I was interested to read in Waitrose Weekend paper today that a dog has been trained to be a feline’s best friend.
Molly the cocker spaniel was rescued by ex-police officer Colin Butcher. The originator of The UK Pet Detectives, Colin thought it would be a good idea to train a sniffer dog to locate missing animals. But he wanted to get a rescue dog and he looked and found Molly, as the previous owner could not cope and was advertising her on Gumtree under the heading: ‘Owner cannot cope!’
Working cocker spaniel Molly needed a great deal of stimulation. As we’ve found with all the spaniels we’ve looked after previously for their owners during our house-sits. Most dogs need the daily stimulation of some sort of activity, searching for things, playing ball, retrieving as well as a lot of outside off lead walks and play too, preferably with other dogs. If retriever type dogs are under stimulated they’ll find something else to keep them occupied themselves, usually something destructive and disruptive!
So Molly spent 8 months training at Medical Detection Dogs charity who specialise in teaching dogs to recogise the scent of illness. Once trained Molly went out with Colin to search for missing pets. Molly firstly scents the cat’s fur and then she sits still when she has found the scent so that she doesn’t frighten the cat!
Molly now has over 100 finds under her collar. Colin is a busy man with over 30 calls a week and with Molly, by his side, it’s an enjoyable experience for them both. You can read their story in his new book Molly & Me which is out now (Michael Joseph, £12.99) thepetdetectives.com
Labrador heaven for Ella 
Eadie Rockets 
Lettice 
Hector the lively Lagotto Romagna 
Bailey loves balls
25 May 2019
Sniff it out – dog detective finds lost Cats!
I was interested to read in Waitrose Weekend paper today that a dog has been trained to be a feline’s best friend.
Molly the cocker spaniel was rescued by ex-police officer Colin Butcher. The originator of The UK Pet Detectives, Colin thought it would be a good idea to train a sniffer dog to locate missing animals. But he wanted to get a rescue dog and he looked and found Molly, as the previous owner could not cope and was advertising her on Gumtree under the heading: ‘Owner cannot cope!’
Working cocker spaniel Molly needed a great deal of stimulation. As we’ve found with all the spaniels we’ve looked after previously for their owners during our house-sits. Most dogs need the daily stimulation of some sort of activity, searching for things, playing ball, retrieving as well as a lot of outside off lead walks and play too, preferably with other dogs. If retriever type dogs are under stimulated they’ll find something else to keep them occupied themselves, usually something destructive and disruptive!
So Molly spent 8 months training at Medical Detection Dogs charity who specialise in teaching dogs to recogise the scent of illness. Once trained Molly went out with Colin to search for missing pets. Molly firstly scents the cat’s fur and then she sits still when she has found the scent so that she doesn’t frighten the cat!
Molly now has over 100 finds under her collar. Colin is a busy man with over 30 calls a week and with Molly, by his side, it’s an enjoyable experience for them both. You can read their story in his new book Molly & Me which is out now (Michael Joseph, £12.99) thepetdetectives.com