Dogs with Jobs

The Shine Radio programme celebrates the frontline workers of the canine world, and was named best podcast in the 2022 Community Radio Awards. Hear the announcement and presenter Kate Fairweather's acceptance speech at the awards ceremony held on Saturday night. The prize was one of three collected by Shine Radio volunteers. The Shine Radio recipe won bronze for best podcast and the station as who...

You rarely hear about bloodhound packs, because they are entirely uncontroversial. It's also a relatively new sport - there are barely a dozen packs in the UK. So this is something of a scoop! Every Sunday, volunteer "quarries" pull on their trainers and run around 5km or so, following a route that has been pre-agreed with the landowners. Their mission is to outrun and outwit the bloodhounds, zig-...

This episode of Dogs with Jobs features a working pack of beagles. Kennel huntsman Danny Allen describes the breeding, management and daily working lives of these characterful hounds to presenter Kate Fairweather. Danny has worked with the Palmer Marlborough Clinkard Meon Valley Beagles for eight years, and combines insight into breeding, hunting and working of beagles with an obvious affection fo...

This month’s guest is Clover, a liver and white springer spaniel. The interview was recorded at the South Downs Show in August, where Clover was demonstrating her talents as part of the Hamble and Hound Gun dog club.  Presenter Kate Fairweather chats to Jo Bennett about Clover, the first springer spaniel she ever owned. Clover’s need to work soon became apparent, and Jo started gun dog training as...

Meet Little Nippers, a performing troupe of terriers and lurchers, who work the country shows all over the UK. Their entertaining performance at country shows educates the public and demonstrates the lost sport of coursing, using an electric lure.  Coursing is the hunting of game such as hares with greyhounds, which use sight rather than scent, and has been banned in the UK since 2004. Phil Gibbon...

Meet Louis, a talented springer spaniel, who works for the Hampshire Fire Service.  Louis is a Fire Investigation & Search Dog and is trained to sniff out the presence of flammable materials efficiently and with outstanding accuracy in minutes, where humans might take days to cover the same area. There are just 17  working fire dogs in the whole of the UK, making Louis a rarity and something o...

Tucked away in a converted barn in the tiny South Downs village of Ramsdean, Hounds for Heroes is a charity, which trains and provides assistance dogs for disabled veterans from the military and emergency services.  Founder Allen Parton talks to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather about how the dogs are trained, and explains the story behind the dogs' names. He also explains what they l...

Meet E.T., (short for Endal III), a talented young labrador retriever and third in a line of exceptional assistance dogs. Handler and owner Allen Parton is a disabled ex-Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer, who founded the military assistance dog charity, Hounds for Heroes, in 2010.  Allen returned from the Gulf War in 1991 with a serious head injury to spend five years  in hospital, following which he...

This month, we meet Simone Brainch from the UK charity Medical Detection Dogs. Simone explains how the charity has developed since 2014, including its network of Medical Alert Assistance Dogs. The charity's specially trained assistance dogs alert their owners to impending medical emergencies, such as hypo-glycemic episodes or even allergic reactions. These dogs work incredibly closely with their h...

Meet Phantom. This retired racing greyhound first showed his therapeutic chops at the Greyhound Rescue Centre in Rake, with his calming influence on other greyhounds. After four years as a family pet, he has embarked on a second career, volunteering as a PAT "Read to" dog in the Solaris Nurture Unit at Bohunt School in Liphook.  Presenter Kate Fairweather meets Phantom and his owner, Erika Harris,...

This is a companion to November 2021 episode, which featured hunting hound pups, Debit and Dervish. The modern English Foxhound is one of the healthiest in the canine world. Bred for function rather than form, these supremely athletic hounds cover 15-20 miles of country in a working day. Depending on their hunting country, they might need strong back legs for hill work, overall muscular strength t...

Meet Debit and Dervish. These affectionate, exuberant hound puppies live with their puppy walker Carolyn in an orchard in Hampshire. They arrived at 8 weeks old and will spend most of their first year here, before they return to a local trail hunting pack, which, which numbers some 38 couple (76) drag hunting hounds. Their puppy walker will ensure that they encounter a wide variety of people, chil...

The charity Dogs for Autism was founded by a dog trainer, pet behaviourist and special needs school teacher, to focus on training, placing and supporting assistance dogs for  autistic people, including children. Neurodiverse people vary as much as neurotypical people. However, they tend to share certain characteristics, such as extreme sensitivity to particular noises or other stimuli, which...

Meet the talented Daisy, who works with a non-verbal autistic teenager and his family. Hear how golden retriever Daisy has transformed the lives of her human partner, Marcus, and those closest to him. Daisy provides an invaluable early warning of an impending meltdown with 100% accuracy - which has opened up public places and travel to the whole family. When Marcus does become emotionally disregul...

Meet Alfie, a handsome, half 'patched' dalmatian in this month's Dogs with Jobs and hear about his busy working life as a  model and actor. Blessed with a muscular physique and rakish looks, thanks to his unique face patch markings, Alfie has starred in rap videos, TV programmes and is much sought after as a model by household names such as Boden and furniture manufacturer, made.com. When you...

Kate Fairweather introduces Drake, a talented black labrador retriever, who was England’s top scoring gun dog two years in a row at the “Gun dog Olympics” - a.k.a. the Anglesey International. Hear Drake hunting for a dummy bird on the Cowdray Estate in West Sussex, helped by whistle commands from his owner, Jason Mayhew.  Gundog trainer Jason tells the story behind Drake&rsq...

This month, Dogs with Jobs follows young guide dog Benji over five weeks as he starts “on the job” training with owner John Welsman.  From their first encounter in June, through two weeks of residential training at a Southampton hotel, instructor-supported training around their home town Petersfield and navigating their way to London via public transport. After an intense five weeks, Benjy and Joh...

Meet Rusty, a red, short coat collie with just one thing on his mind. He works with his handler, Kev Saunders MBE as part of the Hampshire Search & Rescue (HSAR)  team, which supports the police on large scale searches for missing persons.  He talks to  Dogs with Jobs  presenter Kate Fairweather about how things have gone in the pandemic, with a shift away from finding elde...

How did an English Bull Terrier end up as a calming presence in Petersfield's care homes? Find out in this month's Dogs with Jobs, with presenter, Kate Fairweather. Sprout is a "one off" in many ways. He survived an operation that went horribly wrong in his puppyhood and, with the help of his owner, Lizzie Strickland, he has overcome the considerable disabilities he was left with. Now he spreads j...

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association oversees the country's largest breeding programme and trains around a quarter of the world's guide dogs.. Over coffee with John Welsman, Kate Fairweather hears about the astonishing range of work done by the UK charity and some of its newer initiatives.  John is part of the charity's Canine Affairs team, which strategises about the future of guide dog...

Meet Breck, a talented golden retriever recently retired from an eight-year career in partnership with a highly experienced owner, whose job has entailed travelling all over the UK. Breck's steadiness and adaptability proved to be essential qualities for success in guiding at this advanced level.  Breck's owner John Welsman discusses some fascinating insights into the responsibilities and challeng...

In Dogs with Jobs this month meet Max, Edie and Joe, the close knit team who together ensure a successful lambing operation at Rothercombe Farm, Stroud. The Border Collies' obsessive herding instinct comes into its own. With over 1000 expectant ewes, the fields become an outdoor maternity unit for six hectic weeks. No surprise that things can get a little intense... Farmer Andy Snow talks to Kate...

Bonus episode of Dogs with Jobs! In the course of researching this podcast, Kate Fairweather talks to a lot of people about working dogs. Here she talks to Jim Noble, who has spent a career devoted to working dogs - gun dogs, police dogs, sniffer dogs, search dogs.  In the early 2000s the Hampshire Constabulary's Dog Unit (as it was then) invested in its first ever pair of bloodhounds, with a...

A Belgian Malinois with a bright future. Police Dog (P.D.) Didi is part of the Thames Valley, Hampshire & IOW Dog Section.  Smaller and lighter than many of her police colleagues, P.D. Didi combines an easygoing nature with just a touch of swagger and supreme athleticism.  Her handler, P.C. Beale, talks to Kate Fairweather about her abilities, their relationship and what it takes to...

Patricia Bland, Pets as Therapy regional coordinator for the Petersfield area, explains what they seek in a therapy dog.  More information at petsastherpy.org Other therapy dog interviews Meet Phantom, the secondary school reading assistant at Bohunt School Meet Millie the hospital visitor at Petersfield Hospital Meet Sprout the care home visitor and university emotional support worker Do you work...