{"id":171299,"date":"2025-12-07T01:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/171299\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T01:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:23:08","slug":"northland-detector-dog-ripper-stars-again-in-police-dog-trust-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/171299\/","title":{"rendered":"Northland detector dog Ripper stars again in Police Dog Trust Calendar"},"content":{"rendered":"

And her reward?<\/p>\n

A squeaky ball. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe will do anything for that,\u201d Derbyshire said. <\/p>\n

He had hidden some shredded cash under a vehicle before giving Ripper the signal to start searching. <\/p>\n

\"ChampionChampion detector dog Ripper is gracing the 2026 Police Dog Trust Calendar. Photo \/ Brodie Stone<\/p>\n

Nose hard at work, Ripper caught on to the unmistakable scent as the wind picked up ever so slightly.<\/p>\n

There, she followed the trail, sniffed her way across the sides and bottom of the vehicle. <\/p>\n

The wagging of her tail intensified, and she sat proudly in front of her find at the vehicles\u2019 rear.<\/p>\n

Squeaky ball and a few nibbles of dried tripe later, Ripper was ready to hop back in the police car, another job well done.<\/p>\n

Derbyshire said it had taken years for the pair to build their relationship. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a while to know what she likes and how to get on with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably would have taken about a year, [so] I could understand her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RipperRipper the detector dog enjoying some off-duty summer fun \u2013 the perfect picture for the month of January. Photo \/ Sergeant Jane Dunn<\/p>\n

Five years down the track, the pair have a trusting relationship where even if she\u2019s not in the mood, she will go sniffing at the request of her trusted handler. <\/p>\n

Derbyshire said Ripper was a sensitive soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t force her. I have tried, initially, early on in our career [and] learned the hard way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ripper is special in that unlike some other detector dogs, she searches off lead as long as she\u2019s in the eyesight of her handler. <\/p>\n

The pair have worked in Auckland, Tauranga, and are based in Northland\u2019s Kerikeri. <\/p>\n

\"RipperRipper won the Alan Symes Cup for narcotic detector dogs in 2023. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

They also travelled to Melbourne for a week with the Victoria Police. <\/p>\n

Derbyshire recalled it was there that Ripper struggled to sniff out Australian cash, as the scent was different to that of New Zealand\u2019s.<\/p>\n

But true to Ripper\u2019s skill, she found it eventually. <\/p>\n

An average week may vary for the pair, attending four jobs in a single day or one in an entire week. <\/p>\n

They sometimes fill their time going into the community to hand out Ripper\u2019s caller cards and, with her love of children, visiting local schools and preschools. <\/p>\n

When Ripper eventually retires, she will be replaced by her young apprentice, Kai. <\/p>\n

The 17-week-old pup is a bundle of energy compared to Ripper, but Derbyshire said Ripper likes to help the pup in line. <\/p>\n

Eventually, Kai would follow in the footsteps of his mentor, and maybe even snag an award or two as well.<\/p>\n

To purchase the 2026 police dog calendar, head to this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whang\u0101rei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And her reward? A squeaky ball. \u201cShe will do anything for that,\u201d Derbyshire said. He had hidden some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6030,3390,9837,2841,18057,9219,19338,78,5978,80837,111,43,139,73013,1067,69,6029,675,28821,110682,110684,5436,9438,110683],"class_list":{"0":"post-171299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-again","9":"tag-best","10":"tag-calendar","11":"tag-country","12":"tag-detector","13":"tag-dog","14":"tag-expect","15":"tag-in","16":"tag-might","17":"tag-narcotics","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nickname","22":"tag-northland","23":"tag-nz","24":"tag-once","25":"tag-police","26":"tag-princess","27":"tag-ripper","28":"tag-sniffing","29":"tag-stars","30":"tag-trust","31":"tag-youd"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}