It is with great excitement that we announce that The Today Show will air a "pet detective" segment that will feature pet detectives trained and certified by Pet Hunters International.

In early February, producers went to Tulsa, Oklahoma to film Karin Goin of Seventh Scent Pet Detection (www.missingpetpi.com). Karin is a licensed private investigator who has been certified as a Missing Animal Response (MAR) Technician through Pet Hunters. Producers filmed Karin as she used her search dog to track a lost Chihuahua.

Next, producers flew to Fresno, California where they interviewed Pet Hunters founder, Kat Albrecht, to learn more about pet detectives, MAR search dogs, and PHI's training academy.

And finally, producers filmed Kat Albrecht instructing volunteer pet detective Susan Tiftick from Missing Pet Partnership (our nonprofit sister organization) as Susan used MAR specific scent search dog, Kody, to find a hidden snake. Kody even gave the snake a kiss at the end - something we hope does not get edited out!

We've held off on sending this issue of SCENT DETECTIVES until we knew the air date for the TODAY segment. But since this is a "filler" story that might not air for days or weeks, we've decided to send out this newsletter now. We will send out a special issue of SCENT DETECTIVES as soon as we are notified of the air date.

If you have any interest in becoming a pet detective, we suggest that you register ASAP for Pet Hunters International's Missing Animal Response Technician course. Once the Today Show segment airs, these "first come, first serve" seminars will likely sell out!

April 7th - 10th, 2006 --------------- Yosemite National Park (CA)
May 5th - 8th, 2006 ------------------ Orlando, FL
June 23rd - 26th, 2006 ------------- Dallas, TX
Oct 19th - 22nd, 2006 ---------------- Boston, MA

To register, visit our SEMINARS page.

This month, we will skip our book review in favor of sharing several tidbits of news that we thought you'd enjoy. Here's what's been happening around PHI:

** PHI-founder Kat Albrecht just completed her second book, "HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DOG TO LOCATE LOST PETS." This is a self published, spiral bound training manual that will be ready for shipment on April 1, 2006. You can place an advanced order (using PayPal) by going to the PHI web site PRODUCTS page.

** Pet Detective Karin Goin recently flew to JFK airport in New York City and used her search dog to pick up a scent and assist in the search for Vivi the missing Whippet. Although Vivi has not been recovered yet, there have been several significant sightings and the family has not given up hope. Good job Karin!

** Pet Detective Landa Coldiron (our featured PET DETECTIVE OF THE MONTH) recently obtained her "MAR Trailing Dog" certification on her bloodhound Ellie Mae. After spending over 18 months of training, Ellie Mae was able to pass a test that involved tracking a three-day old scent trail of a dog in an urban (residential) area, in the midst of distractions (including significant rain). Congratulations Landa and Ellie Mae!

** Pet Detective Millie Sharpe from Leicester, North Carolina (near Ashville) recently joined Pet Hunters and listed her pet detective services. Through her pet detective business "PAWSABILITIES", Millie and her bloodhound Sophie offer a variety of lost pet services, having helped recover lost pets in North Carolina, South Caroline, and Maryland.

** Missing Pet Partnership, the nonprofit "sister" organization to Pet Hunters International, is raffling off a Romantic Getaway for Two. Winners will receive dinner for two at the elegant five-star Elderberry House (pictured below) located 20 minutes south of Yosemite National Park in central California. You'll also receive one nights stay at the incredible Chateau de Sureau, located next door to the Elderberry House. Tickets are just $10.00 each and only 350 tickets will be sold. For more information and to order your tickets, visit the Missing Pet Partnership web site.

This month, we applaud pet detective Landa Coldiron with Lost Pet Detection (www.lostpetdetection.com) from Los Angeles, California for successfully establishing the direction of travel of a lost dog back in October. Landa attended a Pet Hunters MAR Technician course in Fresno, California in July 2005.

Although Landa obtained her MAR Technician certification in July, she has actually been training her bloodhound Ellie Mae to trail lost dogs for well over a year now. This team has already recovered both lost dogs and lost cats. Landa was recently featured in an issue of Spirit magazine, the airline magazine for South West Airlines. Here is the story of how the search for Nashwan went down, in Landa's own words:

CASE INFO:
Lost Dog/Siberian Husky Male (Nashwan)
Lost around midnight on 10/27/05
MAR Time: 2:00 p.m. on 10/28/05
12 years old
Friendly personality
No ID tag or microchip
Contractors left gate open
Scent conditions: 2:00 p.m. cloudy, misty, little breeze 60 degrees

SIGNIFICANT FACTORS:
This search took place in the very busy Melrose area located in West Los Angeles. There was lots of traffic, people, and outdoor cafes - not to mention unlimited directions that the missing dog could have traveled

DETAILS OF THE SEARCH
I scented Ellie Mae on dog's bedding. We had a great start! She took off down the drive to the left and circled around back towards Melrose. The owner, Gayle, was flanking me. Ellie Mae crossed a busy intersection and went South into a residential neighborhood. She was working very well! About 1/2 hr. into the trailing work, we were stopped by a well to do couple that asked what we were looking for. I told Ellie to "Wait" while Gayle gave them a flyer of Nashwan. The couple said that they had seen Nashwan earlier that morning, right along the route that Ellie Mae was tracking! This was very exciting news and a confirmation that Ellie Mae was correctly working the scent and had given us a correct Direction of Travel.

We continued to trail for about another 1/2 hour down into a huge park and back up to the same neighborhood until Ellie Mae eventually lost the scent. From there we did location checks, but we did not find Nashwan. Before I left, I told Gayle just where to place her flyers and fluorescent posters. The primary area that I instructed her to target with her posters was in the areas where Ellie Mae had tracked and the major intersections nearby.

DETAILS OF RECOVERY:
Gayle took my advice. She spent the rest of that evening saturating the area with flyers and posting giant, florescent posters in the area where Ellie Mae had tracked. That night, at around 11:00 p.m., Gayle called me with the exciting news. A couple who walked out of a Melrose cafe found Nashwan alone outside and took him home. They eventually noticed one of the posters that Gayle had placed in the area and were able to reunite Gayle and Nashwan.

The cafe, where they found Nashwan, was located right along where Ellie Mae had worked and in the area where she eventually lost the scent trail! GOOD JOB LANDA AND ELLIE MAE!!!