Lottie Is A Real Rotter

She's the Rothound...Lottie the dog is putting her nose to good use to help surveyors track down dry rot and save buildings from collapse.

Lottie,a Labrador-collie cross,was handed in at a rescue centre in Burford,Oxon,when she was only four months old because her owners had found her too energetic.

Centre manager Lynn Rogers said "We knew she had great potential.She showed excellent sniffing skills and all she wanted to do was work."

When she heard that Tim Hutton,managing director of an environmental investigations company in Guildford,Surrey,was looking for a "Rothound",she immediately thought of Lottie.

Rothounds are trained to search houses for rot fungus.They can cover ground more quickly and effectively than human surveyors.

Tim said "We have always used rescue dogs.She is doing a wonderful job for us.

"After work she comes home with me and gets into all sorts of mischief but we always manage to work that energy out of her the next day."