Bridget Martin and Zinzan are the only civilian search team covering Greater Auckland and northwards. Photo / Paul Estcourt
The first time she saw him she knew he was the one. And two years later they made it official.
Bridget Martin and German Shepherd Zinzan recently qualified as an NZ LandSAR dog search team, the only civilian combination covering Greater Auckland and northwards.
The pair have not been called
out yet, but Mrs Martin always has a bag packed and 1-year-old son Harrison's grandmother on babysitting standby.
"By the time she arrives I will have my kit on and we will kind of cross over in the hallway and she will stay the night," she explained.
Watching Zinzan at the breeder's, Mrs Martin knew he was a "natural-born handler".
"If there was a toy he would take it off the other puppies. He would do anything for that toy and that's what you need to look for," she said.
The puppy was named after former All Black Zinzan Brooke because, like the rugby player, he had "hardness and willingness to persevere".
Training began then and there.
"Even though they are a puppy you need to start that conditioning," she said. "You don't want them to be scared of anything ... loud noises, shiny floors, other people."
Now the pair are qualified they have to be ready any day, at any time - whenever the police dog teams are tied up or a large-scale operation requires extra help.
Mrs Martin said dogs were a great tracking tool because of their superior ability to pick up scents. While an average human had 30,000 scent cells, a dog had 230 million.
"So they can really smell ... much like the ambulance dogs that found soldiers in the war."
The dogs, like the dedicated search and rescue volunteers, did not give up until they found the person, she said.
Mrs Martin, a constable for the Auckland police who works as an alcohol harm reduction officer, is also a former round-the-world race yachtie but has no time for that these days.
She admitted juggling motherhood, her first "baby" - bloodhound Ellie-May - police work and search and rescue made for a busy life.
When she was pregnant with Harrison - or "H-man" - husband Chris Martin had to take over the training of Zinzan when her belly got too big.
And as for talk of more children? She says three "babies" are enough.
