Accompany Millie the golden labrador on her hospital rounds, as she spreads joy and warmth to staff and patients alike at Petersfield Hospital on this month's episode of Dogs with Jobs. 

It's a deceptively simple episode - the gentle sound of a dog padding around the hospital on an ordinary Thursday morning. Yet there's a magic here when the dog loving patients encounter Millie, and talk about how much they look forward to getting back home to their own much loved canine companions. 

Former rescue dog Millie is a Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog and Petersfield is just one of her regular stops. Owner Linda Tipple explains the rhythms of Millie's part time working life and its rewards.

If you are interested in volunteering with your dog, please take a listen to the January 2021 interview with Patricia Bland of Pets as Therapy, who explains the qualities she looks for in a therapy dog. See the photos as usual at shineradio.uk/dogswithjobs.

In this episode you can also hear the winning submission of Dogs with Jobs, which won Gold at the Community Radio Awards 2022 in Bedford in November.

Other therapy dog interviews

• Meet Louis as he attends a military veterans' support session at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth
• Meet Phantom, the secondary school reading assistant at Bohunt School
• Meet Sprout the care home visitor and university emotional support worker
• Hear from Patricia Bland on what qualities they look for in Pets as Therapy dogs. 

Do you work your dog or dogs?

Get in touch with Kate at [email protected] or on 01730 555 500. 

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2022

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Shine Radio programme celebrates the frontline workers of the canine world, and was named best podcast in the 2022 Community Radio Awards.

Hear the announcement and presenter Kate Fairweather's acceptance speech at the awards ceremony held on Saturday night.

The prize was one of three collected by Shine Radio volunteers. The Shine Radio recipe won bronze for best podcast and the station as whole was named the best digital community radio station in the UK.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You rarely hear about bloodhound packs, because they are entirely uncontroversial. It's also a relatively new sport - there are barely a dozen packs in the UK. So this is something of a scoop!

Every Sunday, volunteer "quarries" pull on their trainers and run around 5km or so, following a route that has been pre-agreed with the landowners. Their mission is to outrun and outwit the bloodhounds, zig-zagging across the Hampshire countryside in order to throw them off the scent. It's rare that that they succeed. 

Bloodhounds are the undisputed kings of the scenting world. Their scenting abilities are so superior that they can distinguish between the scent of individual humans.

in this month's Dogs with Jobs, Kate Fairweather meets Jeremy Whaley, who is both senior joint Master and Huntsman of the South Downs Bloodhounds. He gives a rarely heard and remarkable insight into the working lives of his pack, which he started almost a decade ago.  

Find more dogs with interesting dogs.

Do you work your dog or dogs?

Please get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you would be interested in being on the podcast at [email protected] or find us on facebook or instagram.  

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2022

 

 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of Dogs with Jobs features a working pack of beagles.

Kennel huntsman Danny Allen describes the breeding, management and daily working lives of these characterful hounds to presenter Kate Fairweather.

Danny has worked with the Palmer Marlborough Clinkard Meon Valley Beagles for eight years, and combines insight into breeding, hunting and working of beagles with an obvious affection for his canine charges.

Find more dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dogs?

Please get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you would be interested in being on the podcast at [email protected].

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2022

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month’s guest is Clover, a liver and white springer spaniel. The interview was recorded at the South Downs Show in August, where Clover was demonstrating her talents as part of the Hamble and Hound Gun dog club. 

Presenter Kate Fairweather chats to Jo Bennett about Clover, the first springer spaniel she ever owned. Clover’s need to work soon became apparent, and Jo started gun dog training as a way of keeping her stimulated and happy. It wasn’t long before Clover’s natural talent showed itself, and Jo has competed with this lovely spaniel to considerable success in scurries (scurries are competitions, in which gun dogs have to find and retrieve a series of lures in a certain order, working against the clock).  

Doing demonstrations with other gun dogs at country shows is part of Clover’s working life.  Jo explains how working breeds need mental stimulation as well as exercise, and discusses training tips for keeping clever dogs stimulated and happy. 

Discover more dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dogs? If you would be interested in coming on the show, please get in touch with Kate at [email protected] or call 10730 555 500.  (Kate is particularly keen to interview a sniffer dog!)

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2022

 

 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Little Nippers, a performing troupe of terriers and lurchers, who work the country shows all over the UK.

Their entertaining performance at country shows educates the public and demonstrates the lost sport of coursing, using an electric lure.  Coursing is the hunting of game such as hares with greyhounds, which use sight rather than scent, and has been banned in the UK since 2004.

Phil Gibbons talks about life on the road with his 10 dogs to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather. Nothing is too good for his beloved dogs, who have a comfortable movie-star style trailer when on the road, but are very much family pets when at home.  

Find other dogs with interesting jobs. 

Do you work your dog or dogs? Please get in touch with Kate Fairweather if you would be interested in being on the podcast by emailing [email protected].

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2022

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Louis, a talented springer spaniel, who works for the Hampshire Fire Service. 

Louis is a Fire Investigation & Search Dog and is trained to sniff out the presence of flammable materials efficiently and with outstanding accuracy in minutes, where humans might take days to cover the same area. There are just 17  working fire dogs in the whole of the UK, making Louis a rarity and something of a scoop for Dogs with Jobs.

Louis' career success is heartwarming, since he was made homeless at less than a year old. His original family simply couldn’t cope with his high energy and what dog handlers call  “play drive”. 

He was rescued by veteran dog handler and firefighter Sean White. Sean knew that Louis craved mental and physical stimulation, and that a job would allow him to channel all that energy in a productive way. 

Sean describes how Louis joined the fire service as a trainee, alongside Sean’s other Fire Investigation & Search Dogs, Harvey and Ruby.

Find out about other dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dogs?  If you would consider coming on the show, please get in touch with presenter Kate Fairweather on [email protected] or find us via facebook or instagram.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather, 2022

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tucked away in a converted barn in the tiny South Downs village of Ramsdean, Hounds for Heroes is a charity, which trains and provides assistance dogs for disabled veterans from the military and emergency services. 

Founder Allen Parton talks to Dogs with Jobs presenter Kate Fairweather about how the dogs are trained, and explains the story behind the dogs' names. He also explains what they look for in "puppy parents", the other vital component in raising a well balanced assistance dog. 

This is a companion piece to the Dogs with Jobs edition, which focuses on E.J. the military assistance dog.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet E.T., (short for Endal III), a talented young labrador retriever and third in a line of exceptional assistance dogs. Handler and owner Allen Parton is a disabled ex-Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer, who founded the military assistance dog charity, Hounds for Heroes, in 2010. 

Allen returned from the Gulf War in 1991 with a serious head injury to spend five years  in hospital, following which he needed specialist day care. He tells Kate Fairweather about how Endal became his first, “accidental” assistance dog. In the early days, Allen was unable to communicate verbally and used signing alone to communicate with his dog. In the circumstances, it's quite moving to hear Allen describing his recovery - he's come a long way with the help of his hounds. 

Endal was succeeded by E.J. (Endal Junior), whose death in Spring 2022 left E.T. (Endal III) in the hot seat!  Together with Rookie, an experienced assessment dog, E.J. is already supporting Allen day to day. Allen explains how the assistance dogs in his life have given him purpose, transformed his health and helped his relationships. He also describes how the charity he founded helps other disabled servicemen and women. 

Find other dogs with interesting jobs.

Do you work your dog or dogs, or know someone who does?  You can get in touch with Kate at Dogs with Jobs at [email protected] or find Dogs with Jobs on Facebook or Instagram.

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2022

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month, we meet Simone Brainch from the UK charity Medical Detection Dogs.

Simone explains how the charity has developed since 2014, including its network of Medical Alert Assistance Dogs.

The charity's specially trained assistance dogs alert their owners to impending medical emergencies, such as hypo-glycemic episodes or even allergic reactions. These dogs work incredibly closely with their human partners to warn them of an impending health episode, giving them the time to make themselves safe.

It’s all down to the dogs’ amazing sense of smell - they are trained to identify tiny odour changes emitted by their owner before an emergency and alert the person to take preventative action. 

Find out more at Medical Alert Assistance Dogs.

Explore other Dogs with Jobs episodes (and see photos!) on our website.

If you would like to come on the podcast and introduce your working dog(s), get in touch at [email protected].

© & ℗ Kate Fairweather 2021

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.