Leanne Kendra joined the department and the detector dog program at a very interesting time in 2009, when the program was transitioning from beagles to Labradors. She outlines some of the differences between the breeds discussing both pros and cons. She was also one of the very few handlers who have transitioned a detector dog from their initial training and worked them all the way to retirement.

Sarah Tibbetts first worked as a kennel hand, assisting the biosecurity detector dog program. She has since joined the department, has progressed her career and is now a technical supervisor for the detector dog teams in Sydney. In this episode she outlines the role of a technical supervisor, maintaining both handler and detector dog proficiency and motivation. Sarah also talks us through multi-handling detector dogs, and different techniques for keeping our detector dogs motivated.

Kelvin Wong recently joined the detector dog program in 2022 and has now found his feet with detector dog Udell at his side. In this episode Kevin outlines learning and development techniques, team culture and changing your working style to match your detector dog. Kevin previously worked at Taronga Zoo and covers the similarities of training seals and how we train our biosecurity detector dogs.

Clare O’Shannessy was in the Detector Dog program for 14 years. Clare played an integral role in the program’s expansion into international mail centres. In this episode we follow Clare through the initial steps of detecting mail and sourcing various dog breeds and converting them into detector dogs. Clare also talks about some handler attributes and shares some advice for the aspiring ones.

Dee Apps was one of the first few detector dog handlers with a stunning career starting from 1993, one year after the program established up until 2010. In this interview Dee shares a few stories from her time as a detector handler including training stories, interesting seizures with her detector dog Jessie and even a few celebrity encounters.

Harry Smithard was one of the first detector dog handlers along with Rachel from our previous episode. In this podcast Harry outlines the initial challenges of the detector dog program. Harry also talks us through key attributes of a detector dog handler including observing not only dog behaviour but human behaviour as well.

Rachel Holdforth was one of the very first detector dog handlers. Rachel talks us through the initial pairing of detector dogs with handlers, matching dog and handler personalities to form the best possible combination. She also discusses her initial training and how handlers often had to improvise when the detector dog program was in its infancy. 

Bob Stirling, one of the founders of the Australian biosecurity detector dog program, talks us through his journey with the detector dog program. From the program’s humble beginnings involving hiring handlers and trainers and finding the iconic beagles to the expansion into the international mail centres. The work and effort Bob gave to the program earned him a Public Service Medal.