What We Do
We Train The Human End Of The Leash.
What We Do
We Train The Human End Of The Leash.
What We Do
We Train The Human End Of The Leash.
What We Do
We Train The Human End Of The Leash.
K9Research & Training Complex
Synergizing The Lab & The Field
Set on 520 acres in Iowa, The K9Sensus Education and Research Complex (ERC) provides extensive opportunities for training. Whether it be night operations or trainer interaction with a variety of animal species, the site will expand trainers’ understanding of learning processes and behavior.
Our Great Honor
K9Sensus
Detection Dog Trainer Academy for
Water Leak Detection
DDTA-WLD is a vocational training program that develops canine teams to do some of the most important water-conservation work there is — narrowing the location of potential leaks, and keeping water already pumped, treated, and paid for from vanishing underground.
The Cost of Non-Revenue Water
The U.S. loses roughly 6 billion gallons of treated water every day to leaks — about 2.1 trillion gallons a year.
That's enough water to serve more than 19 million American households for a full year.
Every drop was already pumped, treated, and disinfected before it disappeared underground.
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Designed to develop a team
Water leak detection isn't one skill, and not every learner arrives at it from the same place. The K9Sensus DDTA Water Leak Detection program meets you where you are with three pathways: Novice, for handlers stepping in with a green dog or a pre-trained partner; Intermediate, for trainers ready to build their own WLD dog from the ground up and prepare to certify; and Advanced, for detection professionals adding WLD to an existing practice and running deployments.
Every pathway is delivered through our official educational partnership with K9 Water Leak Detection University and built around the K9 Pipeline Detection Association standard — so wherever you start, you and your dog are working toward the same defensible benchmark and a career.
Pathway 1
This Pathway is designed for those seeking to enter the field of detection. For handlers stepping into WLD with a green dog, or a pre-trained partner, and those with very little dog-training or detection experience. This pathway is designed to provide you with the skills you need to maintain or develop your canine.
Pathway 2
This Pathway is designed for dog trainers with several years of experience who want to move into water leak detection.
Pathway 3
For multi-year detection professionals branching into water-leak detection, You will use the same skills, and it is meant to provide a common language for us all to speak!
Our Partners
The K9 Pipeline Detection Association (K9PDA) is the membership and certification body for canine teams working in water infrastructure detection. The organization exists to set training and certification standards for water-leak-detection K9 teams, maintain a public registry of certified teams, provide continuing education, and give utilities and water districts a credible, neutral path to verified canine resources.
K9 Water Leak Detection University is committed to shaping the future of water conservation through partnerships and education. By bringing together the unmatched sniffing abilities of canines, the dedication of their handlers, and the expertise of water operators and government agencies, we ensure that no leak goes unnoticed and no community is left without support.
K9Sensus is the preferred education partner for Water Leak Detection.
About Your Instructor
I started my career in 2001 as a SAR volunteer with a border collie puppy I wanted to train. As someone who has never trained a working dog, I spent hours scouring websites, reading books, and consuming significant resources by attending seminars and traveling to train. I remember the frustration of not being able to find a comprehensive resource that could help me, a working professional who wants to train my detection dog to a high level, achieve my goal.
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Water leak detection is a fascinating discipline and has allowed me to take my extensive experience with all the other detection disciplines I have worked and synthesize it to deliver this targeted material.
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Please reach out with any questions you may have about the Academy. I look forward to hearing from you.
Education & Experience
University Education & Professional Designations
Iowa State University - Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Community and Regional Planning, Bachelor of Science
Scandinavian Working Dog Institute Master Trainer Program Completion
International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach
Instructor Credentials
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- Adjunct Instructor, Canine Search Specialist Course
Iowa State University Animal Science 101 - Guest Lecturer
Alliance for Emergency Response Instructors and Examiners (AERIE) -- Managing Land Search Operations
National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) -- Managing Land Search Operations
Teaching in a Community College Environment Course
Certification Evaluator/Assessor Credentials
FEMA Evaluator - Live Find and Human Remains Detection Disaster Dogs
American Rescue Dog Association (ARDA) - Evaluator, Land Human Remains Detection
NASAR - Lead Evaluator Canine Area Search/Trailing Type I, II, and III, HRD, Disaster and Disaster Human Remains
AERIE - Chief Examiner and Mentor for K9 - Area Search, Trailing, Disaster, Disaster HRD, Land HRD
Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States (SARDUS) - Lead Evaluator Canine Area Search, HRD and Disaster
Canine Handler Certifications
K9PDA - Water Leak Detection (K9's Flare and Flash)
FEMA Live Find (K9 Moses) and Human Remains Detection (K9's Niko, Ruby, and Rae)
NASAR - Live Find (K9's Moses and Talyn) and Human Remains Detection (K9's Talyn and Rae)
ARDA - Human Remains Detection (K9 Niko)
AERIE - Human Remains Detection (K9 Niko)
SARDUS - Human Remains Detection (K9's Ruby and Talyn)
Network of Canine Detection Services (NOCDS) - Human Remains Detection Water Search (K9 Niko) and Land Human Remains Detection (K9 Talyn)
United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) - Explosives (K9 Dash), Narcotics (K9 Ember and Flare), and Firearms (K9 Flash)
National Police Canine Association (NPCA) - Explosives (K9 Dash) and Narcotics (K9's Ember and Rae)
National Narcotic Detector Dog Association (NNDDA) - Explosives (K9 Dash)
Current Boards
Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science | NIST - Affiliate of the Dogs and Sensors Scientific Area Subcommittee
American Academy of Forensic Science - Dogs and Sensors Consensus Body Subject Matter Expert