Koala populations have seen sharp declines across most of their range over the past 20 years. Monitoring koalas and their key threats has always been problematic due to the koala’s cryptic nature and the fact that they often occur at low densities. Both these factors mean koala surveys are inherently difficult and costly, yield little data and often have large biases. For example, during visual koala surveys up to 80% of koalas present in an area are missed. This hinders our ability to understand koalas, monitor their population trends, identify koala threats and quantify the efficiency of management actions in terms of population recovery. The need for better methodologies is pushing koala researchers and conservationists to think outside the box. Recently, the University of the Sunshine Coast “Detection Dogs for Conservation” has been working on “sniffing out” better solutions through the use of specially trained detection dogs. The team has shown that for koala habitat surveys, koala scat detection dogs are approximately 150% better than their human counterparts, as well as 20 times quicker. New additions to the detection dog team include a koala detection dog, a fresh koala scat detection dog (employed to increase genetic sampling efficiency) and a diseased (chlamydia) koala scat detection dog. The team has intensively tested the performances of the dogs and they consistently outperform other methodologies – including humans and molecular techniques. The dogs have been deployed on research and consultancy projects in both QLD and NSW, performing thousands of surveys. Together with their handlers, they are delivering robust and unbiased Environmental Impact Assessments, maximizing the benefits of koala offsets (habitat rehabilitation), characterizing and mitigating the consequences of habitat fragmentation for koala genetics and investigating the relationship between koala health and anthropogenic pressures. By working closely with all levels of government, as well as not-for-profit organizations and businesses, the team aims at achieving on-ground, scientifically based, outcomes for the vulnerable koalas.