‘Dogs with jobs’ invited to attend kiwi avoidance training in Whanganui

Save the Kiwi and the Department of Conservation encourage working dog owners to take a kiwi avoidance course.

A course aimed at preventing dogs from harming kiwi will be held in Whanganui following Save the Kiwi Week.

The awareness week is from October 14 to 20.

Kiwi avoidance training started in Coromandel in the 1990s and is run nationally as a collaboration between the Department of Conservation (DoC) and Save the Kiwi charity.

Save the Kiwi said unlike other birds, kiwi had no breastplate or chest muscles to protect their internal organs so even a nudge from an inquisitive pup could kill. A female kiwi could lay up to 200 eggs in her lifetime so even one death could be devastating for conservation efforts.

The training programme was targeted towards “dogs with jobs”, such as sheep dogs or hunting dogs that may work near kiwi habitats.

Working dogs that had basic obedience and hunting training quickly picked up the kiwi avoidance training, Save the Kiwi’s dog specialist Emma Craig said.

“They’ve got that concept already of target and non-target ... so it’s not too difficult to add kiwi on to the list of things they’re not allowed.”

The training presented the dogs with kiwi stimuli such as taxidermy kiwis, nest material or droppings combined with electric shocks.

“We create a scenario where they encounter a kiwi and have a negative experience and that helps to remind them that no, kiwi are not something I want to go for.”

A 2017 study through Predator Free NZ found that by the start of the second session 69% of dogs showed avoidance of the stimuli and by the fifth session that increased to 100%.

Although the training did not make the dog fully “kiwi proof”, it significantly reduced the risk of harm to the endangered species. However, owners were urged to keep dogs that had completed the training away from kiwi habitats and conservation areas when possible.

Non-working dogs should always be kept away from kiwi habitats and conservation areas.

Under the 1996 Dog Control Act, dog owners can be fined $20,000 and/or face three years of jail time for the injury or death of any protected wildlife.

“The vast majority of hunters are really happy to do this training because they spend a lot of time in the bush, they like seeing kiwi, and they don’t want their dog to be responsible for taking those experiences away from them,” Craig said.

To best protect wildlife, DoC and Save the Kiwi urged all dog owners to keep their animals under control, contained at night and to walk them on leads.

Hunting dog owners should hunt during the day, keep pack sizes small and do kiwi avoidance training.

A training session will be held at Gordon Park, Whanganui, on October 26.

Registrations for the session, or other dates and locations, can be made at kiwiavoidancetraining.nz/book/

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.