Wendy gets tails wagging at Edenvale High School
"At first I was nervous, but after more training I became more confident."
Dressed in a luxurious coat of brown fur, Edenvale High School’s latest staff member has the whole school wagging their tails.
At the start of the third term on July 9, Wendy was welcomed into the ranks of Edenvale High, starting a new chapter in her life.
At one year and four months old, she is the school’s youngest staff member and also the only one which is a dog.
Trained as a guard dog but specialising in protection and narcotics detection, Wendy was trained at Braveheart Guard and Narcotic Dog Academy.
Edenvale High’s principal, Dr Larry Harmer, said Wendy will work in partnership with the school’s security officer, Velley Hlongo.
Harmer said he thought about including a dog on the school’s security team for several months.
He said Wendy’s introduction was not related to the February robbery at the school, nor allegations of drugs being used at the school.
“We have a WhatsApp hotline for learners to send tip-offs about drugs, but none were ever found after receiving information.
“Now that we have Wendy, she and Velley can patrol the school freely and act as a deterrent.”
Before the introduction of Wendy, the school made use of private companies to conduct drug searches.
“The searches would cost the school a few thousand rand and only three or four classes could be searched.
“With Wendy we can search two classes at a time, give her a break and search another two classes.”
Although Wendy is a working dog, Harmer said she was well received by staff, learners and parents.
“Some parents requested that an additional R100 be added to their debit orders to contribute to her care.”
Velley, who trained with Wendy for four weeks before the school reopened, said he is looking forward to working with his new partner.
For the past three years, Velley has kept a watch over Edenvale High and its learners. He is now a level-five dog handler.
Velley said he was asked by Harmer if he would be interested to do dog training and work with an animal.
“At first I was nervous, but after more training I became more confident.
“Our relationship is good; when I issue a command, she listens to me.”
When Wendy does find suspected narcotics, she notifies Velley by sitting next to the item, scratches it and looks at him.
Harmer said although Wendy will assist with school security, she was not trained as an attack dog.
“We believe it would be too dangerous for Wendy to be trained as an attack dog.”
Harmer said other Edenvale schools have already shown interested in Wendy visiting their schools.
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