Drug hunters harness lively stray's special talent + VID

A dog left abandoned at the SPCA's gates is now being trained by his new Te Puke owner to fight crime.

Tigger, a 2-year-old labrador cross, found himself the perfect home at New Zealand K9 Detection Services, where his tenacity for finding toys will be re-tuned to find drugs.

Tigger's new owner, Guus Knopers, trains dogs at his Te Puke business specifically to seek out illegal drugs. He said Tigger was "lovely" and his hyperactive character and fondness for balls made him a good detection dog.

"He's full on and that's what we want. We want a dog that does more or less whatever you like for training purposes," Mr Knopers said.

"A dog that has its own initiative and is high driven would be the best candidate."

He said Tigger had no worries chasing after any toy such as a ball, old teddy bear or even a piece of hose.

Mr Knopers trained Tigger to fetch a ball from any environment, including cars, long or short grass and through obstacle courses.

"Tigger will keep going until he's absolutely buggered," Mr Knopers said.

Mr Knopers said police usually approached him for detection dogs but in the meantime Tigger would enjoy fun and games with his current master.

"We don't put any restrictions on him just yet, so at this point of the training he needs to have fun."

Tauranga SPCA animal welfare inspector Anna Porteous first found Tigger tied to the centre's front gate.

The SPCA took Tigger in as a stray and immediately learned of his active nature.

"He would be one of the first dogs we've taken in who has such a high level of drive," she said.

"He was beyond the pale, you've never seen anything like this dog. You could put a tennis ball somewhere out of reach and he would watch that tennis ball and nothing else mattered. Once he got to that tennis ball, he would annihilate it."

It was because of that hunger to seek and destroy tennis balls that Ms Porteous knew Tigger would make a great detection dog.