PIONEER PASSES ON:

A tribute to one of the NZDF’s first explosive detector dogs in Afghanistan

By Andrew Bonallack

Yardley was imported to New Zealand and was one of five EDDs trained in conjunction with the New Zealand Police Dog Training section.

Yardley possessed the right stuff – the drive to succeed, to work all day to earn the right to claim the rubber ball toy and enthusiastic praise from his handler.

In November 2012 he and another canine, Chuck, became the first NZDF EDDs to be deployed to Afghanistan, heading to Bamiyan with Blogg.

Yardley and Chuck’s job was to detect hidden explosives. They carried out vehicle and route searches, and building and compound clearances. If one of the dogs found an explosive, they would ‘indicate’ this by sitting beside it.

One day the slightly accident-prone canine got his leg caught in wire and on another occasion he ate rat poison which resulted in him having his stomach pumped.

Two strikes down, thought his handler then-Lance Corporal Regan Blogg; what would be his third?

Ten years later that turned out to be cancer. Yardley died recently aged 13.

Speaking about his beloved sidekick, Blogg said the pure-bred golden Labrador was a product of Australia’s Border Force breeding programme in Melbourne.

The NZDF had flagged it urgently needed to deploy Explosive Detector Dogs (EDDs) to Afghanistan to assist the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (Task Group Crib).

Blogg said it was an awesome experience, although at the start of their deployment everyone ignored them; it turned out personnel had been told not to interact with the dogs and their handler.

He said once that miscommunication had been cleared up, the dogs became an important part of the camp’s welfare and morale, always ready for a pat.

Blogg said Yardley was known for his relaxed, easy-going attitude and love of company.

For their outstanding work in Afghanistan, both Yardley and Chuck were unofficially given the NATO Medal for the Non-Article 5 International Security Assistance Force, issued to personnel who served with Task Group Crib.