Kiinii came to us from the Lassen County Animal Shelter, which took him in after a good Samaritan found him wandering nearby. At the shelter, staff saw that Kiinii loved playing with any and all toys—a key characteristic SDF seeks in potential recruits. Noting this toy obsession, the shelter reached out to SDF’s Canine Recruitment team and arranged for Kiinii to be evaluated for our program. Soon after, he hopped aboard a flight with our transportation partners at Angel Flight West and made his way to SDF’s National Training Center to begin his working dog journey!
At SDF, Kiinii’s playful personality charmed trainers, who quickly became his favorite playmates with whom he would retrieve and tug, jumping with excitement when presenting his beloved toys to them. But while he approached toy play wholeheartedly, Kiinii was less enthusiastic about the rubble pile when introduced during training. A tactile aversion to rubble isn’t uncommon for dogs, but while some dogs overcome it with encouragement and confidence-building, Kiinii’s discomfort with rubble remained steadfast.
Still, we knew Kiinii had working dog potential. He’s smart, driven, and loves to learn—he just needed to find the right fit! With Kiinii’s preferences and personality in mind, our Canine Placement team got to work searching for a job where he could thrive.
Thankfully, our friends and career change partners at Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C) were willing to give this special boy a chance. Kiinii headed to Montana to try his paw at conservation detection and was partnered with Souta Calling Last, the Founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Vision, an educational nonprofit working to revitalize Indigenous communities by providing them with educational resources that promote well-being. Souta gave Kiinii his name, which means “one who wears necklaces.”
Kiinii thrived in his conservation detection training, and in summer 2024, he and Souta embarked on their first project together, tasked with checking boats for Zebra mussels. These invasive species enter waterways via watercraft, threatening aquatic ecosystems. Luckily, Kiinii is on the job, his nose capable of detecting even the slightest trace of Zebra mussels, including organisms invisible to the naked eye! Thanks to Kiinii’s keen scenting abilities, boaters can enter the water with peace of mind knowing their waterways are well-protected from these invasive bivalves, ensuring Montana’s beautiful lakes and rivers remain healthy and can be enjoyed for generations to come.
We are thrilled to see Kiinii thriving in his dream job with the Indigenous Vision and WD4C teams, and proud of the important work he and Souta are doing together to help preserve and protect our planet’s ecosystems, one sniff at a time! We can’t wait to see what projects they take on next!
Click here to learn more about our Canine Placement Program!