Dogs with Jobs

Reporting from Crufts, the best known dog show in the world.  On International Women's Day, we hear from Police Constable Sue Cheek, who was the first woman instructor in the West Midlands Police's Dog Unit. Police Dog Chase has already shown his superb recall and restraint in the ring earlier in the day. He'll be taking a starring role in the main arena later as part of the Dog Unit's tradit...

Herbie, a jet black labrador retriever works as a golf ball detection dog at several golf courses around Petersfield. Owner Roger Hetherington explains how Herbie came to be a golf ball detection dog, the astonishing personal contribution he has made to the cancer charity Macmillan through a golf ball recycling initiative, and the unexpectedly grave danger that lurks on the golf course in high sum...

Father of two, Nathan Foy, has worked with a guide dog since he was 18 years old. Nathan explains the profound loss the accompanies the end of a partnership, as well as the gratitude he feels every time he steps outside his house with his guide dog partner. It is also a fascinating insight into the human guide dog partnership and its evolution over time. Nathan explains the efficiencies that mark...

Dogs with jobs pays an early morning visit to the Hursley Hambledon pack of English Foxhounds in their lodges. Amid the early morning excitement of the pack, Kennel huntsman Keiran gives an insight into pack life. He explains that there's no a particular "top dog" among the boys. The social hierarchy is more complex and changeable among the girls. Surprisingly, the individual canine most "in charg...

In this Christmas AND 4th birthday show, creators Kate Fairweather and John Welsman discuss how Dogs with Jobs has evolved and play snippets from some of their favourite episodes. They celebrate four years of fun making working dog podcasts together and discovering more jobs being done by dogs than they had ever thought possible back in 2021. What started as an amusing lockdown project created by...

A throwback to summer... this episode of Dogs with Jobs was recorded at the Hampshire Gun Dog Show in August, which featured around 30 gun dog breeds, from golden retrievers and springer spaniels to rare European gun dog breeds.  Joy Venturi Rose of the Hampshire Gun Dog Society describes the various events put on by the society, which include open shows, working tests, field trials and training c...

We first heard about the work of Reid the biosecurity dog five months back.  Conservationist and handler Rachel Cripps talks to presenter Kate Fairweather about Reid's work, visiting Scotland's islands during the course of the year, in all weathers, searching for evidence of rat incursions.  Rachel explains the plans for winter, when weather stops all island visits, and how she keeps Reid ticking...

With long waiting lists for autism assistance dogs and medical alert dogs, and little prospect of getting one, teenager Ella Walker decided to train her own. Meet Ralph, a multi-tasking medical alert and assistance dog, who’s just perfect for Ella. They've been together since golden retriever Ralph was less than a year old. Since then, Ella has focused on training him for a range of specialist tas...

Dogs pretty much outnumbered people at the Country Sports Day at Bereleigh, East Meon, both inside and outside the arena. A particular delight was the arena demonstration from seasoned gun dog trainer, Graham Watkins, whose five spaniels, including a talented two year old and a 12 year grande dame , showed the range of jobs these dogs do on shoots during the season. Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate F...

Black Labrador, Echo and her daughters, Delta and Polar pick up on shoots in the shooting season, and excel at scurries, trials and other activities during the summer. The trio are much loved pets, but their owner, Kevin Warburton, is also a seasoned gun dog handler and part of the Hamble and Hound Gun dog Club. The club puts on scurries at the South Downs Show, which takes place just outside Pete...

Daisie is a black Labrador retriever, who works as an " ambassadog " for the assistance dog charity, Canine Partners.  Daisie and her handler, Ellie Chadwick, demonstrate to the general public the various tasks that an assistance may do to support its disabled human handler. They do this on a voluntary basis at weekends at country shows and other events all over the country, as part of the charity...

Darcey, the golden Labrador retriever has been partnered with illustrator and teaching assistant, Wren Rawlings for over six years.  Wren explains to presenter Kate Fairweather what Darcey does for him and how the partnership has seen him through a roller coaster seven years. Having had pretty normal health through his childhood and teenage years, Wren was struck with life-altering illness when he...

Mika is one of two wellbeing and trauma support dogs working in London's Metropolitan Police supporting officers' wellbeing, often in the face of trauma and emotionally challenging work. As a working chocolate Labrador, she's a distinctive presence and something of a one off, recruited specifically for healing work.  One reason that Mika and her canine colleague, Dexter and their handlers are inte...

A window into the world of forensic police dogs within the Metropolitan Police, the UK's largest urban police force.   Police Constable Clyde Charlesworth has worked forensic dogs for over 15 years, having worked on many significant UK disasters, such as the collapse of Grenfell tower in London, the Croydon tram crash, searches for missing persons Sarah Everard, April Jones, Alice Gross. Clyde tal...

Meet Skye, an English springer spaniel who is one of a ten strong stoat detection dog team working on the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. That may sound like a lot of dogs, but since 2010, when the first stoat was spotted on Orkney, this INCREDIBLY successful predator has bred in its thousands, posing a huge problem to the island’s wildlife:   Its super high metabolism means it eats 25% of its own...

The display from the Odyssey Flyball Club proved one of the delights of the Goodwoof arena at the Goodwood Estate in Sussex a few weeks back. Flyballer handler Hilary Larkham explains to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather what flyball is all about, how it came to the UK, and why precision timing is just as important as speed in this high octane, four dog relay race. Although you can see fly...

Six year Ninja is probably the best known proponent of "barkour" (parkour for dogs) in the world. Owner and handler Dominik Arend used to teach parkour to children in his native Germany, but Ninja and he now work professionally together. Parkour, also known as free-running or l'art du déplacement (art of movement) originated in France and is a discipline, which demands both athleticism and artisti...

Meet talented youngster, Police Dog Meika, of the London Metropolitan Police's Dog Section.  A week shy of her second birthday, Springer spaniel Meika is already trained in detection work across several disciplines, including drugs, firearms and cash detection.  Police Constable Emma Robling explains some of the training and demands on Meika, as well as what a working day looks like. She also give...

Hear about the vital contribution to seabird conservation made by Reid, an English springer spaniel who works as a rodent detection dog in the Scottish islands. Conservationist and handler Rachel Cripps talks to presenter Kate Fairweather about Reid's work, visiting Scotland's islands during the course of the year, in all weathers, searching for evidence of rat incursions.  Biosecurity is the prac...

We hear a lot about breeding in working dogs. Yet we know little about their brains:  How might a guide dog’s brain differ from that of a hunting hound? Where does personality fit in with a working dog?  Can a dog have ADHD?  Kate Fairweather asks these questions and more of Sophie Barton of the Canine Brains Project, based in the Hecht Lab at Harvard University in Boston. Sophie oversees the Work...

Explosives detection work is a highly specialised discipline within the police, and the stakes are high. On this episode of Dogs with Jobs , we meet Police Dog Ted, one of 17 explosive detection dogs working within the West Midlands Police Service, one of the largest urban police forces in the UK, which even has its own breeding scheme.   Ted's handler, Police Constable Damo Smart, has over 21 yea...

Meet Bakersfield and Strike, as they relax in the dressing room, during a break between performances. These two collies are competing at the highest level in the Heelwork to Music competition at Crufts, the world's biggest dog show.  It's a glamorous business, yet the atmosphere in the dressing room is cosy and good natured. Both handlers are veterans of the heelwork to music competition, with man...

A fascinating and rare glimpse into the world of fox red Labrador Jax, a police victim recovery dog. There are fewer than 40 dogs working in this highly specialised field within the police in the UK.  Victim recovery dogs - also known as cadaver dogs or human remains dogs - search for human remains, blood or tissue as well as shallow graves or blood spattered evidence such as clothing or weapons....

This month's episode is a short but interesting one. Presenter Kate Fairweather introduces springer spaniel Bonnie, who works as a bedbug inspector checking hotels - including some household name, super smart hotels - for bedbugs.   Many of the best hotels consider it best practice, to have regular sweeps for bedbugs.  Sometimes a hotel has had a past problem, had it treated, and wants to check th...

The first seabird conservation project to use detection dogs in the UK. A team of five detection dogs are deployed to an island off the east coast of Scotland, UK. "Sprocker" spaniels Molly and Nelson, Storm the Belgian Shepherd and Piper the Springer spaniel are experienced detection dogs, but this was their very first conservation project. With a short time window in which to work on the project...