Officials deploy highly trained dogs along river to fight destructive threat: 'We're winning'

Working Dogs for Conservation utilizes trained dogs to detect invasive species, such as weeds and mussels. 

For the past five years, the Bozeman, Montana-based organization has been working with the Teton County Weed & Pest department to help control harmful weeds that outcompete native plants. 

As KHOL reported, Teton County Weed & Pest and the working dogs are focusing on perennial pepperweed near the Snake River in Teton County, Wyoming. Dogs can sniff out approximately 75% more of this invasive weed than humans can without their help. 

If perennial pepperweed isn't controlled, native plants can't grow and provide food for foraging elk, birds, and cattle. 

Dogs participating in the Working Dogs for Conservation program are often rescued from shelters and reside at the organization's facility. 

However, one of the dogs, Fenton, lives with the organization's co-founder, Aimee Hurt. Fenton locates invasive species and alerts Hurt, who bags them, logs the location, and arranges for a team to come spray that area for weed control.

Teton County Weed & Pest utilizes the dogs, along with other innovative strategies, such as drones. 

Erika Edmiston, who leads the TCWP program, said that in the battle between people and pests and weeds, "We're winning," in part because of the dog patrol program. 

This use of working dogs is helpful because it provides a cost-effective strategy for controlling invasive plants despite limited county funding for such projects. Federal funding for conservation projects has been significantly reduced over the past year, leaving organizations scrambling to find new grants and innovative solutions. 

Working dogs have been effective and inspiring in many other conservation projects as well. 

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Also along Wyoming's Snake River, dogs are helping invasive saltcedar plants. In Minnesota, dogs have been used to sniff out zebra mussels and prevent their spread from boats and docks.

Explore Big Sky is a nonprofit that partners with Working Dogs for Conservation to turn overlooked shelter dogs into environmental experts. 

To address conservation issues where you live, you can contact Working Dogs for Conservation or a similar organization that puts skilled dog teams to work for environmental benefits. 

Taking local action can also look like donating to working dog organizations and rewilding your yard to prevent the spread of invasive plants on your own property. 

Any kind of invasive species, whether plant or animal, has the potential to devastate local ecosystems and disrupt food chains. Humanely using animals as a tool in invasive species control is a powerful strategy that continues to work well for many different issues. 

"The dogs give us confidence that we are finding far, far more of these [weed] patches," said Kelsey Mitchell from Working Dogs for Conservation, per KHOL. "This is just a couple of individuals [so] we can take care of them early."

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