About Us

Roberta Bitzer is a renowned K9 handler and trainer with hands-on experience in nurturing, training, and enhancing the abilities of pets and working canines. Her unwavering passion for dogs and their potential led her on a remarkable journey into the world of conservation K9 scent detection, where she has become a respected expert.

Her expertise has derived from working with renowneddog trainers from a variety of backgrounds within federal and law enforcement agencies, obedience trainers and scent detection experts who have acted as mentors in her growth.
Roberta’s unique approach combines patience, empathy, and a profound understanding of dog psychology, enabling her to tailor training programs that cater to individual personalities and learning styles of the owners.

Beyond training, Roberta is an advocate for responsible pet ownership and takes pride in educating prospective owners on dog care, training, and the importance of establishing strong bonds with their furry companions via scent detection work which doubles as pet bounding.
Outside of Bitzer K9, Roberta is a founding member of Conservation Dogs of Hawaii’s invasive species detection program. She has also provided her expertise to develop CDH’s new programs, and has participated in assessing and selecting shelter dogs for Guam Department of Agriculture’s biosecurity K9 program. Roberta is also the K9 team lead at the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Response Team, a collaborative partnership with Hawai‘i conservation organizations and USDA that aims to control further spread of the invasive insect in Hawai’i.

In addition to her K9 background, Roberta has a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a masters in environmental sciences, and has over a decade of experience as an environmental consultant.
When she’s not working with dogs, Roberta enjoys spending time outdoors, surfing and hiking with her own four-legged companions, and continuously seeking new ways to enrich the lives of both dogs and their human counterparts.