Buffy the Cane Toad Buster
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Perth dingo trainer, Sarah Fyffe is training Dingoes to locate and detect cane toads. Sarah is currently training Buffy to be a toad buster in the East Kimberley and NT.
Sarah has secured a supplier of toad scent to help with the training.
Buffy is a black and tan Alpine Dingo. Dingoes come in black and tan, white and tan.
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Youngest toad buster working
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At an age when most pups are still coming to grips with not peeing on the carpet, one young dingo is getting ready to become a toad buster.
Trainer and dingo enthusiast Sarah Fyffe is pleased with the progress of the yet-to-be-named pup, which has already got the nickname of 'Buffy the Toad Buster'.
Perth-based Sarah is looking at the possibility of moving to Kununurra to get Buffy involved in more training at the toad 'front' across the NT/WA Border.
Sarah has been in contact with Kimberley Toad Busters and the Kimberley Echo, keeping us posted on her progress.
"What I am trying to do is contribute to two important causes - stopping the toad and conserving the dingo," she said last week.
"I have developed a training technique to train dingoes in the area of tracking and scent detection.
"We have semi-retired our two tan adults (Chloe and Shadow) and are currently training up Buffy, a black and tan and a white dingo puppy, who is yet to be named (suggestions welcome).
"I am now one month into training and Buffy is already beginning field work.
"The main difficulty is keeping up with her speed of learning and not letting her get bored."
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The training involves four 20-minute sessions each day.
One is a drill session when Buffy is confronted with many different items and asked to alert to which has a sample of a toad (usually a leg).
(Sarah obtains frozen toads from a Queensland laboratory.)
"Next there are field searches where I hide toads in realistic but obvious locations.
"Then we 'track' toads, meaning a trail is laid and the dingo is asked to follow the scent to where the toad is 'hiding'.
"Our last session of the day is checking vehicles and buildings.
"We go through about five toads a day in order to keep the scent fresh and to stop the dingoes searching for the dead scent.
"Hopefully, we will be ready to trial the training by September," Sarah said.
© 2006 The Kimberley Echo
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This young dingo pup is already showing signs of becoming a major weapon against cane toads.
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