Evie's high predator drive quickly resulted in the destruction of 15 Norway rats, a key predator preying on the rare and endangered birds along the river.
This was an exceptional result from a young canine new to her work, as during that same time the human trappers working along the river only destroyed three rats. Since then her trapping skills have continued to sharpen.
Evie is owned by the Ashley-Rakahuri Rivercare Group’s (ARRG) operations manager and photographer Grant Davey and his wife Val.
The young Welsh springer spaniel became a member of their family after their previous dog died in 2024 and they decided to get a rat detection dog to help them with the rodent-control work they do along the river.
Evie comes from a working-dog family and was bred by detection dog trainer Billy Barton in Wanaka.
Since joining the Davey family Val has been Evie’s day-to-day trainer, and was gifted several frozen rat carcasses to help maintain and hone Evie’s tracking abilities.
"The frozen rats are hidden in the garage for Evie to indicate their presence," Val says.
"They are also dragged around the garden for her to track and find. She loves working and receives plenty of treats and much praise for doing a good job."
Evie’s training also includes obedience work and annual bootcamps back in Wanaka with Billy. Earlier this year Evie completed another successful bootcamp with Val, Grant and ARRG’s field operations ranger, Emily Wium joining her.
For Emily it was an opportunity to begin learning the basics of dog training.
"We spent time at first with general obedience, getting Evie used to me being her trainer rather than just someone who gives her hugs before work," Emily says.
After that they worked on a range of things such as sit, wait, blind stays and walking to heel before moving onto Evie’s favourite thing – rats.
Billy created scent trails for Evie to follow around the paddocks, using defrosted rats and a ferret so that Emily could practise reading her body language while she was tracking.
Their work was filmed and watched later with Billy giving Emily tips on how to improve the connection she has with Evie.
Emily, Val, Grant and Evie also got the opportunity to meet many of the dogs that Billy trains and saw videos of how they work.
"It was amazing," Emily says.
“I learnt a lot on this trip, and I am excited to continue working with Evie and improve my skills as a handler."
When not on the job along the river Evie loves to run, and earlier this year she proved a great companion for Val when they completed 96km for the Move Your Butt campaign.
Val and Evie raised $1106 for bowel cancer research, showing support for friends and family members affected by the disease.
