Afghanistan pioneer passes on

When Explosive Detector Dog Yardley was deployed to Afghanistan, his success on operations was tempered with two small mishaps. He got his leg caught in wire and devoured rat poison, resulting in him getting his stomach pumped. Two strikes down, thought his handler Lance Corporal Regan Blogg. What’s going to be his third strike?

Ten years later that turned out to be cancer. Yardley died on April 1, aged 13.

A pure-bred golden Labrador, Yardley was a product of Australia’s Border Force breeding programme in Melbourne. The New Zealand Defence Force had flagged an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) to deploy Explosive Detector Dogs (EDD) to Afghanistan for the New Zealand Provincial Construction Team (Task Group Crib). Yardley was imported to New Zealand and was one of five EDDs trained in conjunction with the NZ 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 the enthusiastic praise from his handler.

In November 2012 he and another EDD, Chuck, became the first NZDF Explosive Detector Dogs to be deployed to Afghanistan, heading to Bamiyan with LCPL Blogg.

Yardley and Chuck’s job was to detect hidden explosives. The pair were used for vehicle searching  and route, building and compound clearances. If a dog found an explosive, they would ‘indicate’,  going right up to it and sitting beside it.

LCPL Blogg says it was an awesome experience, although right at the start everyone ignored them. It turned out that personnel had been told not to interact with the dog and handler. Once that had been cleared up, the dogs became part of the camp’s welfare and morale, always ready for a pat. Yardley was known for his relaxed, easy-going attitude with a love of company (if a little accident-prone). The only difficulty was seeing two tails wagging when LCPL Blogg arrived with a harness, because it meant one eager dog went to work while another crossly barked at being left out.

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 (ISAF), issued to personnel who served with Task Group Crib.

When the team returned to New Zealand, LPCL Blogg was asked if he wanted Yardley when he retired. It was an opportunity he grabbed with both hands. In 2018 Yardley arrived on a ferry from Wellington, probably wondering who was going to collect him from Picton police station.

Regan, now a firefighter in Christchurch, pursed his lips and gave a special whistle. Yardley came running over, easily remembering his former handler. Yardley then decided to sulk for 24 hours, just to let Regan know he wasn’t impressed about being apart for so long.

Regan marvelled at how Yardley easily handled the transition from a working dog to a loving family pet. Yardley clearly relished his retirement with a growing family that included Ace, the family’s other dog. But he retained a lot of his Army life routine, expecting that walk first thing in the morning.

In February this year the family noticed Yardley was off his food. The vet discovered a lump that turned out to be a carcinoma. Yardley was still running around, but by March he was almost completely off his food and the cancer had spread throughout his entire body.

A dog certainly lets you know when they’ve had enough, said Regan. He spent Yardley’s last night sleeping beside him and in the morning, despite it all, Yardley was ready for his morning walk, which he got.

On April 1 Yardley was put to sleep, knowing his family were holding him and he was safe.

He was cremated with a letter from Regan, a family picture, and the patches of a soldier – the Kiwi badge, the New Zealand flag, and his Afghanistan badge.

We salute an NZDF pioneer, a brave dog and loyal friend.