Working Like a Dog

Meet some Gulfshore pets who really earn their keep.

by Gwen Perry

In the past two decades, pets have moved from doghouses and barns into the lap of domestic luxury, staking their claims to our beds and couches. And that’s where most of the United States’ 68 million dogs and 73 million cats spend their weekdays alone, even though two-thirds of their owners admit to feeling guilty about it.

Some owners have assuaged that guilt by taking their pets to work. They find that the wagging tails and throaty purrs of their best friends help ease job pressures.

All sorts of animals have found a place in the working world, but dogs still predominate. Here’s a look at a few local creatures who work for their kibble, and the businesses that employ and enjoy them.

Radar’s Range

Radar the border collie plays a vital role in making air travel safe for the millions of people who fly in and out of Southwest Florida Inter-national Airport each year. The five-year-old dog’s specialty is chasing birds off taxiways and runways. Her efforts drastically reduce the number of potentially dangerous bird strikes by planes.

Five days a week, she and handler Rebecca Haggie clamber into a Fort Explorer and patrol the airport property. Even in the SUV, Radar is on the lookout for sandhill cranes, great blue herons and other birds attracted to the many drainage areas on airport grounds. When they spot birds, Haggie sets Radar loose and the dog races toward the prey, giving them the masterful “border-collie eye,” as Haggie calls it.

“The bird community gets the news that there’s a predator on this field,” says Haggie.

Besides her field duties, Radar does a lot of public-relations work, meeting and greeting adoring fans. Haggie stands by armed with Radar’s photos, inscribed with her pawtograph. Radar even has her own business cards. “She absolutely loves her job,” says Haggie. No surprise there: Border collies are work dogs, though usually bred for herding sheep rather than birds.

Indeed, Radar sometimes has trouble leaving work behind. When she and Haggie recently traveled by air to a certification test, Radar kept a sharp eye on the field as they boarded the plane and waited to take off. “She was looking from the aircraft,” says Haggie. “She knew exactly where she was. She knew where to look for the birds.”

Gulfshore Life

The Magazine of Southwest Florida

July 2004

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