Hearing dog Olive reports for dawn duty

Jason Irvine

A gorgeous little hearing dog was a special guest at the Tauranga RSA's Anzac Day Gallipoli centenary dawn service.

Olive accompanied Jason Irvine to the service, a reminder of the valuable role played by dogs in wars involving New Zealand's forces.

The toy poodle is one of only three hearing dogs in Tauranga and has been trained to alert Mr Irvine in circumstances like someone knocking at the door or when alarms go off, like cooking, fire and wake-up alarms.

Jason Irvine's faithful dog Olive. Photo / George Novak

Olive is nearly 2 and has been a huge help for the Judea resident who relies on a powerful hearing aid and lip reading to communicate.

His dog has joined a long tradition in the Irvine family, with Jason and brother Brenden regulars at dawn services since they were old enough to remember - encouraged by their parents and their late grandfather Victor "Snapper" Wilson.

Mr Wilson, who died in 2006, served with the 24th Battalion in Italy during World War II, and told Mr Irvine about his friendship with the Gurkhas whose lethal skills with Nepal's distinctive kukri knife earned them a fearsome reputation equalled only by the Maori Battalion's use of the bayonet.

And like his grandfather, Mr Irvine is a fulltime member of the Tauranga RSA, enjoying the services offered by the club which has unhesitatingly accepted Olive into its ranks.