In this Christmas AND 4th birthday show, creators Kate Fairweather and John Welsman discuss how Dogs with Jobs has evolved and play snippets from some of their favourite episodes. They celebrate four years of fun making working dog podcasts together and discovering more jobs being done by dogs than they had ever thought possible back in 2021.

What started as an amusing lockdown project created by two community radio volunteers during the pandemic quickly showed it had legs.

Dogs with Jobs took Podcast of the Year at the National Community Radio Awards 2022 and has been a top 10 pets and animals podcast regularly since then, while growing an international audience.

The first episode of Dogs with Jobs podcast aired in January 2021, and featured Acorn, a golden Retriever who worked as a reading assistant in a Petersfield primary school.

At the time, dog walking was one of the few ways to get out of the house under the UK's strict lockdown rules. So early episodes were recorded outdoors, which contributed to the podcast developing its distinctive "on location" sound, and relaxed interviewing style.

Episodes referred to in this episode:

• Edie, Max and Joe the sheepdogs, and how to spot herding talent in a puppy
• Giglee the truffle hunter gets a surprise
• Medical detection dogs with Dr. Claire Guest CBE
• Darcy - a human/canine partnership in full bloom
• Ninja the barkour dog - a charismatic collie and his talented handler

Dogs with Jobs features the full range of working dogs, therapy dogs, military and service dogs, assistance dogs, bio detection dogs and other, random occupations such as truffle hunting, modelling and more. Browse more dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dog?

Get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you work your dog/dogs and are interested in coming on the show on team@shineradio.uk.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024

Photo credit: Tina Knowles Photography

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A throwback to summer... this episode of Dogs with Jobs was recorded at the Hampshire Gun Dog Show in August, which featured around 30 gun dog breeds, from golden retrievers and springer spaniels to rare European gun dog breeds.

Joy Venturi Rose of the Hampshire Gun Dog Society describes the various events put on by the society, which include open shows, working tests, field trials and training classes.

Joy touches on working breed standards in this succinct, but excellent overview of gun dog breeds, and shares some ideas for keeping your working breed pet happy and stimulated.

She explains how working breeds need stimulation in their life that uses their brain, and ideally mirrors the sort of work they would have done many dog generations previously.

More about the Hampshire Gun Dog Society.

Other porting dog episodes:

• Gundogs galore at the Hampshire Country Sports Day (October 2024)
• Echo, Delta and Polar, the gun dog trio (September 2024)
• Oberon the working Clumber spaniel (September 2023)
• Alfie, the waterfowling retreiver (October 2022)
• Who's winning at the South of England Hound Show? (August 2022)
• The Sealyham terrier Rat Pack (July 2023)
• Meet the Beagles! (October 2022)
• Clover, the accidental gundog (September, 2022)
• Debit and Dervish, the hunting hound pups (November 2021)
• An insight into the breeding of hounds (November 2021)
• Drake, the gun dog champion (September 2021)

Dogs with Jobs features the full range of working dogs, therapy dogs, military and service dogs, assistance dogs, bio detection dogs and other, random occupations such as truffle hunting, modelling and more. Browse more dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dog?

Get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you're interested in coming on the show on team@shineradio.uk. Kate is always at the Countryside Alliance country sports show and the Alresford Agricultural Show, both in September in Hampshire.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We first heard about the work of Reid the biosecurity dog five months back.

Conservationist and handler Rachel Cripps talks to presenter Kate Fairweather about Reid's work, visiting Scotland's islands during the course of the year, in all weathers, searching for evidence of rat incursions.

Rachel explains the plans for winter, when weather stops all island visits, and how she keeps Reid ticking over and his skills developing.

What is biosecurity?

Biosecurity is the practice of protecting places from the threats to wildlife posed by the introduction of new diseases or types of plants or animals that do not naturally occur there.

The work of Biosecurity for Scotland focuses on protecting 38 seabird islands around Scotland from invasive non-native mammalian predators, such as rats, mice, mink and stoat. These Scottish islands are remote, home to many globally important colonies of seabirds. Native seabirds, which have not evolved alongside predators and are vulnerable to invasive predators, which eat the eggs, chicks and sometimes adult birds.

Thanks to Sophie at RSPB for introducing Reid and Rachel to the show.

NTS and NatureScot.Biosecurity for Scotland is a partnership of RSPB Scotland, National Trust for Scotland and NatureScot. This project is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.

Other dogs working in conservation

• Reid the bio security dog - the original interview from May 2024;
• Skye, the stoat detection dog working to keep Orkney free from predators;
• A team of five detection dogs survey the Isle of May for ground nesting 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?

Get in touch with Kate at team@shineradio.uk with suggestions or introductions to working dogs to feature on the show - she's always interested to hear about dogs with interesting jobs.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With long waiting lists for autism assistance dogs and medical alert dogs, and little prospect of getting one, teenager Ella Walker decided to train her own.

Meet Ralph, a multi-tasking medical alert and assistance dog, who’s just perfect for Ella.

They've been together since golden retriever Ralph was less than a year old. Since then, Ella has focused on training him for a range of specialist tasks and functions, with the help and support form her family and others.

Ella explains why she always has her eye on the next milestone for Ralph.

• Assistance Dogs UK is an umbrella organisation for many assistance dogs charities

Connected Episodes:

More detail and photos at shineradio.uk/dogswithjobs.

Other support dogs and assistance dogs:

• Darcey the Canine Partner support dog and her owner, a relationship in full bloom
• Benjy the trainee guide dog and his first five weeks on the job;
• Daisy, an autism assistance dog who works with a non-verbal autistic teenager;
• Cashel, the autism assistance dog who works with an actor;
• E.T., the military assistance dog who works with a veteran;
• Medical alert detection dogs and their lives before they start work;
• Breck, the guide dog and what a mature guiding partnership looks like.

Find more dogs with interesting jobs.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dogs pretty much outnumbered people at the Country Sports Day at Bereleigh, East Meon, both inside and outside the arena.

A particular delight was the arena demonstration from seasoned gun dog trainer, Graham Watkins, whose five spaniels, including a talented two year old and a 12 year grande dame, showed the range of jobs these dogs do on shoots during the season.

Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather, caught up with veteran trainer Graham Watkins, who has five decades of experience training gun dogs. Semi retired now, he trains just a couple of dogs at a time - this is the voice of experience. Drawing on the spaniels in the arena on this particular day, he talks talent, training, breeding and career progression for his spaniels.

Recorded at the Hampshire Country Sports Day, 2024.

Sporting dog episodes:

• Echo, Delta and Polar, the gun dog trio (September 2024)
• Oberon the working Clumber spaniel (September 2023)
• Alfie, the waterfowling retreiver (October 2023)
• Who's winning at the South of England Hound Show? (August 2023)
• The Sealyham terrier Rat Pack (July 2023)
• Meet the Beagles! (October 2022)
• Debit and Dervish, the hunting hound pups (November 2021)
• An insight into the breeding of hounds (November 2021)

Dogs with Jobs features the full range of working dogs, therapy dogs, military and service dogs, assistance dogs, bio detection dogs and other, random occupations such as truffle hunting, modelling and more. Browse more dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dog?

Get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you're interested in coming on the show on team@shineradio.uk. Kate is always at the Countryside Alliance country sports show and the Alresford Agricultural Show, both in September in Hampshire.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Black Labrador, Echo and her daughters, Delta and Polar pick up on shoots in the shooting season, and excel at scurries, trials and other activities during the summer.

The trio are much loved pets, but their owner, Kevin Warburton, is also a seasoned gun dog handler and part of the Hamble and Hound Gun dog Club.

The club puts on scurries at the South Downs Show, which takes place just outside Petersfield every summer.

Kevin tells Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather how he keeps them fit and well for the season, and how the gun dog training and activities keep his three Labradors happy and stimulated.

Recorded at the South Downs Show, 2024.

Sporting dog episodes:

• Oberon the working Clumber spaniel (September 2023)
• Alfie, the waterfowling retreiver (October 2023)
• Who's winning at the South of England Hound Show? (August 2023)
• The Sealyham terrier Rat Pack (July 2023)
• Meet the Beagles! (October 2022)
• Debit and Dervish, the hunting hound pups (November 2021)
• An insight into the breeding of hounds (November 2021)

Dogs with Jobs features the full range of working dogs, therapy dogs, military and service dogs, assistance dogs, bio detection dogs and other, random occupations such as truffle hunting, modelling and more. Browse more dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dog?

Get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you're interested in coming on the show on team@shineradio.uk. Kate is always at the Countryside Alliance country sports show and the Alresford Agricultural Show, both in September in Hampshire.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daisie is a black Labrador retriever, who works as an "ambassadog" for the assistance dog charity, Canine Partners.

Daisie and her handler, Ellie Chadwick, demonstrate to the general public the various tasks that an assistance may do to support its disabled human handler. They do this on a voluntary basis at weekends at country shows and other events all over the country, as part of the charity's fundraising efforts.

Ellie's day job is also within Canine Partners, and she has spent her career to date working with and training support dogs.

This is linked to the last Dogs with Jobs episode, which focused on the canine/human partnership in action - that of eight year old golden retriever, Darcey and her human partner, Wren Rawlings. They have been partnered for seven years, and Wren gives an articulate and nuanced account of their relationship and how it has evolved and changed his life. By coincidence, Ellie, whom we hear from in this episode, is the Canine Partners liaison link with Darcey and Wren - making this episode a companion piece.

Recorded at the South Downs Show, 2024.

• More detail and photos at shineradio.uk/dogswithjobs.
• Find out more about Canine Partners - from puppy walking to assistance dogs.

Other support dogs and assistance dogs episodes:

• Darcey, the assistance dog and her human partner of seven years
• Benjy the trainee guide dog and his first five weeks on the job;
• Daisy, an autism assistance dog who works with a non-verbal autistic teenager;
• Cashel, the autism assistance dog who works with a working actor;
• E.T., the military assistance dog who works with a veteran;
• Medical alert detection dogs and their lives before they start work;
• Breck, the guide dog and what a mature guiding partnership looks like.

Do you work your dog or dogs?

I'd love to hear from you if so - or perhasp you can recommend someone else who works their dog or dogs.

Get in touch with me, Kate, on team@shineradio.uk or katefairweather5@gmail.com.

Find more dogs with interesting jobs.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darcey, the golden Labrador retriever has been partnered with illustrator and teaching assistant, Wren Rawlings for over six years.

Wren explains to presenter Kate Fairweather what Darcey does for him and how the partnership has seen him through a roller coaster seven years. Having had pretty normal health through his childhood and teenage years, Wren was struck with life-altering illness when he was a university student, which left him disabled.

The partnership is one of Canine Partners' many successes: Wren starts a teaching job in September and is getting married in a month after that - with Darcey as ring bearer, at the heart of the ceremony in October.

It’s a life affirming tale of triumph over adversity. Darcey was trained specifically for Wren by Canine Partners, the support dog charity.

More detail and photos at shineradio.uk/dogswithjobs.

Other support dogs and assistance dogs:

• Benjy the trainee guide dog and his first five weeks on the job;
• Daisy, an autism assistance dog who works with a non-verbal autistic teenager;
• Cashel, the autism assistance dog who works with a working actor;
• E.T., the military assistance dog who works with a veteran;
• Medical alert detection dogs and their lives before they start work;
• Breck, the guide dog and what a mature guiding partnership looks like.

Find more dogs with interesting jobs.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.