A dog has been drafted in by St Bartholomew’s Hospital to help renovate one of its historic buildings by sniffing out dry rot.
image: for illustration only – St Bart’s By pandrcutts – https://www.flickr.com/photos/panr/3284512802/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.
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… a simple game of hide and seek…
ITV News writes:
The so-called rothound can investigate potential problems and highlight if parts of the structure have started to decay.
Using the four-legged inspector eliminates the need open up parts of the building which may cause damage.
The rothound, called Pip, is taken through each area of the building and when she gets the scent of rot, she lets her owner know.
“Pip and I have been investigating the North Wing at St Bart’s which entails taking Pip through each area and guiding her round so she can search,’ said rothound handler Isabel Of Mar.
“When she finds dry rot she indicates and for Pip her indication is lying down,” she explained.
Five-year-old Pip, a sprocker spaniel, has been searching for dry rot most of her life but isn’t always successful, particularly during hot weather…
‘Game of hide and seek’
“With training, initially it’s just a simple game of hide and seek and that we do with her favourite toy,” she explained.
“First we put it in an area where she can see it then get her to retrieve it. Then slowly hide it in a more concealed space then get her to find it and bring it back.
“Then you introduce a dry rot sample and once you’ve got her to look for that and found it then you take the toy away and just hide the dry rot sample…”
It means she can effectively see dry rot behind concealed panelling “so for us it is incredibly useful,” Isabel added.
