Amphibian and Reptile Detection Dogs

Amphibian and Reptile Detection Dogs Ecologist, great crested newt detection dog handler and PhD student at the University of Salford

Last week I had the honour of lecturing to final year students at the University of Salford. The lectures consisted of h...
16/02/2025

Last week I had the honour of lecturing to final year students at the University of Salford. The lectures consisted of habitat surveys as well as the practical application of detection dogs. We ended the session with a demonstration of the great crested newt dogs performing searches on the university grounds. Outside of lecturing I was making use of lab time on an exciting chapter of my thesis. Excellent way to celebrate women in science day!

I also want to wish Newky a wonderful 8th birthday 🥳 we were busy demoing and travelling back on Friday to celebrate properly. He had his annual trip to the local pet store today to pick his favourite toy and treats 🥰. He chose a very manly butterfly 🦋😂







❄️❄️How does great crested newt (GCN) odour emit in the winter? Particularly when refuging underground or in crevices?❄️...
08/01/2025

❄️❄️How does great crested newt (GCN) odour emit in the winter? Particularly when refuging underground or in crevices?❄️❄️

💡 We have a good understanding of how GCN odour interacts with the surrounding environment and how it is influenced by a variety of factors during the warmer seasons through controlled field trials and operational findings….however, what does that odour do when temperatures are less than 5 degrees Celsius 🥶 🌡️ 🤔

🕵️Last week, when temperatures were below 5 degrees C, I took my 3 GCN detection dogs to a training ground to see if we would have any positive indications. I have been coming to this location for the past couple of years with the dogs so have a good idea of confirmed refuge points during the active season. All 3 dogs displayed indications on refuges such as stone walls and burrows that were known to support newts during the active season 🙌. The indications couldn’t be confirmed as this would involve disturbing the newts in freezing conditions. Not only would this have welfare implications, it’s also illegal. Having more than one dog indicate on the same refuge locations did, however, increase my confidence in the results 👌.

🧐 Detection dogs provide a wonderful non-invasive method to help us understand what amphibians do during their winter terrestrial phase; however, we need to understand how different factors such as freezing conditions can influence the scent, particularly in different refuges such as burrows and stone walls and when newts are in a state of brumation. Having this knowledge will enable us to utilise detection dogs more effectively. Further controlled research on this area would be very beneficial; however, it would equally be very challenging due to welfare implications as well as obtaining a licence to undertake such research.

🐕Operationally I am very cautious deploying the dogs in the winter and will not undertake searches on high risk schemes. These types of schemes will also likely require licences which can only be obtained during the active season. The dogs are, however, useful for searching schemes that are assessed as low risk due to proximity to ponds, connectivity, habitat type and size of scheme.

🔈 Introducing Wessex Water’s new recruits Bandit and Bluey. This duo will be helping keep our waterways clean by detecti...
23/12/2024

🔈 Introducing Wessex Water’s new recruits Bandit and Bluey. This duo will be helping keep our waterways clean by detecting contaminated surface water and rising main leaks.

🐶🐶The boys have been with me for three weeks now and have settled into my pack really well (uncle Obi 🐶 is a firm favourite of theirs). It’s been wonderful getting to know their individual personalities so far 🥰

💦 In the past couple of weeks Bandit and Bluey have continued their environmental training, introducing them to operational sites, as well as continuing with their detection work on their maintenance odour. We will start to imprint them onto new scents in the New Year under the guidance of Luke Jones from Cape SPC.

🦎 The great crested newt dogs, Freya, Newky and Obi are continuing to do well. They seem to have accepted their new pack members and continue to get their individual time and attention to maintain a happy household. Operational work has slowed down given the time of year however it’s been great getting out the last couple of weeks on some jobs requiring precautionary searches.

🙌Very much looking forward to 2025. It is going to be a very busy but exciting year in my new role as lead detection dog handler at Wessex Water.



#2025



The cat…or dog is out of the bag! I’m excited to announce that I’ll be setting up a canine unit at Wessex Water! My role...
12/11/2024

The cat…or dog is out of the bag! I’m excited to announce that I’ll be setting up a canine unit at Wessex Water! My role as an ecologist after 12 wonderful years came to an end last week. Although I’ll miss it, I’m looking forward to this new challenge and excited to see how things develop. I’ll still be providing great crested newt detection dog services to the Environment and Planning team at Wessex with Freya, Newky and Obi. We will be recruiting two new dogs supplied by Luke Jones to detect wastewater leaks across the region. This method has proved to be very effective in the UK and overseas! Big thanks to Nicole Harvey and team for allowing me to shadow at Sydney Water last year! I managed to present a successful business case proposal to the Directors at Wessex including cost and time savings from the newt dogs as well as what leak detection dogs can do! Dream come true for me and still can’t quite believe it’s going ahead 🥰.

Over the next few days I’m at the University of Wolverhampton working on odour analysis. The university specialises in t...
12/11/2024

Over the next few days I’m at the University of Wolverhampton working on odour analysis. The university specialises in this field and It’s been wonderful watching the gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy machine in action! Looking forward to analysing the results from the first batch of samples today!




Today was the last ever day of the soil trials 🎉 and Obi absolutely smashed it! It was also the end of the 2024 great cr...
14/10/2024

Today was the last ever day of the soil trials 🎉 and Obi absolutely smashed it! It was also the end of the 2024 great crested newt detection dog trials 🙌.
That’s…..
🦎 64 odour identification trials with 20 great crested newts, 5 x smooth newts, 5 x palmate newts, 3 x frogs and 5 x toads!
🦎64 channelled distance perception trials
🦎128 soil interference trials

256 trials in total running from June to mid-October!

Each trial marked the end of a PhD chapter which is a massive relief but also quite emotional. I have one more chapter to go in 2025 (handsearcher vs dog) then I am finally done after 5 intense years with 3 dogs that have made me incredibly proud 🥹. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all my research assistants! It wouldn’t have been possible without you all 🥰. Now to analyse 256 videos 😅




Over the past month ARDD have been exceptionally busy carrying out a range of activities 🤯. Heres a snapshot of what we ...
21/09/2024

Over the past month ARDD have been exceptionally busy carrying out a range of activities 🤯. Heres a snapshot of what we have been up to recently:

🦎 last weekend I had the pleasure of hosting the wonderful Sandra Tresch and Aline Luscher from Lernen mit hund. The pair had travelled all the way from Switzerland 🇨🇭. Freya and Newky performed wild searches at our training ground, finding a nice mixture of adult male, female as well as juvenile great crested newts (GCN). Sandra and Aline did a fabulous job handling the GCN detection dogs. It was so wonderful to meet Aline and Sandra and hear all about their fascinating Japanese beetle detection project 🪲.

🔬 Obi is halfway through his 2024 GCN trials after completing his odour identification trials and channelled distance perception. We kicked off his soil trial assessments yesterday. The trial comprises 128 repeats and will run until Mid-October. This boy is doing incredibly well and is on track to join Newky and Freya as operational GCN detection dogs 🤞🙏. Obi is the last of my GCN detection dogs and every trial assessment completed marks the end of a PhD chapter 🥺.

🕵️ Freya and Newky have been hard at work supporting Wessex Water ecologists and engineers to locate GCN ahead of activities such as emergency works and site investigations. We have also undertaken a number of demonstrations and will be performing a demo in a couple of weeks to Wessex Water’s senior leadership team, CEO’s, non executive directors and members of YTL, who are coming to visit from Malaysia. Wish us luck 😱🍀.

🚙 we have been given a shiny new Wessex Water van to help provide comfort and safety for the dogs. Obi enjoyed taking the new van for a spin yesterday 😜.

🐶 I have recently had an exciting business case accepted! This will involve me moving away from ecology and becoming a full time detection dog handler! Although I’ll miss ecology after being in the industry for 12 years, it’s time for an exciting change and I’ll still be providing the GCN detection dog services 😁. This is a dream come true for me and I can’t wait to get started in mid-November…..Oh and the pack will also be expanding 😉 I’ll be visiting the two new additions next week. More info to follow…





🔊 Happy international dog day to my three musketeers Freya, Newky and Obi. The best co-woofers an ecologist can ask for ...
26/08/2024

🔊 Happy international dog day to my three musketeers Freya, Newky and Obi. The best co-woofers an ecologist can ask for 🙏

Also happy international dog day to all those wildlife detection dogs out there! You make the world a better place 🌍.



✈️ Back from annual leave after a fantastic week in Borneo and straight into detection dog searches on a reservoir site ...
16/08/2024

✈️ Back from annual leave after a fantastic week in Borneo and straight into detection dog searches on a reservoir site down in Yeovil.

💧 The reservoir walls are starting to slip and in urgent need of repair. Due to close proximity of population of great crested newts the dogs were called in to search the area prior to the works which will be starting next week. The two boys, Obi and Newky, did a fantastic job on a very steep site! The site has been searched thoroughly and ready to go!

🙏 Big thanks to Keystone Environmental who did a fantastic job of fencing on a very challenging site. Love working with these guys! Always pleasant to work with, very pragmatic and excellent work ethic 👌 highly recommend!




🌎 🦎 🐸 World Congress of Herpetology - detection dog symposium 🐶. It was an honour to present alongside my idols at the f...
07/08/2024

🌎 🦎 🐸 World Congress of Herpetology - detection dog symposium 🐶. It was an honour to present alongside my idols at the first ever detection dog symposium. It just shows how detection dogs are being more widely recognised as an important method to survey for critically endangered and threatened amphibian and reptile species. Thoroughly enjoyed the discussion between presenters as we delved deep into important questions. Sharing experiences and ideas openly and honestly.

🙏 Big thank you to for funding the trip and a special thanks to Dr Natalie Calatayud, Dr Robert Jehle and Louise Wilson for making the symposium happen.





Awesome work Paws For Conservation 👏🙌🦎🐶💡
23/07/2024

Awesome work Paws For Conservation 👏🙌🦎🐶💡

🐶 🦎 Yesterday we had the opportunity to train on an active construction site (no GCN present) with both Newky and Obi an...
23/07/2024

🐶 🦎 Yesterday we had the opportunity to train on an active construction site (no GCN present) with both Newky and Obi and trainee handler/Senior Ecologist, Freya.

👏 Freya did a wonderful job handling both Obi and Newky, navigating through woodland, spoil mounds and log piles. Both dogs maintained focus around a very busy construction site. Having these sites to train on is so valuable.

🔦 🌙 in the evening I took detection dog Freya to a site with low numbers of GCN present. We wanted to gauge how the terrestrial habitat is being utilised to help inform mitigation measures for an upcoming scheme.

💡 Freya indicated on refugia in close proximity to the works therefore suitable mitigation measures will be applied to prevent GCN from harm during construction.

👌 Trainee detection dog handler Alice had a go handling Freya and did a fabulous job working her up the side of a steep reservoir.




Big thank you to Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK - ARG UK for asking me to present at their AGM this evening. 🙏 I...
16/07/2024

Big thank you to Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK - ARG UK for asking me to present at their AGM this evening.

🙏 I feel so honoured to be asked to share my research and operational work with passionate individuals and organisations that are interested in expanding their methods to help locate cryptic amphibians 🐶

🌎 my next presentation will be in Borneo at the World Herpetological Congress in a couple of weeks time 🤩 I cannot wait!







Last week I was fortunate enough to attend an indication clinic ran by Santi Font of Scentdogs at Conservation K9 Consul...
15/07/2024

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend an indication clinic ran by Santi Font of Scentdogs at Conservation K9 Consultancy beautiful venue in north wales. The workshop was extremely informative 🤩. Santi has a dog centred approach when it comes to indication training and is able to choose the best method depending on the individual dogs as well as the type of detection work the dog team is doing 👏👌. Would highly recommend this course ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📢 In a months time myself, Conservation K9 Consultancy, Natalie Calatayud and Dr Robert Jehle will be heading to Borneo ...
06/07/2024

📢 In a months time myself, Conservation K9 Consultancy, Natalie Calatayud and Dr Robert Jehle will be heading to Borneo to help deliver a symposium on canine scent detection as a herpetological conservation tool 📢

I will be presenting alongside other wildlife detection dog handlers and researchers across the globe 🌎. If you’re heading to the World Congress of Herpetology then come and check out the symposium on the 5th August 😃🐸🐍🐢🦎 🐕

Very excited to deliver my presentation to Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK - ARG UK in a couple of weeks 😁🦎🐶.
28/06/2024

Very excited to deliver my presentation to Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK - ARG UK in a couple of weeks 😁🦎🐶.

🗣️ In final preparations for presentation at the annual SPARC conference at this Wednesday. 👩‍🎓 Really looking forward ...
23/06/2024

🗣️ In final preparations for presentation at the annual SPARC conference at this Wednesday.

👩‍🎓 Really looking forward to meeting students and discussing the work we have done so far 😁.

🏝️ I will be embarking on an exciting trip to Borneo in August delivering talks at the World Herpetological Congress. I am so excited to present alongside other amphibian and reptile detection dog handlers and researchers at the detection dog symposium, discussing all the exciting research happening around the world!

Cannot wait for the next two months 😆





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Videos

Freya displaying a subterranean indication on a recent job. You can hear the intense sniff she does to draw up the odour from below ground. Dogs provide a fantastic non-invasive indication for subterranean species. We have no other method for confirming this type of refuge! #gcndetectiondog #innovativemethod #noninvasive #effective #newtdog

🦎 Newky working his little paws off carrying out a precautionary search of grassy soil bunds prior to reinstatement down in Dorset. Love working this boy! He loves his job and the attention from his fellow Wessex Water colleagues. ✈️ I have an exciting week ahead! on Wednesday I will be flying to Belgium to deliver a conference talk for Noses for Nature! Providing a case study for the use of detection dogs in the UK focusing on my PhD research and operational work at Wessex Water

Freya undertaking a thorough search of a grassland field margin prior to vehicular access and trial hole digs. Freya covered the large area in a short space of time. This would’ve taken a hand-searcher hours to check. Dogs provide such a fast and effective method in comparison to traditional tools. The search was completed in time for the site guys to begin their investigations without delay. 🦎🕵️‍♀️ #gcndetectiondog #precautionarysearch #InnovativeMethod #GCN #WessexWater

My soulmutt, Freya ❤️

Freya found 55(!!) great crested newts in 2 hours this morning prior to newt fencing removal. The newts were a mixture of above ground and between 5-15cm below the surface in clay soil 😱. Video below shows one of the newts she found around 10cm down. Big thank you to the wonderful keystone team who removed the fencing extra carefully following our checks. Freya celebrated her new record with some steak, lots of cuddles, tennis balls and snoozes 💤 #greatcrestednewt #gcn #newtdog #newrecord #wessexwater #soil #depthperception #incrediblenose

Well done Louise from Conservation K9 Consultancy on CountryFile this evening talking about her incredible detection dogs 🥰🥰 so proud of you!!

Freya showing me a female great crested newt in the folds of the newt fencing. We have to carry out very intricate searches along the fenceline as GCN have very small scent profiles and can be found in places like this or even underground down the side of the fencing. Although keystone are very careful when undertaking the fence removal there’s always a risk one could get hurt during the process. Dogs provide an incredible method to safely locate newts in these precarious locations, I can then move them out of harms way before the fencing is taken out. Teamwork at its finest 🥰🐶🦎

We spent the morning carrying out precautionary searches around drill pit and access locations on a Wessex Water pipeline scheme. I could spend all day working with this girl 🥰 #wildlifedetectiondog #greatcrestednewt #gcn #wessexwater

Freya indicating on the side of one of our chambers! 🥰 such an incredible nose🦎

Freya focusing well with lots of distractions around. The site staff were very impressed with her focus 🙌🐾🦎

Freya searching for newts along fenceline 🐾🦎 #greatcrestednewt #gcn #detectiondog #wildlifedetectiondogs #conservationdogs #newtdog #licl

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