Six-month-old dogs Piper, Awa and Flo, all sisters, have had a rough start to life. They were once unwanted and neglected.
Watercare manager Suzanne Naylor is determined to give them a good life. So, she hatched a plan when she fostered the lively trio for Auckland Puppy Rescue.
She went to the bosses of the puppy rescue and told them she had a deal for them. She wanted to train the dogs’ noses to the smell of chlorine gas, a tell-tale indicator of hidden leaks in pipes.
When she got a “why not?”, she was overjoyed.
“Just the fact they have been saved but they are also doing some work. And they are training and learning these skills that can help the people of Auckland - it's all too much, it's amazing."
Watercare’s head of field services Richie Rameka said the dogs were more than just a novelty.
“They can still smell the chlorine up to a metre underground.”
Piper, Awa and Flo are still a couple of months away from being introduced to the smell of chlorine. For now, the focus is on getting them to find small pieces of rubber from a dog toy.
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