Penn Vet Working Dog Center

Penn Vet Working Dog Center Penn Vet Working Dog Center is a donor supported, research driven program focusing on improving the health and performance of detection dogs.
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The gaps in adequate information to care for and train detection dogs has led to the threefold mission of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center:

Research, Education & Implementation

Through research projects conducted at our Training Center, as well as in the field, we aim to acquire scientifically validated information that will drive advancements in the working dog. This includes the 9/11 Medical Su

rveillance Study and the AKC CAR Detection Dog DNA Bank. Dr. Otto and her staff travel to various teams and organizations across the country teaching Working Canine First Aid and Fitness & Conditioning. These classes are open to canine handlers, trainers and program managers responsible for the care and performance of working dogs. These classes, and others, are also offered at our Training Center in Philadelphia PA. What makes the Working Dog Center unique is that we strive to make this valuable new information we acquire on breeding, raising, training and caring for working dogs available to those who can put it in to practice. We share information through our website https://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/centers-laboratories/center/penn-vet-working-dog-center, and publications in scientific journals and popular press. To invest in our mission, visit https://bit.ly/3XceCjJ
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๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด. ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ. ๐˜œ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ดโ€™ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.

๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ/๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด (๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ) ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ด (๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด/๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜บ/๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ง), ๐˜ท๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด.

Dog of the Day: Dalton Dalton contributes his sniffing skills to the critical research underway at the PVWDC. He's a nat...
08/23/2026

Dog of the Day: Dalton

Dalton contributes his sniffing skills to the critical research underway at the PVWDC. He's a natural at representing the Center to the public and has recently served as one of our "camp dogs" for Canine Handler Academy.

๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ (๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜’9 ๐˜“๐˜“๐˜Š)
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PC: Wise K9 Photography

Happy 4th birthday Jeff and Boston (Kellner Labradors) and happy 5th birthday Thor (Von Haus Wick German Shepherds)! Jef...
08/22/2026

Happy 4th birthday Jeff and Boston (Kellner Labradors) and happy 5th birthday Thor (Von Haus Wick German Shepherds)! Jeff is an explosives detection K9 for Upper Chichester PD, Boston is a wilderness HR K9 for VMSC 345 Lansdale, and Thor is a dual purpose police K9 for Lower Moreland PD partnered with Ofc. Saman Hashemi.
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PC: Wise K9 Photography

Our PVWDC pups have had a busy summer!   Every new sight, sound, and experience helps build the confidence our working d...
08/22/2026

Our PVWDC pups have had a busy summer!

Every new sight, sound, and experience helps build the confidence our working dogs in training will need for their future careers.

While these everyday adventures are fun, they also play a very important part in raising confident, and resilient working dogs. We couldn't do it without our incredible foster families, who open their homes and hearts to these puppies during such an important stage of their development.

Interested in fostering? We'd love to have you join our community and help raise the next generation of working dogs.

Visit our website to learn more about fostering and complete our Foster Intake Form to apply today!

Foster Intake Form: https://forms.fillout.com/t/2zp9u3ek7sus
Website: https://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/research-centers-and-institute/penn-vet-working-dog-center/get-involved/foster-a-puppy/

08/21/2026

Planning your trip to JSWK9 2027? Hereโ€™s a first look at whatโ€™s happening each day!

๐Ÿ“… TUESDAY, MARCH 2
โ€ข Pre-conference workshops (separate registration required)
โ€ข Evening Welcome Reception & Opening Keynote (Paul Bunker)

๐Ÿ“… WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3
โ€ข Full day of conference programming with plenary speakers, scientific research talks, and practitioner presentations

๐Ÿ“… THURSDAY, MARCH 4
โ€ข Full day of conference programming continues

๐Ÿ“… FRIDAY, MARCH 5
Full day of conference programming, including:
๐ŸŒฟ Special concurrent Conservation Track hosted by Noses for Nature: The Conservation Canine Community Conference with plenary speaker Aimee Hurt of Working Dogs for Conservation
โ€ข Additional topic tracks throughout the day
โ€ข Evening Cocktail Reception & Poster Session

๐Ÿ“… SATURDAY, MARCH 6
โ€ข Final day of conference programming, including:
๐Ÿฉบโค๏ธ Special feature on Health & Wellness with plenary speaker Cindy Otto of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center
โ€ข Conference wraps up in the afternoon with a Networking & Poster Session
โ€ข Post-conference workshops & facility tours

More program details coming soon! Register now with Early Bird Prices, and don't forget to submit your abstracts before the Sept. 15th deadline! More more information visit www.jswk9.com

Happy birthday Buster! Buster (Mill Iron Dutch Shepherds) is currently in training at the PVWDC.________________________...
08/20/2026

Happy birthday Buster! Buster (Mill Iron Dutch Shepherds) is currently in training at the PVWDC.
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PC: Wise K9 Photography

08/20/2026

Our intern program is one of a kind! We love being able to give our interns valuable hands-on experience to develop their skills training our high-drive young working dogs. Summer intern Indea and K9 Phoenix (PVWDC Boomer x Kolfyre Poppy) are working on the foundation of the "focused heel." In this exercise, the goal is for Phoenix to stay next to Indea's left leg and to direct her attention at Indea's face while ignoring the food reward in Indea's hand.

Can you hear the CLICK of the clicker when Indea marks the correct behavior?

If you listen closely, you can also hear a vacuum in the background providing additional desensitization training!

Did you know that the Penn Vet Working Dog Center is a nonprofit? Phoenix wanted to say thank you to the volunteers, fos...
08/17/2026

Did you know that the Penn Vet Working Dog Center is a nonprofit? Phoenix wanted to say thank you to the volunteers, fosters, donors, breeders, and more who make our training program possible!

If you are interested in supporting the PVWDC, visit the link below!

https://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/research-centers-and-institute/penn-vet-working-dog-center/get-involved/
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๐˜—๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜น (๐˜—๐˜๐˜ž๐˜‹๐˜Š ๐˜‰๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜น ๐˜’๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜บ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ)
Arizona Search Dogs
Kolfyre Labradors

Cody (Newfound Retrievers) puts her nose to work as part of our research program. Her bubbly personality makes her a fan...
08/16/2026

Cody (Newfound Retrievers) puts her nose to work as part of our research program. Her bubbly personality makes her a fantastic ambassador for the Penn Vet Working Dog Center - and she loves nothing more than showing off her stuffed animal collection to anyone who'll admire it with her.
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PC: Kristen Ciccone

Address

3401 Grays Ferry Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
19146

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
Thursday 7am - 7pm
Friday 7am - 7pm

Telephone

(215) 898-2200

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