DOGS WITH JOBS: SUCCESS FOR NEWBIE CONSERVATION DOGS

Two of Taranaki’s conservation canines have just passed an exam that allows them to go where most dogs are forbidden.

Pip, a trainee whio-finding dog, and Roscoe, the first dog in New Zealand learning to sniff out ferrets, have both achieved interim certification, much to the relief of their human partners, Joe Carson, and Raul Johnson from the Department of Conservation in New Plymouth.

This means they can take the dogs into the bush on Taranaki Maunga and continue their training “on the job”.

Both Carson and Johnson said they were anxious before the test of their obedience and scentwork training by two assessors.

“They have to be well-mannered, they have to be really professional in all aspects, it’s quite a big reputation to uphold,” Carson said.

Three days later, Pip found five whio (blue ducks) on her first day out on the mountain, including two nests.

“She’s doing amazing,” she said. “If I’m excited, she’s excited.”

Pip is getting the hang of navigating the fast-flowing rivers where the ducks live, crossing swing bridges and climbing down ladders, with Carson’s support, and riding in helicopters and boats.

When she sniffs out a whio, she pauses and stares at it to alert Carson. She’s a great help with finding the rare birds, which blend in among the rocks, making the task of monitoring the birds much faster, Carson said.

“At this time of year, they’re breeding, and with Pip I don’t have to get too close, which is better for the birds.”

Foxy cross Roscoe is still learning to target his speciality prey species, ferrets, and learning to ignore other animals including stoats, which smell similar, Johnson said.

At the moment, he is practising his skills by finding dead ferrets that Johnson has stashed for him.

Ferrets are not as common as stoats, but are larger and are relentless hunters, killing adult kiwi, along with other native birds.

“We don’t trap as many ferrets, whether that’s because there are not as many, or they are harder to trap, we don’t know,” he said.

Roscoe will indicate scent trails and dens, as well as live ferrets, so traps or cameras can be set up in the right places.

The two dogs are now working towards their final certification in about six months’ time. They’ve joined a team of about 120 conservation dogs in New Zealand, and will eventually work in other places around the country as well as Taranaki.

“Their lives have been unlocked, we were so stoked,” Johnson said.