Detector dogs on the fruit fly case

Two detector dogs will be used in a trial during October to find fruit fly larvae in orchards and help in the fight against Riverland outbreaks.

Meet the fruit fly detector dogs – Max, four-year-old Border Collie x Koolie and Rylee, three-year-old German Shepherd.

The dogs graduated from a four-month training program on 29 September 2022. Both dogs are highly skilled in obedience, allowing them to be used safely off lead during search activities.

During October, Max and Rylee will participate in a month-long trial in the field, which will decide the ongoing use of this new and innovative tool for finding fruit fly.

The detector dogs have the potential to cover large areas of land quickly. This will support PIRSA field teams by identifying potential fruit fly larvae hotspots which require further investigation.

Their training involved hiding irradiated larvae in a secured mesh bag, either buried in the ground, or hung from trees in an orchard. The detector dogs then searched all trees in the orchard working in a pendulum motion, off lead and ahead of the handler. The detector dogs lay down when they detect the larvae to inform the trainer of their find.

The irradiated larvae were from the Port Augusta sterile insert facility and were safe to use in the training.

The dogs have been trained through Noble K9 Detector Dogs located in Loxton.