Our canine partners are extremely intuitive, adaptive, and often perform in spite of our training or handling In addition, due to the constraints of funding, most training programs focus on the mechancis of odor detection but overlook some of the basics of behavior analysis and the traits of a successful handler/trainer. Lastly, the selection of appropriate personnel to handle a canine is challenging. This discussion will highlight some of the key learnings taken from 15 years of instruction spanning all types of detection work on what concepts have acelleratted understanding by the human end of the leash.