Show Notes
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 body weight every day; It’s not fussy - eggs, chicks, voles, mice, rabbits, hedgehogs, fish, insects and even roadkill are all acceptable; It tends to kill more than it needs to eat and stores the rest to eat later; It’s an amazing hunter - fast, agile, can climb well and has great eyesight, hearing and sense of smell; It’s a great swimmer too, and can swim 3 km or more (eg to another island); When the baby stoats, called kits, leave home, they can travel over 40 miles in search of their own territory. Handler and conservationist Chantel Carr explains to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather that just two years ago, stoats were running around all over Orkney. Since then, over 6,000 stoats have been trapped. Now the numbers are coming down, the dogs’ work is even more important, as they actively find stoat scat (poo) and can alert the team to “stoat hot spots”. The Orkney team swaps information and best practice with counterparts in New Zealand, where stoats were introduced to keep rabbits down, but have caused the extinction of a number of native birds. Find out more information on the Orkney Native Wildlife Project; Find out more about the work of the RSPB in Scotland and NatureScot, which support the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. Other dogs working in conservation Reid, the bio-security dog, who patrols the Scottish isles Five detection dogs survey the Isle of May for storm petrels Barley the conservation dog and his international projects Nica, Nettle and Phoenix, the Japanese knotweed detection dogs Do you work your dog or dogs? Kate would love to hear from you. Get in touch via [email protected] or [email protected], and follow Dogs with Jobs on your podcast app. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Dogs with Jobs
Bloodhounds have such an extraordinary nose, that they can distinguish - and track - the scent of individual human beings. The Wessex Bloodhounds hunt “the clean boot” - which means that a pack of hounds hunt the scent of human runners, who set off with 20 minutes’ head start across the fields. The hounds hunt (track) the runners, and the riders follow the hounds. It's all the hue and cry of a traditional hunt, but none of the controversy. Senior Master, Sam Heighes (daughter of the highly respected bloodhound expert, Jeremy Whaley) and Jack Jennings, Master and Huntsman discuss the pack with Dogs with Jobs presenter, Kate Fairweather, and introduce star bloodhound, Romance. At a training meet in South Harting the next day, we witness the gentle start to the season. Known as “tub” hunts, because everyone’s a little tubby from the summer holidays, these training meets feature short hunts and are very relaxed. The riders, horses, hounds and the human quarries start to get their fitness up in readiness for the proper season ahead. You can find out more about the bloodhounds at wessexbloodhounds.com. Connected episodes about sporting dogs: Ratting with the West Sussex Warreners rat pack (February 2026) Meet the Sealyham terrier rat pack , recorded at the Game Fair (August 2023) Who’s winning at the South of England Hound Show? (August 2023) Meet the South Down Bloodhounds (November 2022) Meet the Beagles! (October 2022) Debit and Dervish, the hunting hound pups (November 2021) An insight into the breeding of hounds (November 2021) Do you work your dog or dogs? Kate is deeply obsessed and would love to hear from you - the more varied the better! Get in touch via [email protected] . If you search Dogs with Jobs on your podcast app, you can hear almost 100 episodes - which cover assistance dogs, police dogs, gun dogs, conservation dogs and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Meet the Flyball Buccaneers, a Flyball team that we met at Dogs Day Out 2026 in May this year. Although you can see flyball at Crufts every year, this emerging, wildly exciting relay race over obstacles is not as well known as it deserves to be in the UK. It's a lovely introduction to the exciting team sport that is flyball. Enjoy! Find the Farnham based Buccaneers Flyball Club on Facebook at @Buccaneersflyballclub. Connected Episodes The Odyssey Flyball Club at Goodwoof 2024 Do you work your dog or dogs? If you know a dog with an interesting job, Kate would love to hear from you! Find me at [email protected] or [email protected]. © & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2026
Dogs with Jobs is taking a break over the summer. Back in September. In the meantime, keep the introductions coming - we are always delighted to hear about dogs doing interesting jobs! Get in touch via [email protected]. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nine year old collie, Peggy Sue, is on her last agility season this year. Owner, Rachel Williams took some time out from organising the Agility trials at Dogs Day Out in Hampshire to talk about the sport in general and Peggy Sue's career. Rachel is interesting on the working urge in collies - Peggy Sue will retire from agility, but she has no plans to stop. She's also bringing on her younger puppy, Brie, whose parents are both working farm dogs. She also explains why this sport - seen at the highest levels at Crufts and international competitions - remains highly accessible to any dog and handler with a close relationship and a liking for activity. It's accessible to all - from kids to really quite old (!), and all breeds can participate from toy poodles to malinois. Recorded at Dogs Day Out, 2026 in East Worldham, Hampshire. Photo by Sean Cameron. Find out more about agility: Kennel Club website - list of approved trainers (positive reinforcement only) Agility4all.co.uk - UK based agility shows for all dogs (with diary) Agilitynet on Facebook for meet ups and classes near you Do you work your dog or dogs? Please get in touch with Kate at [email protected] if you'd like to introduce a working dog to the show!
Tweed, the springer spaniel has the distinction of being the UK's first digital asset detection dog. Martin King of the Devon and Cornwall Police Dog Section tells the origin story of this vitally important search discipline in the UK. Known as electronic storage detection, digital asset detection and various other names, Tweed's skillset is firmly established as a key discipline for evidentiary purposes within the police. Back in 2015, a trainer in his force read an article about such detection work going on in Connecticut, U.S.A. The trainer, Graham Atwood, visited and brought back the knowhow to train the UK's first two dogs. Tweed won Service Dog of the Year 2025 and was shortlisted for Crufts Hero Dog of the Year 2026. Many thanks to Martin King for talking to us - it's a delight to have a little piece of working dog history on the show. Kate Fairweather interviewed Martin at Crufts 2026. Connected episodes: The UK's National Police Dog Trials 2025 P.D. Viper the firearms support dog P.D. Chase and the career arc of a general purpose police dog P.D. Meika, who searches for London criminals' cash, drugs and firearms P.D. Ted, the explosives detection dog with the West Midlands Police P.D. Jax the victim recovery dog with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary Mika, the well being and trauma support dog in the Metropolitan Police Champ, the engagement dog working in child protection in the Victoria police See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.