It’s been a busy few days and so I’ve got a bit of blogging to catch up on. The day before yesterday we went to Ho Chi Minh city to meet Steven Weigley and the dogs, Chevy and Pepper from Packleader LLC, near Seattle in the USA. While waiting for Steve we saw the Thailand under 21s football team (soccer to those of you in the nations where they stole the word football and applied it to a totally different sport) arrive for a tournament. The dogs were very pleased to be in Vietnam and we got them out to stretch their legs after their 24 hour journey. Then it was a long car journey back to our headquarters, finally crossing the river into the park at dusk.
On Friday we began our training. Steve is here for a month to train me and Sarah to use the dogs to find the rhino poo. The dogs need to get used to working with us, and to the local conditions, including the heat, humidity and all the new smells of the Vietnamese rainforest. The two dogs are totally different, in appearance and character but similar in their obsession over their ball making them great detector dogs. Both were rescued from the pound as the traits that make them good detection dogs usually don’t make good pets! Chevy is a chocolate Labrador crossed probably with a Pointer. He’s a bouncy, strong-willed dog constantly interested in whatever the environment has to offer! This means he often gets himself into trouble, proved early on in his second day here when his inquisitiveness and eagerness landed himself in a big water-filled ditch and had to be pulled out! Pepper is a slightly built Border Collie, he’s quieter than Chevy, sweet-natured and eager to please and always ready to go to work! The dogs are resting now after a hard morning of work, while we dine on egg fried rice and chicken. Soon it’ll be time get back on it.
Sarah Brook I am Species Officer for WWF Vietnam. Opportunity took me to Vietnam with my husband, Simon. This was my first trip to Asia, and I consider myself amazingly lucky to have this job that I love, where I can contribute to conserving some of the most threatened species in the world!
Simon Mahood I am a new recruit to WWF! Prior to Vietnam, I had done fieldwork in a number of different countries and habitats: the swamps of Uganda, the spiny forest of Madagascar and the rainforest of Brazil and Peru. Birds are my first love, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of searching for a large but elusive rare mammal!
It’s been a busy few days and so I’ve got a bit of blogging to catch up on. The day before yesterday we went to Ho Chi Minh city to meet Steven Weigley and the dogs, Chevy and Pepper from Packleader LLC, near Seattle in the USA. While waiting for Steve we saw the Thailand under 21s football team (soccer to those of you in the nations where they stole the word football and applied it to a totally different sport) arrive for a tournament. The dogs were very pleased to be in Vietnam and we got them out to stretch their legs after their 24 hour journey. Then it was a long car journey back to our headquarters, finally crossing the river into the park at dusk. 
On Friday we began our training. Steve is here for a month to train me and Sarah to use the dogs to find the rhino poo. The dogs need to get used to working with us, and to the local conditions, including the heat, humidity and all the new smells of the Vietnamese rainforest. The two dogs are totally different, in appearance and character but similar in their obsession over their ball making them great detector dogs. Both were rescued from the pound as the traits that make them good detection dogs usually don’t make good pets! Chevy is a chocolate Labrador crossed probably with a Pointer. He’s a bouncy, strong-willed dog constantly interested in whatever the environment has to offer! This means he often gets himself into trouble, proved early on in his second day here when his inquisitiveness and eagerness landed himself in a big water-filled ditch and had to be pulled out! Pepper is a slightly built Border Collie, he’s quieter than Chevy, sweet-natured and eager to please and always ready to go to work! The dogs are resting now after a hard morning of work, while we dine on egg fried rice and chicken. Soon it’ll be time get back on it. 
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So the Levee wasn't dry after all, huh?
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