Jedda was raised and trained by ASDOG in the hope that she would prove to be suitable as an assistance dog. However, though she was a truly willing and obedient dog, she was also a joyous and very exuberant dog who loved playtime and energetic games. It was evident over time that her future would be better suited to a different working role.
Corrective Services NSW visited Jedda and puppy raiser Ann, and took Jedda on first sight to be retrained as a search dog for Corrective Services. We didn’t realise at the time that this was a truly momentous event: Jedda was to be one of the first dogs in Australia to be trained in detecting mobile phones within the prison environment.
Jedda took to her training like a duck to water, and learned to perform the tasks with her usual enthusiasm and ease. At Jedda’s graduation there were two new Mobile Phone Detection Dogs, Boe and Jedda, passing out. ASDOG representatives attended the event and watched proudly as Jedda and Correctional Officer Scott Wilton, her handler, displayed their skills with enthusiasm and qualified as a fully fledged Mobile Phone Detecting team. We continue to be very proud of Jedda’s achievements and, indeed, felt very honoured to have been invited to attend her graduation.
Jedda is now one of the first K9s in the country that can sniff out mobile phones. If we may quote from the November 2009 issue of the Corrective Services NSW Bulletin, “Corrective Services Minister, JohnRobertson, attended the graduation ceremony with Commissioner Ron Woodham, and said the day marked an important milestone for the K9 Unit. “We now have dogs that can detect mobile phones in correctional centres”, he said. “Troy and his dog, Boe, and Scott Wilton and his dog, Jedda, are honoured as the first graduates of the initial Phone Detector Dog Course.”
Jedda simply adores her job and is very well rewarded with lamb shanks following her successes!
She has already successfully detected a number of mobile phones and chargers that were not meant to be in the prison environment.