About Lauralea Oliver, CPDT-KA, CNWI
Lauralea is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Ecological Detection Dog Trainer and Handler and an International Speaker on canine scent work and scent detection dogs. Through the National Association of Canine Nose Work she is a Certified Nose Work Instructor®, Trial Judge and Certifying Official. Lauralea has made a career working of with dogs which began in 2000. Her years of experience include working with dogs in many environments and disciplines including shelter and rescue dogs, working dogs, sporting dogs and companion dogs.
Lauralea is the owner and operator of k9inSCENTive, LLC where the focus is on providing ecological scent detection dog training and ecological scent detection dog team services and ecological scent detection handler training. Through the business, Lauralea offers working dog evaluations, as well as dog behavior and training consultations for working scent detection and scent sport dogs.
Lauralea is deeply involved with the National Association of Canine Nose Work (NACSW®). She has been a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) since 2005. She is an active competitor in the sport with her personal dogs earning several titles over the years including Elite 3 and High In Trial placement awards.
In the professional canine scent detection field, Lauralea worked as the Lead Ecological Detection Dog Trainer and Handler for H.T. Harvey & Associates. From 2014-2019, Lauralea led the training of the Harvey Dogs for a wide variety of wildlife scent detection projects and directed the maintenance training for these working dogs to retain accuracy and efficiency. Lauralea was also responsible for training all new and current detection dog handlers. Currently, she acts as an on-call handler for H.T. Harvey providing ecological scent detection dog services for multiple projects and targets.
As a professional handler, Lauralea works her personally owned ecological scent detection dogs on multiple species including avian and bat fatality detection dogs. Her work includes projects training scent dogs to detect and survey for a wide variety of targets; California tiger salamanders, giant garter snakes, western pond turtles and their nests, and San Joaquin kit fox scat. Much of her recent work includes botanical targets including some of Arizona’s most rare plants; Pima pineapple cactus, Spiranthes orchids and multiple Pediocactus species. On the mycology front, her years of work training dogs to detect pathogenic Phytophthora fungi in native nursery plants in partnership with UC Berkeley’s Garbelotto Lab, is now being replicated in the UK. She contracts and partners with many different agencies and private clients including National Parks Service, US Fish and Wildlife, US Forest Service, USGS, private zoos, and botanical gardens in California and Arizona.
Lauralea has extensive experience in the animal shelter world having started down that path back in 1987 when she started out as a volunteer at a Florida shelter. Since then, she as worked with numerous private rescues and city shelters including work as the Behavior, Training & Enrichment Lead at Best Friends Animal Society – Los Angeles. While at Best Friends, she managed the Behavior Department as the Lead Dog Trainer for the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in Mission Hills and the NKLA Adoption Center in West Los Angeles. Her responsibilities included evaluating dogs and cats for transfer from the LA City shelters and guiding the adoptions of these pets from the Best Friends facility. She created and implemented all staff and volunteer animal handling protocols and training programs. In addition, she taught all on-site dog training classes in basic obedience, canine manners and K9 Nose Work® with shelter staff and volunteers. Lauralea was also called upon to provide training support to adopters and their families.
Heather Long, Associate Trainer and Handler
Heather grew up in Ohio, and like many girls in the Midwest grew up with a love of horses. She started working in stables at a young age. At the age of 12 she rescued and subsequently trained her first horse. Through high school and college Heather kept actively engaged in working with and training horses and continued to work at the same riding stable.
After graduating from college Heather moved to Southern California and began a career in the music business, holding different jobs in promotion and marketing. She continued to remain involved with animals, volunteering at animal rescue organizations and working as a volunteer zookeeper at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Since Heather’s parents were from Africa, Heather always had a keen interest in African wildlife and became involved in the conservation and care of endangered species. In 2001 she completed an Animal Husbandry and Training Program and began working as a studio animal trainer and animal keeper, working with all different species of animals.
After rescuing a young collie mix, Cash, who was severely anxious and under-socialized, Heather decided to give K9 Nosework a try to help build up his confidence. Nose work exposed Cash to new environments and objects in a fun, positive way, and Heather fell in love with the sport and all things scent work!
Heather joined Lauralea’s k9inSCENTive team as an Associate Trainer in early 2022 and is thrilled to be able to work in a field that combines her love of wildlife, nature and conservation with animal training. Heather is now an active ecological scent detection dog handler, having worked on two special projects in Arizona surveying for rare plants.
Jennie Keifer, Training Affiliate
Jennie was introduced to K9 Nose Work® in 2009, at the first Intro to Nose Work workshop held in Northern California. Before Nose Work, she did not appreciate her Golden Retriever’s intense desire to hunt critters, so was instantly hooked on the training as she channeled her dog’s instincts into a healthy and rewarding outlet for both of them. Jennie and Karlie went on to compete in the first 3 NACSW™ National Invitationals and qualified for the 2017 National Invitational. They also competed in the first Elite Division trial in Santa Rosa, CA in 2015. Jennie never dreamed that she and Karlie would go so far and grow so much as a team.
Jennie is a regular competitor in K9 Nose Work trials throughout the Western US with her two labradors and her golden retriever. Emerson is a few trials away from completing his Elite Championship, Lainey is just starting her Elite journey, and Walnut just completed his NW2 title.
Jennie is a full-time Certified Nose Work Instructor and works as part of the NACSW™ Trial Department. Jennie has been a Certifying Official for NACSW™ Trials since 2012 and is also a Trial Judge, Supervising Certifying Official, and a member of the Certifying Official Education Committee.
Over the past several years, Jennie has become actively involved in Wildlife Detection, training several dogs, including her own Labrador, Emerson, to find Coyote Scat. More recently, Jennie added another Labrador to her family, Walnut, who she has trained to find Western Pond Turtles. Jennie and Walnut volunteer their time for the National Parks Service in Northern CA searching for turtle nests.
