TEN years ago, Louise Wilson gave up a job in marketing to train sniffer dogs. It was a bold decision. This is a male dominated, ex-military oriented world, and the man who is now her boss, a former Royal Air Force dog-handler himself, had originally scoffed at her chances of breaking in. But Wilson was determined. What's more, she had revolutionary ideas. Not content with training dogs to sniff out explosives, drugs and bodies, as most handlers do, she was eager to test their potential in a new arena – wildlife conservation.
At Wagtail on the beautiful Mostyn country estate in north Wales, UK, Wilson is working with a lithe black Labrador called Luna to find pine marten scat. When Luna sniffs out such droppings, she stops wagging her tail, lies down and her body tenses. Dog and trainer are preparing for an unusual mission. Later today Wilson will take ...
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