2024 Women to Watch
This year we showcase over 80 South Australian women to watch throughout the year. From business, to careers, arts to science. This year’s selected women highlight the depth and diversity of the women in our state and also the vast array of opportunities to develop a business or career in South Australia. Find our more about our inaugural Women to Watch initiative here.
I own and operate Conservation & Detection Dogs SA. I am also a Dog trainer & Veterinary nurse. I train my dogs to detect Invasive and Endangered plants and animals including endangered Lizards and endangered Butterfly larvae, plus many other types of fauna. I have also trained one of my dogs to Search for missing people and dogs. My dogs are my absolute life, for so many reasons!
I am surrounded by dogs every single day and I would not have life any other way. I take great pride in my dogs and in all our collective work ethic and achievements. We do a lot of volunteer detection work, as most often there is no funding available to pay us for what we do. It can take months to train each dog to each different odour, but we do it, because we love it.
// Favourite inspirational quote
“Train the dog in front of you.” And “Don’t expect more from the dog, than what you are willing to do yourself.”
// Let’s get to know you
My family have always been lovers of dogs, so I grew up with dogs. I don’t remember a time without dogs in my life. I love the outdoors and especially the diverse nature that we have here in SA. I have been a veterinary nurse for about 15 years now. Part way through my vet nursing work, I adopted a small dog that had been rescued by the RSPCA from a puppy farm, this little dog was heavily pregnant. She was so frightened of everything and everyone. She was a mess. I wanted to help her to realise that the world wasn’t as bad as she thought it was, but I didn’t know how too. So I studied and achieved Diploma in dog behaviour. That was it, I was hooked on dog training.
Then I wanted to do something different, so I found a local Search and Rescue group that used dogs to locate missing people, I got myself another dog to add to the other 2. I really enjoyed training my new dog in Search and Rescue, but he wasn’t as enthusiastic as me, and then, I found out about using dogs to locate Endangered and Invasive species of plants and animals. I followed a few overseas trainers on face book to see what they were achieving, and I was hooked! I loved it, so we started scent detection training.
Now I needed to get another dog that was suitable for conservation detection, so I found a good breeder and got myself a puppy to train up. That was my Nessie, and that was 4 years ago that I got lucky enough to have this wonderful dog come into my life to teach me so much about scent detection and about myself!
We have had some really tough times here in SA, have nearly quit trying to get started , nobody wanted to use a dog to search for anything, it was hard and it was breaking my heart. I knew we had something amazing to offer, but no one wanted to try a dog here, its incredible interstate the opportunities for detection dogs and overseas, but in SA everyone I approached said, oh it sounds great, but no thanks! I was so disheartened, I seriously considered moving interstate or overseas, but my family are here.
Then I got a lucky break, I had a local Koala rescue group ask if I could train my dog Nessie to locate koala’s, I naturally said Yes we can, and we did some volunteer work with them on occasions. Then 2 years ago I got an email from a local department wanting to know if I could train my dog to locate fox dens, Yes, I can! was my reply. (I actually had no idea how to do it, but I wasn’t about to let them know that!!) I needed this break, and guess what, my amazing dog Nessie, has located over 200 fox dens in 2 seasons!! Also we have Nessie’s daughter learning how to locate fox dens too alongside one of my daughters!
Now one of my other dogs is training to locate an Endangered Butterfly Larvae and is believed to be the first dog in Australia to do this!! Now with Nessie and my dad’s dog, we are working in a volunteer capacity with a local University to locate Endangered lizards! I really love working on all these species and especially with the best team mates I could ever have!
// What is your goal or intention for the year ahead? And how are you going to achieve it?
Oh wow, my goal for the year ahead, is to have my Endangered Butterfly larvae dog, go out and locate these tiny endangered Butterfly larvae, and I believe we will be the first dog and handler team to detect Endangered Butterfly Larvae in Australia, so this would be so fantastic to be able to do this and do it well! I also plan for my Pygmy Blue Tongue Lizard detection dogs to also go out into the field and locate them, in new previously undiscovered areas, how incredible would that be??
The butterfly Larvae is such a challenging odour to train a dog too, and we have been training on it for about 12 months now, so to achieve success out in the field will be absolutely incredible. We just train, train, train, in different locations, in different weather and we pray that when we get out into the locations to do an actual real-life search, we work as a team, we trust each other and we succeed. I know we can do this, I just have to remember that on the actual first day we go out for real.
// What would being a Woman to Watch in 2024 mean to you?
It would mean that I am capable, I am good enough, I am doing good in the world. I would like to inspire the younger generation that if you have a dream, and when the going gets tough, don’t give up, get tough right back, and you will succeed!
// If you could share one takeaway from your business or career journey, what would it be?
Don’t give up, keep going, keep trying and it will happen.
// What would you like to see for the future of South Australian women and girls?
I would like to see more help for them in business. It’s so hard at times, lets make it a bit easier for them, things like working out tax, book keeping, managing everything business related, its so hard to do it on your own.
Lets help more women by having mentors for them to go too, short courses aimed at new business owners, a data base of where to go to get things like sign writing, supplies, staff all those things that you need when starting out. When you first start out in business, there are a lot of overheads and you just simply don’t have the money available to go and do courses that require payment, yet at the same time, you need to do them, it’s a hard, it does deflate you, and make you question everything that you do, just because you just don’t know.
Lets help women to succeed!
Get in touch with Mandy:
Website: www.conservationdog.com.au
Check out all of the incredible Women to Watch for 2024 here as their profiles are uploaded throughout the year.
To become an SA Woman Member, check out our Membership Options here.