Foundations First gives you an inside look at six months of that process.
Follow along as Lauren Wendt of Momentum K9 raises Archie, an English Springer Spaniel, from 8 weeks to 8 months old with the goal of developing her for professional detection work.
Through weekly training videos and recorded discussions, you’ll see not just what Lauren trained, but how she thought about Archie’s development, made training decisions, adjusted when things didn’t go as planned, and built the foundations she wanted in place before asking for more advanced work.
Additionally you will get bonus content of Kayla Fratt, of K9 Conservationists, as she raises her Working Cocker Spaniel puppy, Skipper, for conservation detection work.
If you’re raising a future detection dog—or want to be better prepared for the next puppy that comes into your life—Foundations First gives you the opportunity to learn from the full developmental process, not just the finished result. Step inside six months of real training and take away ideas, questions, and strategies you can apply to your own working or performance dog.
There are six months of weekly training videos documenting nearly every aspect of Archie’s development.
You’ll see the easy sessions, the messy ones, the progress, the questions, and the changes in strategy that naturally happen as a puppy develops.
Rather than presenting puppy raising as a perfectly linear progression, Foundations First lets you watch the process unfold in real time.
You’ll also have access to the recordings from our live Zoom discussions, where we:
The live calls have ended, but the complete recordings are included. Many of the questions raised by participants are the same questions handlers encounter when raising their own working puppies.
Archie was being developed primarily with professional detection work in mind, and much of the course comes from my background in conservation detection.
But the foundations of a strong detection dog are not discipline-specific.
Whether your next puppy is destined for wilderness search and rescue, human remains detection, trailing, conservation work, explosives, narcotics, sport detection, or another scent-detection discipline, the larger questions remain remarkably similar:
How do we create a dog that wants to engage with us and the environment?
How do we develop reinforcement that will hold up when the work gets difficult?
How do we build confidence without removing every challenge?
How do we teach a puppy to think, persist, recover, and problem solve?
And how do we recognize when to help, when to change the training, and when to let the puppy figure something out?
Those are the questions Foundations First is designed to explore.
Across the course, we work on skills including:
Just as importantly, you’ll see how these pieces interact rather than treating each one as an isolated training exercise.
Foundations First is ultimately about more than raising one Springer Spaniel.
It is about becoming better prepared for your next working puppy.
Watching another trainer work through months of development gives you the opportunity to examine your own priorities, recognize gaps you may want to address differently next time, and develop a clearer picture of what you want your puppy to understand before the operational demands become more complicated.
You do not need to replicate Archie's training exactly.
The goal is to help you become better at deciding what your individual puppy needs, why it matters, and what to do next.
Raising an exceptional working partner takes intention, patience, and a lot of thoughtful training. It should also be a whole lot of fun.
Join us now and be part of the journey from the very first pawprints.
This course is packed with real-life foundations for raising a future detection dog. Together, we’ll cover:
Building engagement through food, toys, movement, and play
Developing strong reward systems and understanding toy preference
Using markers, reward placement, and delivery mechanics with intention
Teaching check-ins, hand targets, and other early communication skills
Helping a puppy explore unfamiliar environments with confidence
Using shaping, play, and carefully designed challenges to encourage persistence
Building frustration tolerance without creating unnecessary conflict
Learning when to help, when to change the problem, and when to let the puppy work through it
Developing cooperative tug, retrieve, and trade games
Understanding the difference between productive drive and excessive arousal
Building play that can later function as a powerful working reward
Teaching the puppy to move between excitement, thinking, and recovery
Introducing clicker and marker training
Teaching the puppy how to offer behavior and experiment
Developing positions, targets, pivots, backing, and other foundation behaviors
Using shaping to build confidence, creativity, and fluency in learning
Exposing a puppy to novelty without making socialization a checklist
Developing neutrality around people, dogs, wildlife, surfaces, sounds, and movement
Navigating new environments while maintaining confidence and curiosity
Helping the puppy learn that unfamiliar does not automatically mean important or threatening
Building early search behavior through food and toy searches
Encouraging independent exploration and persistence
Developing reinforcement procedures that support future detection work
Introducing location-specific markers and early indication behavior
Working through climbing, environmental challenges, and wildlife distractions
Developing coordination, balance, and body awareness through age-appropriate exercises
Using paw targets, pivots, backing, obstacles, and movement skills
Introducing fitness concepts without overloading a developing puppy
Helping the puppy become physically confident in varied environments
Introducing recalls, stays, platforms, and early position work
Teaching that reinforcement does not always require immediate action
Developing the ability to wait, disengage, and settle
Building the often-overlooked skill of simply doing nothing
Creating positive experiences around body handling and restraint
Introducing nail trims, muzzle training, and veterinary procedures
Building cooperation rather than relying solely on physical control
Preparing the puppy for the routine handling that comes with a working life
Crate and kennel comfort
Potty training and household routines
Managing a puppy in a multi-dog home
Creating enrichment without constantly producing stimulation
Establishing everyday habits that support, rather than compete with, future working behavior
Your future puppy will thank you!
