TRM inmates have already heard about the new staff and demanded an introductory update…

Dart was located on a rural working-dog retirement website. He is an eight month old Lab x Collie x bitza from a farm in Masterton where he was “surplus to requirements”. A lovely lady from Waipukurau saved him but was unable to look after him, so TRM has gratefully inherited him.

He is still a pup in almost every way with a lot of learning ahead. He was raised on a very rural farm setting with one other small pet dog living in a typical farm kennel. He had never been on a leash or socialised around so many people before. He is very strong and everything has to be done at an absolutely flat-out pace. We are advised he will slow down after his next op. in early February.

He is over-affectionate, loves racing around Taupahi Park, chases everything, demands lots of patting and attention, and even walks on water. His bark may be his best feature being very loud and sounds much bigger than he is. In his role as a guard dog, to protect guests’ property, he is ideal for TRM.

So we are in for lots of training which may require all manner of patience and assistance from guests. Please do not feed him as he is on SWMBO’s special guard dog diet. He has had all his shots and is microchipped.

He enjoys splashing about in the Tongariro chasing imaginary trout. It will be interesting to see if he ever develops his hunting instincts and catches any – like Boof used to.

Or he may be more into fun games towing guests around, like Pumpkin?