What it's like to foster and train a Customs detector dog

In a Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) building in South Auckland, an assortment of bags, suitcases, trolleys and even mannequins are arranged in a mock airport baggage area.

An MPI trainer directs a young beagle through the stacks of luggage. The dog halts and sniffs at a suitcase, its powerful nose detecting the food hidden inside. For its efforts the dog https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchangingworld/529715/our-changing-world-the-science-behind-dog-welfare gets a small biscuit].

It's a scene Bill Taylor had witnessed numerous times in his 10 years training dogs for the Ministry of Primary Industries. The dogs began training at around a year old, the process usually took 16 to 20 weeks.

"We start with the basic odours that they'll encounter in the workplace. We're looking at apples, oranges, seeds, meat products, all those biosecurity risk items that could bring in foot and mouth, a fruit fly, that sort of thing, into the country.

"When they've finished a course, they've probably 45, 50 odours they'll respond to. If you take the airport, for example, there's a lot of what we call non-target odour. They know the difference between target odour and non-target odour, and they'll only respond to the target odour because they know a biscuit's going to come."

When the dogs were fully trained they'd be with a handler. All going well, they'd work together until the dog retired at around seven or eight years of age.

As well as New Zealand's international airports, detector dogs check international mail at Auckland's processing centre, and cruise ships at ports around the country.

But the finished product isn't just the result of the hard work of biosecurity staff.

Puppies bred to be detector dogs spend the first year of their life with a foster family before they're ready to be trained.

Fiona Izzard, her partner, and their four sons had raised three beagle puppies for MPI. In a story that will be familiar to many parents it all began with a persistent child.

"One of my sons was dog obsessed," said Izzard. The family wasn't ready for the long term committment of dog ownership, but an MPI social media about fostering beagle puppies piqued their interest. They submitted an application and were contacted by Kirsty Ansell who is in charge of all MPI's kennels around the country and oversees the puppy fostering programme.

While many people applied to foster puppies Ansell said not everyone had a suitable property. "Unfortunately, especially in Auckland, properties are getting smaller. The fencing is the biggest thing for us".

Prospective adoptees also had to have the time to devote to a dog. "Our absolute perfect family is, a family that has two or three kids and has a quarter acre section, but, that's not the reality now."

Most detector dogs were beagles. The breed originated in the UK in the 1800s. Bred for hunting, the beagles' strong sense of smell and persistence made them ideal detector dogs. But that hunting background meant the beagle's adorable appearance came with plenty of personality.

"The are really scent-focused, but the cute factor is like huge," said Izzard. "They're a bit mischievous. It's like having a small child with teeth running around and no nappy, but you just kind of fall in love with them, so we like them."

There were some rules foster families had to follow. The pups had to be crated at night, and feeding tidbits from the table was a definite no-no. But the main requirement was to make sure the dogs were well socialised and exposed to plenty of people.

"When we're checking for biosecurity risk items there's people, kids, old, young, screaming, all that sort of thing" said Taylor. "All those things happen in the real world and they happen in the workplace. So we've got to make sure they're robust and able to cope with that type of work."

MPI covered all the costs for the dog including vet bills and food - aside from any damage they might cause. Izzard said that'd meant training her kids as well as the puppies - "If they leave something out and it gets destroyed by the dog, that's their problem."

The only other drawback to fostering puppies was having to give them back once they reached a year old.

"It is hard to give it back," said Izzard, "but that's what you sign up for at the start. You miss them but, you're there to socialise it and you know it's going to go back."

There was always the chance of an airport reunion, something Izzard experienced recently after an overseas trip. "We were like, oh, I wonder which dogs will be on. What happens if we see one of our ones? And then we see them working. And it just makes everything, worthwhile knowing that you were a small part of that."