Conservation Dogs Collective

It's nasty hot this week in our home state of Wisconsin, so it's time for a little PSA about recognizing heat-related illness in dogs from University of Pennsylvania.

Recognizing heat-related illness in dogs | Penn Climate Insights Climate change is eliciting a record number of hot days and heat waves, thwarting outdoor activities, and amplifying risk for heat-related illness in dogs (Hall et al., 2021). Excess ambient heat and humidity overwhelm normal cooling mechanisms in dogs, a phenomenon that is amplified by exercise. Th...

🐾🐝 WANTED: BUMBLE BEE NEST SITES! 🐝🐾

It's officially bumble bee nest season, and Ernie & Betty White need your help! We are currently seeking active bumble bee nests to do some scent training with to prepare for the upcoming survey season.

🐝 If you have a wild, active bumble bee nest within a 45-minute commute of Milwaukee, WI please email me (Laura) with your information. Include the species of bumblebee if known (we can help with this), photos and/or videos, and any property information you are able to share. At the end of the season, once a nest is abandoned, we are also looking for nesting material to be used towards continued training of this amazing program.

🙌 Betty White and Ernie are in their 6th consecutive year of bumble bee nest surveys and are incredibly grateful for our amazing community of bumblebee partners, friends, and fans!

🤔 Have leads or questions? Drop them below or email me (Laura) at: [email protected].

A huge thank you to the Forest Preserve District of Will County, Illinois for helping us kick off our 2026 conservation detection season last week!

After an afternoon training session with some tagged turtles, Ernie & Betty White joined their team in the field to survey for ornate box turtles for a few days. The turtles were playing it coy (canine AND human searchers came up empty 😄) during our deployment, although the dogs did find a few areas of "stinky interest," that indicate the possibility of turtle presence. Regardless of the outcome, every data point collected matters and goes toward building a clearer picture for future monitoring of this species.

And the field had plenty of surprises to offer! We spotted several snakes (including a very cool hog-nosed snake), a wild turkey nest, and Ernie & Betty White flagged several potential early-season bumble bee nesting sites along the way, which meant they got to have a cheese party for a job well done!

So grateful for partners who care as deeply about this work as we do. Here's to a great season ahead! 🐢🐾