Our Team
Meet Our Dogs
K9 Newt
Newton Hoffmann-McConnell is a Fox Red Labrador Retriever from a Pointing Lab lineage of hunting dogs out of Radar Kennel in Ohio, USA. Newt came home with Kris and her husband as a puppy in 2019 and immediately began learning the sound of a training clicker means treats.
Enthusiastic and constantly aroused, Newt stood out from other puppies as a high-drive sniffing machine. We’ve been told that he has more drive than both bite-sport Malinois (a.k.a. Mal-i-gators) and the average police dog - and we believe it. Newt is happiest when working, and acts like a normal dog at home after a long day of searching rather than his normal over-the-top self. Food motivated but absolutely obsessed with retrieving, Newt would rather fetch than eat. He is also a constant licker with a nose that is particularly cold on your face.
Puppy April
Katalyst’s April Showers Bring Salamanders is our new prodigy and trainee. She comes from a Connecticut, USA kennel that specializes in working dogs for detection and agility, and she has siblings training to become police dogs, bomb dogs, narcotics dogs, airport security dogs, sport scent-work dogs, and agility dogs. April has amazing drive and but also an “offswitch” that makes her easy to live with.. We’re so glad Kate let us be part of this amazing family!
April is learning the basics of scent movement, searching increasingly large areas, building drive for a bumper (K9 Newt doesn’t like sharing the ball, so April gets this traditional hunting retriever tool instead), and tormenting her older brother whenever possible. She figured out what we were up to when Newt was learning to sniff out dropped GPS collars. She will eagerly grab these and prance around the yard with them if we don’t leash her after we hide them.
Meet Our Bipeds
Dr. Kristine Hoffmann
Kris is a herpetologist with a soft spot for Spotted Turtles and Mole Salamanders. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The University of Massachusetts, a Masters of Science in Wildlife Ecology & Conservation from the University of Florida, and a PhD and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Maine in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology.
Kris has worked as faculty for the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and St. Lawrence University, and as adjunct faculty at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Kris is an active member of the Conservation Dog Alliance and editor of Ecological Scent Detection
Bram McConnell
Bram is our kennel manager, web guru, and head chef. Bram has a degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Maine.