Our Dogs

Selected for their ability and willingness to work, and, with training, to maintain focus when subjected to a variety of stressful or tempting distractions, WDC dogs are trained using modified narcotic, forensic, and search and rescue techniques. WDC trainers condition dogs to associate the odor of a target object with a highly-prized reward. Initially, dogs are chosen for their intense focus on a toy or food that is subsequently used as a reward. Selected dogs are at least one year old have a balance of proper hunt and prey drives, easily adapt to new environments and distractions and be willing to work intimately with their handlers.

We look for extremely high energy dogs that have an obsessive play drive and an unrelenting toy focus, making these dogs difficult, if not impossible, to keep in a family home. In fact, many of the dogs used for conservation work by WDC are rescued from shelters. As such, we work to educate shelter staff on the characteristics WDC needs in a dog is an important first step in the labor-intensive process of assessing, training and eventually putting a dog to work

Meet Ours:

Camas

German Shepherd,
went from crazy pup to a highly accomplished WDC conservation dog,
one of the three WDC founding dogs.

Likes
Searching for anything,
Relentlessly bringing small objects like pine needles, blades of grass or dust bunnies and placing them in anyone’s lap.

Famous for
Finding 90 San Joaquin kit fox scats in less than 4 hours,
thinking she’s hilarious.

Tsavo

German Shepherd
Changed careers, going from a world-class Schutzhund competition dog in-training to a world- class conservation dog all before his third birthday

Likes
Searching for rare and invasive plants,
beer.

Famous for
Wishing he was a lap dog,
hoping for chickens to some day be among the things that conservation dogs get to find.

Colt

Australian Shepherd
Specializes in differentiating between scents of a variety of species, and in using his “cuteness factor” to his advantage.

Likes
Repetition. Again and again.  Over and over.  The same exercise (yea!),
Squeaky toys,
Soft, cozy dog beds.

Famous For
Running super fast, learning super quick,
Moonlighting as a dog hero, saving lives and property, while remaining committed to his day job.

Wicket

Black lab mix,
Adopted from Pintler Pets in Anaconda, Montana.

Likes
Searching for scat,
playing with balls,
chasing water from the hose.

Famous for
Going to work after just 9 weeks of training,
finding 52 scats in a single day.

Pepin

Belgian malinois,
went from psycho puppy to psycho working dog, while being ridden by small child.

Likes
Tugging. Tugging. Tugging. Tugging. Fetching. Fetching. Fetching. Fetching. Swimming. Shedding,
sleeping on his back.

Famous for
Standing still while thousands of people pet and poke at him,
having perfect recall and being the most willing to obey dog ever.

Tia

German Shepherd,
Raised and trained specifically to be a conservation dog.

Likes
Searching for invasive snails in Hawaii and kit fox scat in California,
Riding in the truck and listening to Pearl Jam - really LOUD,
Hanging out with her three cats.

Famous for
Her enthusiasm for food,
Smiling constantly.

In training:

Orbee

Border Collie cross,
Adopted from the Humane Society in Dillon, Mont.,
Went from unemployed ranch dog to highly employed conservation dog in a few short months.

Likes
Searching for scat - grizzly bear, fisher, wolverine, wolf and lynx,
Rolling rocks with his nose over long distances for hours,
Sucking up to anyone who looks like they might throw something for him.

Famous for
Setting land speed records when finding scents and learning new ones,
learning faster than trainers can teach him.

Retired Dogs…

Rio