECAME EVIDENT. WHILE THE CHALLENGES WERE SIGNIFICANT (WARINESS OF STRANGERS, SOME FEAR AGGRESSION, AND EVENTUALLY, BLINDNESS), WD4C SAW HIS POTENTIAL AND THE TALENTS WON OUT. RUGER BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST TWO CONSERVATION DOGS ON THE GROUND IN ZAMBIA, AND WITHIN MONTHS NEWS OF HIS SUCCESSES HAD SPREAD FAR AND WIDE. RUGER SADLY PASSED AWAY, BUT HIS MEMORY CARRIES ON. RUGER EXEMPLIFIES WD4C AND OUR VALUES. HIS TRAINING, CARE, AND HANDLING WERE UNIQUE TO HIM, BUT OUR EFFORTS PAID OFF. RUGER PUT HUNDREDS OF POACHERS OUT OF BUSINESS. RUGER WILL ALWAYS OCCUPY A SIGNIFICANT PLACE IN OUR HISTORY AND HEARTBECAUSE HE WAS UNIQUE, TALENTED, RISKY, AND HE SAVED A LOT OF WILDIFE. --LOOKING INTO NEXT YEAR, WEVE GOT EXCITING THINGS ON THE HORIZON, FROM DEEPENING OUR ROOTS IN MISSOULA, MT WITH VOLUNTEER DAYS, NEW CULTURAL CONNECTIONS, AND LOCALLY IMPORTANT WORK ON GRIZZLY BEARS AND BIGHORN SHEEP; TO BEING PART OF MONTANAS FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19 AND EXTENDING THOSE EFFORTS TO DISRUPT THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE WHERE THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS ORIGINATED. WE ARE PROUD TO BE A FORCE FOR GOOD AND TO SUPPORT THE PEOPLE, WILDLIFE, AND WILD PLACES THAT HAVE GIVEN US HOPE AND INSPIRATION DURING A HARD YEAR.