The Working Dog Depot Podcast
Created and hosted by Howard Young and Rich Hardin with the aim of exploring the working dog world. We share unique experiences, training advice and real-world application garnered from today’s most prolific handlers, trainers, and behaviorists.Would you like to become a better, handler, trainer or just all-around dog person? We interview the experts that take your performance to the next level.This podcast is a collaborative effort between Howard, Rich, and our incredibly talented guests. If you would like to participate in our collective community, please feel free to visit our Facebook or Instagram accounts.
Episode #64 Paul Orcutt "Semper Gumby"
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Paul ’s canine passion started at the age of 6 years old. That passion for Police Canine work was instilled by Paul’s Grandfather who was a Police officer.
Mr. Orcutt spent ten years active duty in United States Marine Corps and served in the First Gulf War and later in the Somalia conflict. After leaving the Corps Paul was hired as a contractor to perform work for the Central Intelligence Agency as a K9 Handler / Trainer for a Classified Clandestine K9 Program . While in performance of his duties Paul has trained with...
Episode #63 Joris Kerckhof "Every Day is Leg Day".
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The thin blue line across the pond — from the Belgian Federal Police Dog Support Unit, through New York in 2011 with a gold medal at the World Police Games, to becoming a Texas‑commissioned peace officer and leading Belgium’s Finest Canine, where every day is leg day.
For more than 20 years I served in the military, private security and federal police and developed an intimate knowledge in canine operations from puppy to retirement during that time.
From detection services to crowd control and tactical operations we have been and are confid...
Episode #62 Julie Case "Ultimate Canine Training"
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Admittedly we didn't know that much about Julie before the interview. She came highly recommended to us by a gentleman we hold in high regard. She's a wealth of information and her journey is inspirational. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
Julie Case started Ultimate Canine LLC in 2012, but she has been training dogs for over 27 years. In fact, she was born into a family of dog trainers with parents who raised, trained, and competed with dogs in Europe and Russia. Julie began competing with dogs, showing a...
Episode #61 Daryl Gaunt Paraclete K9
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Daryl Gaunt began working with dogs by decoying for Inglewood PD in 1978. He also worked with the Los Angeles Schutzhund Club where he held the position of Vice President and Assistant Training Director. He then enlisted into the Army for eight years and was a military dog handler for four years. He worked as a Deputy Sheriff for Los Angeles County from 1991 to 2020 and was assigned to the Special Enforcement Bureau canine unit from 2003 until his retirement. He was a unit trainer since 2005 where he helped establish their Tactical K9 school. During his t...
Episode #60 - Ron Cloward of Top Dog Police K9 Training and Consulting
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Ron Cloward is a retired Lieutenant with the Modesto Police Department in California, bringing more than 35 years of experience in law enforcement and nearly 21,000 hours of K-9 training.
During his 26-year police career, he handled three patrol dogs and, along with his final partner, Pele, earned Top Dog and Top Competitor honors in 1997. After being promoted to Sergeant in 2000, he became trainer for Modesto PD’s 14-team K-9 unit. Following his promotion to Lieutenant in 2005, he assumed command of the unit while continuing to serve as its trainer until re...
Episode #59 Brent Verner "Stellen means go have a good time"
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On this episode, Rich and I had a great conversation with Brent Verner. In my book, Brent is one of the unsung heroes. I asked for a brief biography and the several sentence segment below is what he sent. No fluff - just the facts, but there's so much more! In any occupation or industry, there are folks who talk a big game and then there are folks who have been there and done that. Brent has done all that and then some. I feel confident that you'll find his lack of ego...
Episode #58 The real "Arod" Antonio Rodriguez Oro K9 Services
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Antonio is a 20-year retired combat veteran of the United States Air Force. He completed his career in the Air Force as a Military Working Dog (MWD) program manager for twelve military units. His highlights while on active duty include being hand-picked as a Department of Defense MWD trainer, kennel master, unit trainer, pre-deployment senior instructor, and special tactics member/instructor.
After retiring in 2013, Antonio was employed by various private security firms supporting U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. State Department domestic and international security co...
Episode #58 The return of Antonio "Arod" Rodriguez
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Antonio is a 20-year retired combat veteran of the United States Air Force. He completed his career in the Air Force as a Military Working Dog (MWD) program manager for twelve military units. His highlights while on active duty include being hand-picked as a Department of Defense MWD trainer, kennel master, unit trainer, pre-deployment senior instructor, and special tactics member/instructor.
After retiring in 2013, Antonio was employed by various private security firms supporting U.S. Treasury Department and U.S. State Department domestic and international security co...
Episode #57 Gary Hadden "Got fentanyl"
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Officer Gary Hadden is currently a Criminal Interdiction Unit K9 handler and Trainer for the Indianapolis Metro Police Department and is also a Task Force Officer for Homeland Security Investigations. Officer Hadden started his career in Broward County Florida in 1990 and became a K9 handler in 1995. Hadden has worked many interdiction details in South Florida, including the Blue Lightning Task Force, Multi-jurisdictional counter drug task force and Broward County Pipe-Line Task Force. Hadden has worked multiple canines (Patrol, Narcotics and Bomb) over his twenty-nine-year k9 career and has been on thousands of deployments...
Episode #56 Simon Prins "Ask the curious questions"
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Simon Prins
Simon is a specialist in animal behavior and training, with over 25 years experience of handling and training dogs for police and military operations. His ground-breaking work lies at the intersection of robotics, sensors, and canine abilities, contributing to remarkable success in a wide range of missions.
He has trained a multitude of dogs and handlers from special units across the world, rooted in his firm belief that science can significantly enhance our interactions and work with animals.
He became a patrol dog handler af...
Episode #55 Ken Pavlick Pacific Coast K9
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Pacific Coast K9 started operations in May 2004 and specializes in exceptional high drive sporting breeds for detection work. We train and sell approximately 120 dogs per year, with the majority of those being Labradors for single purpose detection work (narcotics, explosives, currency, arson, cadaver, etc.). Our many satisfied long-term clients include the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Canada Customs (CBSA), Washington State Patrol, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P), MSA Security, as well as multiple police departments, co...
Episode #54 Nic Fontaine Kilo III "Veteran Voices from the K9 Front Lines"
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You can't help but take an immediate liking to Nic. He's humble and passionate about working dogs and helping handlers. As we celebrate our third season we couldn't have had a better guest on the show. We got to sit down with Nic at the ATK9 conference and hear his story. Clearly there are things Nic couldn't share with us, but his story is special and we are so appreciative for what he has done.
NAME: NIC FONTAINE
BIO: Currently owner operator of KILO III, LLC www.kiloIII.com and 3 r...
Episode #53 Mark Connolly K9 Command "Old Dogs Up To New Tricks"
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Mark Connolly K9 Command
A dedicated law enforcement officer with a deep passion for K9 work, Mark reentered law enforcement and is currently serving as a Police K9 Handler with his agency. With years of experience, he continues to bring his expertise in training and handling working dogs.
A former Police K9 Handler and K9 Training Director for multiple departments, Mark has handled a wide range of working dogs throughout his career. He is currently handling his fifth police dog and continues to make significant contributions to h...
Episode #52 Robin Greubel "Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior"
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Robin has been involved in detection work since 2001, beginning in wilderness and human remains detection (HRD), which expanded into disaster work. She trains and deploys with Nebraska Task Force 1 and Iowa Task Force 1. She is a certified explosives and narcotics detection dog handler.
Robin also works at the nexus of academia and business, managing people and relationships from both sides of the table. Whether working with small business, tier 1 research institutions or fortune 500 companies, she found common ground, allowing both sides to achieve their goals.
Her focused education in behavi...
Episode #51 Ken Mathias "NC Malinois Trailblazer" Part 1.
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I've known of the gentleman in this episode for over 30 years, but just actually met him face to face around 6 months ago. Ken is one of the pioneers as it relates to working k9's in the state of North Carolina. It is likely that he introduced the Malinois to police work in NC. The description below does not come close to describing his accomplishments or contributions to the police K9 community. If you don't know his name there's a good reason. From my perspective Ken doesn't have a huge social media footprint...
Episode #50 Reflection and revisiting detection and tracking
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No special guest for episode #50. We reflected on the previous 49 episodes and discussed changes that we have made to our detection and tracking. Some of these changes came from ideas from some of our guests. Some of these changes have proven to be very helpful with certain dogs, but the one constant is that they are not all the same. What works particularly well for one dog may not work so well for the next. So, as we have said many times on the podcast you have to train the dog in front...
Episode #49 Tony Pallotta "A persons ability to learn is based on your ability to teach"
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We truly enjoyed interviewing Tony. There will likely be a second episode. After listening to this one we know you'll see why we need to have him on again. Lots of subjects were covered in a slightly longer episode than normal.
Tony Pallotta started training dogs in 1993, with over 25 years of experience thus far, his knowledge and experience has made him a leader within his industry. Like most it is not uncommon he started out in obedience training and found within him the passion and desire to learn, absorb and to b...
Episode #48 Bill Gaskins Integrity Noseworx
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We have been truly blessed to have had some really great guests. We feel confident that you will enjoy our conversation with Bill Gaskins. Such a humble, knowledgable, gentleman with an impressive resume.
Bill Gaskins
US Air Force Retired (21 Years) Law enforcement specialist/Military Working Dog (MWD) Handler of 10 dogs MWD Trainer: for 50 dog teams at 5 kennels MWD Kennel Master Program Manager for 2 Kennels MWD Instructor: 9 years 624 graduates MWD Course developer: 5 courses AKC Scent Work Judge #105203
* NACSW Judge
Education: MS in Education: Curriculum Development and Methods of Instructi...Episode #47 Steven Antommarchi Next Level K9 Texas
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Over the last 15 years, Steven Antommarchi has held the law enforcement titles of Patrol Officer, Canine Handler, Canine Supervisor, Canine Trainer, and Interim Chief of Police.
His first encounter with a K-9 team was in New York City on September 11, 2001. He witnessed a search and rescue K-9 team fighting through horrible conditions, while overcoming serious injury for the sake of saving lives. That encounter made such a profound impression on him that he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
15 years later, on July 7, 2016...
Episode #46 David Cohen: From Elite Jockey to Premier Dog Breeder and Trainer.
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From Elite Jockey to Premier Dog Breeder and Trainer
David Cohen’s journey from the racetrack to the forefront of elite dog breeding and training is a testament to his lifelong passion for animals, discipline, and excellence. As a professional jockey with over 20 years of experience, David built a reputation for precision, patience, and perseverance—qualities that have seamlessly translated into his success as a breeder and trainer.
As a Jockey
David has achieved over 1,800 career wins, earning accolades such as the 2018 Comeback Jockey of the Y...
Episode #45 Bob Ungurean and Fritz Vorderbrug "Pager to Iphone 6+"
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We've got a special interview with two fine gentlemen. They are each well accomplished, but have unique stories. They may seem like an unlikely pair to be collaborating with each other which makes this story unique. This is a special episode about redemption and seeing the good in people in spite of past misdeeds. It took some intestinal fortitude and careful consideration to come forward with this story. There's no hiding from it, but it's a whole different ball game to openly broadcast it. We're happy to know these gentleman and share their...
Episode #44 Steve Stoops "Man is Primary"
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Steve “Zane” Stoops spent the last 19 years as the Senior Combat Assault Dog Trainer (CAD) for the United States Joint Special Operations Command-JSOC, assigned to the 1st SFOD-D, located at Ft. Liberty, NC (retired January 2024.) He and a very small and exclusive group of Special Operators are innovators and developed many K9 training philosophies utilized today by the most elite SOF tactical working dog programs throughout the world. Steve actively handled these dogs in numerous combat situations facing fire fights, suicide bombers, and IEDs. A veteran of 14 combat deployments, Steve was also requested by a...
Episode #43 Jessie Owens-Wilder "Dogged Determination"
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I first met Jessie some 8 years ago when she payed her way into a decoy class that I was teaching. She immediately impressed me with her athleticism and enthusiasm. At that time, she was simply a young law enforcement officer with and intense desire to become a k9 handler. She did her due diligence to make herself a viable candidate for the job and was rewarded with the opportunity. On this episode, Jessie shares some of her journey. Like most journeys hers includes successes and hardships. There a many lessons to take away f...
Episode #42 Ben Rader of Rader K9 "Who has an original thought?"
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We have been after Ben for an interview for a good while. He is actually one of the first gentlemen we pursued when we began the podcast. It was in his best interest to wait until he had fully retired from the Army before we interviewed him. Ben is one of those guys that makes you feel glad he's on our side! If your old enough to remember the original GI Joe toys you'll be able to relate to this. Ben looks like the original GI Joe with live action hair. We hope y...
Episode #41 Paul Ludwig and JC Leblanc from ATK9
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Rich and I had a chat with two board members with ATK9. Paul Ludwig and JC Leblanc are both well known names in the working dog community. They provided pertinent information about the upcoming ATK9 conference in October. The number of world renowned instructors and format make this conference unique. Of course, there were many take aways as well as it relates to training. If you haven't registered for the conference don't wait. Thank you for taking the time to come back to our podcast time and again. Rich and I are humbled...
Episode #40 Josh Kirby "Kirby K9"
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It's especially rewarding for us to get an opportunity to interview a hard working man with integrity. That was certainly the feeling we had as we concluded the interview. Hope you all enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
Josh is a retired police officer after serving at Garland PD and Denton PD
in Texas since 2003. During that time Josh held positions as a field
training officer, firearms instructor, active shooter instructor, academy
instructor, K-9 handler, and K-9 instructor. Josh’s K-9 partners won
numerous awards, bot...
Episode #39 Rodney Spicer Gold Coast K9 "Perseverance"
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We had a great conversation with Rodney Spicer of Gold Coast K9. Rodney shared how he became interested in working dogs in the 1980's. He also shared his insights into puppy and working dog selection. Rodney's transparency about his meager beginnings is refreshing. The theme that stands out is perseverance. We know that you'll enjoy what he has to say and most definitely will be inspired by his story. Be looking for a part two with Rodney Sr and Rodney Jr.
Gold Coast began from one man’s love of dogs and deve...
Episode #38 Jay Nix "Stop arguing and go train dogs"
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We got the bugs worked out since the last episode and we were both able to participate. We both really enjoyed this episode and feel as though there are many great lessons to be learned. Hope you all enjoy the conversation and get some nuggets of wisdom or inspiration.
Jay Nix, is a Sergeant with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, in Florida, where he has served as an active-duty law enforcement officer since 2000. He started his K9 career in 2002 as a handler assigned to the patrol division K9 unit. During his...
Episode #37 Mike Lilley "Holding the dog accountable in tracking"
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Caught up with Mike Lilley for an interview. Unfortunately, Rich was having some technical difficulties and could not join us. We will be rectifying this by the next episode. I believe you will find Mike's methods to be innovative and sound. The proof is always in the pudding. His name is more and more becoming synonymous with solid tracking. He's just one of the more humble, pleasant, talented men in the business. Hope you enjoy this one as much as we did. There's a lot of information to unpack.
Training working d...
Episode #36 Hans Verbruggen Part 2. "Dogs don't make mistakes on purpose."
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Once again we got an opportunity to have a conversation with Hans about dog training. The first episode was very popular with our listeners. Many folks felt we just scratched the surface on a few key topics. So, in part two, we were able to dig a bit deeper. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.
Hans Verbruggen
Professional Dog trainer
I 've been living amongst dogs since my childhood. As a little boy I accompanied my brothers to the dog club. Very so...
Episode #35 Benito Olson
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BENITO OLSON began his naval career as a master-at-arms serving in Bahrain and Kingsville, Texas. His work with military dogs opened the opportunity of a lifetime to serve with SEAL Team Six for multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. He earned a reputation as a go-to handler for dogs at the tip of the spear and earned multiple decorations such as a Bronze Star with Valor and Purple Heart. After medical retirement from the navy, Olson started Patriot Dog Training for law enforcement, estate protection, and household pets.
Information on Lewis S...
Episode #34 Hans Verbruggen "When building the foundation fast is slower"
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We anticipate that you will enjoy this conversation as much as we did. There are already plans for a second episode. Hans uses many phrases that simply just resonated with us. Please listen intently as he has many important things to say and is wise beyond his years.
Hans Verbruggen
Professional Dog trainer
I 've been living amongst dogs since my childhood. As a little boy I accompanied my brothers to the dog club. Very soon those dogclubs became my ‘world’. Even if I didn’t know much at...
Episode #33 Jeff Meyer on the other side of the table.
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We got the opportunity to get Jeff on the other side of the table. You will find that he is a humble solid source of k9 information. He certainly helped play a role in unifying trainers in this industry. Those of us who have been around awhile remember a time when there wasn't much collaboration. The original Police K9 Magazine most definitely played a role in bringing trainers together. I think we can all agree that we are better unified than divided. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did...
Episode #32 Ted Summers "Marginal Legal Advice"
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Ted is a treasure trove of information when it comes to k9 caselaw. In a nut shell the court system dictates how k9's are utilized in this country. Decisions made by handlers should align with the prevailing laws. Additionally, LE agencies policies regarding k9 usages should align with the prevailing laws as well. If you are not a handler and have wondered why dogs are used in some situations and not others you may gain some insight from this episode. If you are a handler and not familiar with the cases sighted i...
Episode #31 Jerry "Phd in K9" Bradshaw.
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What a great conversation with Jerry Bradshaw. We got Jerry to stroll down memory lane at the beginning of the episode. He then dove deep into an explanation about "capping". For those of you who know Jerry or listen to his podcast "Controlled Aggression" he is a wealth of knowledge. Many folks will want to listen to this episode more than once. He has a lot of great ideas.
Jerry Bradshaw is Training Director & President of Tarheel Canine Training, Inc. in Sanford, North Carolina. Jerry has been training dogs f...
Episode #30 Phillipi "Mountain" Sanz "Artgerecht" fairness to the species.
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We think that you will see that Mountain is a teacher at heart and a wealth of knowledge. ENJOY!
Mountain was born in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 1985 and immigrated to the US when he was 4. His younger years were spent in Florida and eventually moved to Vermont his 8th grade year. Upon graduating, he took an athletic scholarship to compete in track and field at Lynchburg college, in Virginia. He did 2 years of premed before feeling a need to take break from his studies.
Mountain enlisted in the m...
Episode #29 Erik Good Utilizing the bark fence to create effective engagement.
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Both Rich and I feel that Erik is doing something special with the implementation of the bark fence. On this episode, he does a great job of describing how he uses it and what he expects the desired outcome to become. This is truly another tool to be added to your program as you seek to develop dogs that will engage with power and control.
Erik Good is currently a handler and the head K-9 Trainer at the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department. He is certified by the Florida Department of...
"Episode #28 Eddie "First in" Wescott
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We sat down with an old mutual friend and talked about a myriad of K9 related subjects. We discussed k9 tryouts, the vetting process, hairy deployments, the cyclical nature of things, as well as Eddie's K9 attic deployment system. You will be able to hear how passionate Eddie is about the device he developed and how it can save lives. First In K9 may ring a bell from k9 conferences such as Hits and Hold the Line K9 conference. Eddie currently works with all the K9 teams going through Vohne Licke's handler courses.
Episode #27 Doug Roller. The magic of off leash control, ecollars, k9 caselaw, stories, and more.
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Doug graciously allowed us to interview him and he came forward with some great information. Information that comes from experience working in the field for many years. This episode is chocked full of gold nuggets that handlers can put to use. We hope that you enjoy this one as much as we did.
Doug Roller was a Sergeant and Chief Trainer for the Los Angeles Police Departments
(LAPD) K-9 Platoon, Metropolitan Division for 17 years, until he retired in March of 2013. He is a nationally recognized expert in K-9 tactics, perimeter c...
Episode #26 Steven "Sway" Hueston and Steven Antommarchi from the Dogs of War Podcast.
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This was a joint episode with the guys from the Dogs of War Podcast. The DOW podcast just celebrated its third year. Steven "Sway" Hueston was instrumental in helping us get our podcast off the ground.
In this episode we talk about moral, social media, podcast growth, and creative venues for expanding your dog training business. Additionally, Steven Antommarchi shared some new regarding a study he has been involved in over the past three years. In a nut shell, the study involved the training of dogs to discriminate between hemp and ma...
