Search dogs help save lives every day all across our country, but have you ever wondered how these remarkable animals learn to do what they do?

Many of us raise working dogs as pets, without realizing the mismatch. I didn’t set out to raise a working dog but that changed when I met Mick, a pup from California’s rural ranchlands.

A few special working dogs go above and beyond, providing specific help for some of life’s toughest challenges.

Among the many types of dogs who share our lives, those now known as working dogs stand out for their intelligence, strength, vigilance, and unwavering loyalty.

On a recent trip to Alaska, a client and I found ourselves stuck. Denali National Park was experiencing its first forest fire in over a century.

Hours or days after someone has gone missing, the trailing K9 may be given an inconsistent, patchy, messy scent trail and asked to follow it. As you can imagine, it is super challenging work.

This is a story about one dog who sparked an idea and another whose expert sniffing led to a medical breakthrough that today helps thousands of people worldwide.

As part of this unique program at Paws for Purple Hearts, the dogs themselves even have a say in determining their own paths to becoming assistance dogs.

Here in California, the CARDA dog handlers work with a wide variety of breeds, but there are also some you might not think of as typical for this line of work.

Did you know that Take Your Dog To Work Day was invented by Pet Sitters International in 1999?

Dog sports can be as simple as a weekend hobby or as serious as any career.

When most people think of working dogs, they think of police dogs, military dogs, search and rescue dogs, detection dogs, hunting dogs, and dogs trained in protection work. In other words, dogs with an important job title.

I’m also a professional dog trainer, it won’t surprise you that I love to see a sniffer dog working at the airport.

Forget those old timey paintings of Dalmations riding to fires on horse drawn carriages, their ears flapping in the breeze. Modern canines have a much more important role in today’s fire service.

In the last days of December 2017, California firefighters faced not just the unrelenting exhaustion of fighting the state’s largest-ever wildfire for weeks without a break, but the grief of losing one of their own.

Skilled medical-alert service dogs can make a profound difference in the lives of people with diabetes - sometimes the difference between life or death.

Imagine not being able to pick up a set of keys, open a door, or carry a bag of groceries without asking for help from family, friends, or paid caregivers.