Country Energy’s North Western Regional general manager Pete Halliwell said the trial would incorporate 2000 poles and aimed to improve the pole inspection process by reducing the number of poles that need to be drilled.

“The sniffer dogs will be used to inspect poles around Mudgee and Dubbo (where) the network has been very susceptible to termites, due to the soil type and environment surrounding the network,” Mr Halliwell said.

Mr Halliwell said Country Energy had a strict asset inspection program that followed a four and half year cycle, and ensured all 181,167 poles in the region were well maintained.

“Country Energy is investing in the future of the electricity network and this trial is part of that strategy which is focussed on improving reliability and safety,” Mr Halliwell said.

“We are always trying to find better ways of maintaining our network,” he said.

“The aim of the sniffer dogs is to increase our ability to detect termites and potentially other pole defects earlier. This coupled with the utilisation of more steel poles in some areas of the North Western region will help reduce the likelihood of pole failure and further secure the electricity network.”

Mudgee Asset Inspector Matthew Lynch met his detection dog for the first time about six weeks ago.

He spent three days completing extensive training with his dog before returning to the local area.

Martin Dominick of the Australian K9 Services said he was excited about the trial and the possibilities for the future.

“The first part of this trial will focus on termite detection, the next step will be to train the dogs to detect rot in the poles,” Mr Dominick said.

“This method is so innovative that a new certification for handling dogs to detect termites in power poles has been created especially for this project.”

“We will start to collect data immediately to ensure the dogs and handlers are working well together, after we are confident in the process we will start the trial,” he said.

“This is a trial so we are testing our assumptions; I am sure we will learn a lot during the process and help improve power pole inspection methods for the future,” Mr Dominick said.