Mick and Mack, Japanese Knotweed Detector Dogs
Dear Readers, one of my splendid commentators alerted me to the fact that dogs were being trained to sniff out Japanese Knotweed when I posted my last piece, so I had to have a closer look, and in ‘Dogs Today‘ magazine there’s an article about Mick and Mack, described as ‘Fox Red Labrador Retrievers’. Who even knew that there was such a thing? Still, I have to say that the dogs look very eager and ready to go. They can apparently detect Japanese Knotweed even when it’s dormant in the winter, and if they sniff some they will freeze and presumably glare at the offending spot of ground.
Their services are much in demand by buyers seeking to buy homes. According to Environet UK, the company who use the dogs, sellers can be very sneaky in covering up the presence of the plant in their gardens. Sellers are required to disclose if there’s Japanese Knotweed in their garden, but it’s said that some sellers will enter ‘not known’, and then cut everything back and cover it with a membrane. Enter Mick and Mack, who will soon sniff it out. Presumably if they don’t find anything it’s reassuring for the buyer, and in either case the company has recouped some of its investment in the dogs.
I am also a bit behind the curve here, as Mick and Mack started work in 2020, and were soon joined by Buddy, a rescued black Cocker Spaniel. His great sense of smell was soon noticed by his rescuers, who wondered if he could become a drug or bomb detection dog, but probably didn’t realise immediately that he would end up sniffing out an invasive plant instead.
The nose of a dog is truly something of a miracle – it can sniff out tumours, detect when someone is going to have a seizure, tell the difference between urine samples in the search for particular diseases, and now it’s being used to sniff out invasive plants. What remarkable animals they are! All the more reason to treasure them, train them properly and look after them well. Who knows what else they’ll be capable of doing?
On the other hand, they haven’t yet been trained to wield a fork and spade every week for three or four years in order to dig the blessed Japanese Knotweed out, so perhaps there’s a role for human beings after all.
Sniffer dogs are wonderful and, as you point out, dogs can be trained to warn us of all sorts of things. I have not been aware of them being trained to sniff out growing plants though – there is always something new to earn!
I would love these most intelligent dogs to be available to solve my problem, as my local council deny responsibility for the growth of this imbasive weed is spreading from the land they tend and maintain to my, and other residents land
So frustrating! I’m sorry to hear this. Many councils haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory in dealing with invasive species, but they’re all too happy to spray weedkiller over annual weeds that are popping up in pavements where nothing else grows.
We think our new puppy would make a good drugs, explosives or whatever sniffer dog, as he’s constantly darting here and there exploring with his nose. I do wonder how they train them to find these particular smells.
His pedigree is as a gun dog though, so I’ve started throwing his squeaky ball into the long grass and bracken to see if I can train him to find it! So far, he’s doing well!
Gosh I didn’t know you had a new puppy – what breed of gundog is he?
I couldn’t remember whether I’d mentioned it to you before (- old age!) That’s probably the main reasons I’ve not been posting much recently. He’s called Tomos and, despite the Welsh name, is an English Springer Spaniel. He’s not supposed to have too much exercise while he’s young (he’s still only 6 months old now) but I would imagine I’ll be taking him on some more interesting walks from next Spring.
I should have posted something about him but my wife was worried about dog-nappers!
I think you might have mentioned a plan re the puppy but I have a brain like a sieve 🙂 – he sounds gorgeous….