Origin Story:

Walnut came to SCENTdog Collective from the National Search Dog Foundation in Santa Paula, CA. He was donated to NSDF as a Search and Rescue candidate by his breeder on the East Coast, along with the rest of his litter specifically bred for SAR. Unlike many of his siblings, it turned out that Walnut was not a fan of working rubble piles and a career in SAR was not on his list of things to accomplish.

His potential to work as a conservation canine was clear due to his strong toy drive and social demeanor. SCENTdog Collective was notified and Walnut was evaluated and brought in. He spent several months training for work at wind farms as an avian and bat fatality detection dog. He was close to deployment and in his "burn-in" phase when Walnut made it very clear that this was not, in fact, his jam. The tough decision was made to find a more appropriate place for Walnut to find his way and use his talents.

Walnut was adopted into a highly active sporting home in California. There, he has proven himself a stellar competitive Nose Work dog and has the added benefit of getting to work as a part-time conservation dog with the first ever Western pond turtle volunteer detection teams for the National Park Service. Walnut enjoys spending time with his new owner as well as the company of Labrador Emerson and Golden Retriever Lainey. They attend Nose Work classes, compete in Nose Work trials and events, play at dock diving, and generally have a great time.