Dog Blog Issue Eleven

When only the best is good enough

Percentages matter. They certainly do when it comes to cancer detection. People who are mis-diagnosed face invasive procedures that they don’t need with sometimes nasty complications; or worse, they don’t get treatment until their symptoms are so obvious it’s far too late.

For K9MD, from recording training data, to internal assessments to independently reviewed validations , percentages matter. Our trainers have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours bringing their dogs to this point – the chance to show to the world how consistent and accurate K9MD dogs are in detecting and alerting to cancerous samples. The percentage is important to them, because it matters.

Steve White turns it up

The work of the K9MD canine team and their trainers in detecting and indicating positive cancer samples is peer reviewed remotely by Steve White, an internationally renowned canine scent detection specialist based in the United States. Steve’s oversight of K9MD canine training with medical samples ensures K9MD is at the highest international standard which in turn secures the ultimate diagnostic test. As such, Steve’s input has been invaluable to K9MD’s work. To push the K9MD team of trainers and dogs to higher degrees of excellence, we invited Steve to visit New Zealand and spend a week at the K9 Medical Detection facility. This was an important opportunity for the K9MD teams to gain valuable one-on-one training and education, for Steve to look at how K9MD might improve our training methods and practices, and for him to share his extensive experience and knowledge with the team.

 Steve is a Seattle-based, highly sought after dog trainer with worldwide experience, and particular expertise in scent dogs. He has been accredited as a Master Trainer by the Washington State Police Canine Association since 1993 and, as well as running his own working dog training company, now instructs at seminars around the world. He has also published articles in respected K9 dog training journals worldwide.

Steve is uniquely qualified to conduct K9 unit audits, and works with K9 search and rescue teams, military and law enforcement and civilian working dog teams through his training company, ProActive K9. He specialises in teaching behaviour modification and scent work using positive reinforcement based operant conditioning and offers training on a systematic approach to reading scenting dog behaviour. Steve helps working dog teams maximize their efficiency and effectiveness through one-on-one consultation and group training that not only teaches techniques, but the scientific principles that underlie them. With a thorough understanding of these principles handlers and trainers are prepared to develop, modify, and improve their own techniques. Steve’s auditing processes help working dog teams achieve excellence through constructive feedback.

During his visit, Steve worked closely with the training team and assessed K9MD’s cancer detection processes, including the software systems used to record patient data and diagnostic test results.

When asked by a reporter about K9MD he said “No-one else in the world was doing the kind of work to the standard that is being done here. This particular organisation is the most sophisticated that I’ve seen of anyone trying to do this sort of work. It’s absolutely exciting to see. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a highlight moment for me in a career that spans almost 50 years.”

When an expert of Steve White’s calibre says you’re the best at what you do, of anyone in this field, it’s like winning gold at the Olympics.