Freesia is not only soft, friendly, pretty and a good kisser, but she is also a very smart worker.

Freesia is one of two dogs with the Vermont State Police Explosives Detection K-9 units. She lives and works every day with her handler, Trooper Robert Lucas, a certified bomb technician, out of the Middlesex barracks.

They are both members of the State Police Bomb Squad.

“Freesia and I work as a team,” Lucas said Monday at the State House, while giving a demonstration. “She doesn’t go anywhere I don’t go; she’s not a sacrificial lamb.”

A purebred three-and-a-half year old black Labrador retriever, Freesia was originally bred to work as a guide dog for the blind, but her energy level and curiosity made her a better candidate for the job of sniffing out explosives. Freesia was “excused” from Guiding Eyes for the Blind and referred to the Connecticut State Police for evaluation.

Vermont State Police purchased Freesia from Guiding Eyes for the Blind for $1,800 and began training with the Connecticut State Police at no charge through the New England State Police Compact the following January. The Compact allows interstate agencies to assist and augment special teams.

Trained to detect 24 different odors that can be used in approximately 19,000 different types of explosives, Freesia only gets fed when she works. That means twice daily training sessions in which Lucas hand-feeds her 30-60 times a day.

Freesia and Lucas have worked all over Vermont on dignitary and security sweeps, search warrant executions and evidence recovery operations. They are also on a list to provide help to the Massachusetts and the New Hampshire State Police.

Ammunition, firearms, black powder, C-4, detonation cord, dynamite, fireworks, liquid explosives, pyrodex and TNT are just a few of the substances Freesia’s nose can detect.

A trooper in every right, Freesia sports her Vermont State Police badge that hangs off her collar and is at home at the Middlesex barracks where she roams freely. She depends on her partner (the one with the thumbs) to keep her official State Police photo identification card inside his own wallet (2′4″, 54 lbs., issued 1/25/06).

Her food and vet bills are covered as long as she is in service to the State Police.

Lucas, sporting a dog kibble pouch that hangs over the handle of his gun, works with Freesia using commands like: “Let’s work,” “Seek,” “Show me,” and “Take a break.”

When strangers approach her, Freesia greets, licks and rolls over for them.

Freesia is also a valued member of Lucas’ family. His wife, baby and 13-year-old golden retriever count Freesia among their pack. Because of the need to train twice a day, Freesia even goes on vacation with the family.

Lucas and Freesia love to show people their moves.

Always sniffing, the shortest trooper pays close attention to her master as he guides her across the Statehouse steps, using his hand and voice as signals. When she detects something, Freesia sits and doesn’t budge, even if Lucas tugs on her leash. When he says: “Show me,” Freesia uses her nose to point to the origin of the smell. Lucas rewards her good work with three pieces of kibble and an uncharacteristic, high-pitched response of: “Good.”

When the pair gives demonstrations to groups of children, they use it as an opportunity to teach about dog safety.

“She’s a great ambassador,” Lucas said.

Freesia is a tool of the Vermont State Police Bomb Squad. Like X-ray, bomb suits or robots, Freesia’s nose, which is 400 times more sensitive than a human nose, is a fine-tuned detector.

“If she commits to something, I’ll be the first one on the scene to evaluate what it is,” Lucas explained.

Freesia waits while Lucas puts out samples of explosives throughout the Statehouse foyer. While seeking, Freesia goes up on two legs to get her nose closer to the bottom of the large painting of former Gov. Howard Dean.

Trained by the Connecticut State Police for three months (she was joined by Lucas after the first month), Freesia and Lucas return there every three months for evaluation and annual re-certification. Once Freesia retires - the approximate length of career is five-to-seven years - she will be presented with the trophy “Golden Bowl” and continue to live with Lucas and his family.

Lucas and Freesia are trained to search perimeters, buildings, vehicles, stadiums, airports and open-air areas.

State Police have used K-9 units since the first pair of bloodhounds were gifted to the state from Massachusetts State Police back in 1953. But K-9s Freesia and Oak are the first dogs on the Bomb Squad.

Freesia’s counterpart, K-9 Oak, lives and works with his handler, Trooper William Sweeny, out of the St. Albans barracks. Oak, a black Lab, also came from the Guiding Eyes for the Blind and is the same age as Freesia.

Lucas said Freesia’s size is an asset when trying to maneuver through train cars and tight places. She also has the stamina to withstand hours of work, although the work is broken into approximately 25-minute sessions.

German Shepherds make good K-9 units for general police work and are trained to bite, bark, growl, protect, track and run, for which their large size is an asset. Labradors are slower-paced, which makes them good for rescue and for search and recovery, according to Lucas.

“Once we locate something, her job is pretty much done,” Lucas said.

Freesia rides with Lucas in his cruiser and stays with him during his shift. She doesn’t speak very often, except an occasional bark at a dog in a passing car in an apparent effort to show off her trooper status, Lucas said.

A dog swims more than 4km every day to nurse her newborn puppies who are stranded on an island.

The dog, already a celebrity in Chongqing city, is called Huahua by local people.

She gave birth to four pups at Shanhuba, which has become an island in the Changjiang River due to the heavy rains this summer.

Huahua swims 1.2 km to the island every day to nurse her four babies. Then she returns to the Changjiang River, following the flow of the water, to swim another 1.1 km to another part of the city to feed herself.

Each day Huahua does the whole journey twice, once in the morning, around 7 am, and again at 7 pm, at which point she stays with her pups on the island and returns to the city the next morning.

Huang Pingren, a pensioner who swims to the island everyday, says he discovered the amazing dog a few weeks ago.

“I was resting on the island, and found the unprotected litter of dogs. Then in the evening, around 7 pm, I saw a dog swimming to the bank and then running to the newborns.”

Huang even published a story on the internet, describing the great deeds of the dog mother, and leading to an outpouring of enthusiasm from readers.

“Many citizens found me and said they wanted to do something, like contribute food or money, but I told them not to, since I was afraid too many visitors may scare the mom away.”

Two days ago, the water rose again, and the mother has moved her children to a higher point on the island, reports Chongqing Evening News.

A tiny kitten rescued from a car engine is set to get a new home.

The BBC Scotland news website revealed how the ginger kitten was found by driver Victor Gallacher when his engine was not making its usual purr.

Thought to be about eight weeks old, the kitten had climbed inside the bonnet in Aberdeen and had a city tour before its cries were heard.

The cat home now looking after the kitten has been inundated with offers, and will make a decision on Monday.

High volume

Mr Gallacher, 61, of Bucksburn, Aberdeen, had been driving for several miles across the city in his Rover 400 when he became aware of an unusual noise.

He stopped and rescued the unharmed but oily passenger.

The kitten is now being cared for at Mrs Murray’s Home for Stray Dogs and Cats and Re-homing Centre in Aberdeen’s Seaton area.

The BBC Scotland news website story about the rescue was viewed more than 155,000 times on Thursday, and it also featured on BBC television and radio.

However he was not claimed back - so will now be re-homed by one of the interested parties, which is why he has not been given a name by staff.

Assistant manager Vikki McRobbie said: “We have phonecalls and e-mails from all over the country.

“Because there was such a high volume of interest we are going to let people see the kitten and then decide on Monday.”

Staff and Mr Gallacher all said they thought the kitten would make someone a good pet.

Seventeen months after Delta Dawn’s disappearance, Amanda Williams admits she had lost hope.

“I had a gut feeling I would never see her again,” Williams said of the Boston terrier that turns 7 today at the Rhodes Drive home where she lived until she was 5 and scooted out an open gate.

Described by Williams as “a little bit hyper,” Delta was welcomed home last week by Williams, husband Johnny, daughter Alex, 4, and Labrador mix Dixie, also 4.

Her son Tanner, 9, is away at summer camp. Williams said she called to tell him the news, and he could hardly believe it.

When Delta went missing in February 2006, her family posted fliers, advertised in the newspaper and even called a radio station.

Her two children mourned, but Amanda Williams said she took the loss hardest.

“For me, it was like losing one of them,” she said.

On Thursday, Delta came home. Williams picked her up from a woman who told her the dog had been rescued from abuse.

The woman, Donna Johnson, had placed an ad in The Vicksburg Post, saying she found a Boston terrier. Williams’ mother, Carmen Rouse, saw the ad, called Johnson, and was convinced the dog was Delta Dawn.

Williams, a nurse at Vicksburg Convalescent Home, was leaving work Wednesday when she got the call from her mother.

“I think I’ve found Delta,” she said.

Williams started crying.

Johnson, 52, of Dudley Road, had taken the dog last Sunday from Redbone Road after a fellow member of Wayside Baptist Church contacted her about a dog she had seen being mistreated.

“She called and told me she was afraid for the dog,” said Johnson, who owns two Boston terriers.

Johnson said that when she found the dog, she could tell it was in poor health.

“It was thin and its stomach was tucked in and its back was hunched up,” she said. “Wherever she had been for a year, she had not been loved and cared for like she should have.”

The people she found the dog with said it had wandered up a few days earlier, and allowed Johnson to take it home with her.

“That dog nearly broke its neck running to the van,” Johnson said. “It didn’t even know who I was.”

Johnson took the dog home and placed the ad.

“That’s one special lady,” Amanda Williams said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do to thank her.”

When Williams and her mother arrived at Johnson’s house on Thursday to look at the dog, Delta Dawn had become so thin that Williams did not even recognize her. “She told her mother, ‘Oh, look how bad she looks! How can that be Delta?’” Johnson said.

Delta had dropped from 19 pounds to 9.

Williams could be sure it was Delta, though, because of discoloration in her left eye from surgery.

“When she got back to the house, when she got to the backyard she sniffed every corner of the fence,” Johnson said. “Her first night home she curled up in the bed with me.”

Williams said she doesn’t know where Delta has been, and doesn’t want to know. She’s just glad she’s home.

The dog has been eating well and resting since being home. For her seventh birthday today, Delta will get a steak, Williams said.

The tiny Kaua’i creeper, a rare four-inch-tall bird, is still trying to get on the endangered species list as its numbers have dwindled to 1,500 worldwide.

The Kaua’i creeper, also called the ‘akikiki, is threatened by habitat loss, avian disease and nonnative mammals. It’s found only on Kaua’i, and it has been listed as a top candidate for the endangered species list since 1994, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Getting on the endangered species list would provide more money for scientists to study the warbler-like bird and implement recovery plans.

“Money is our main limiting factor in all of this,” said Dave Leonard, a biologist for the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

The Kaua’i creeper is limited to about 14 square miles on the eastern part of the Alaka’i Swamp. Diseases such as avian pox and malaria have hit the Kaua’i creeper hard because it has not evolved ways to resist them, Leonard said.

DIVINE INTERVENTION is the registered name of the white shepherd puppy delivered to Ashleigh Mill’s door yesterday.

Sydney dog breeder Angela Sneddon gave the $1000 nine-week-old puppy to Ashleigh, 15, of Boronia, after reading about her on the dog-lover website dogzonline.com.au.

A family friend, dog trainer Glenn Cooke, had posted a message on the website’s forum page telling of Ashleigh’s great wish for a puppy.

Ashleigh was born with the rare brittle bone condition, osteogenesis imperfecta, and has been confined to a wheelchair since she was two.

Ms Sneddon said the white shepherd puppy had the perfect temperament for Ashleigh.

“It will actually help her when they get it trained because he’ll be able to open doors, pick things up off the ground if she drops something, even turn off light switches,” she said.

“They just learn basic things around the house to make life easier for people that are disabled, and of course he’ll make a wonderful companion.” Ashleigh’s mother, Rose, said her daughter was excited about the puppy.

Mrs Mill said Ashleigh had such brittle bones that she could suffer a fracture just by sneezing but she was not worried about the puppy accidentally hurting her.

“I’ll be watching Ashleigh and the puppy together but I think we’ll be able to train the dog (not to be too rough).

“I think animals have a bit of a sense about that sort of thing.

“And as soon as he got here he went straight under her wheelchair and laid down and was just so chilled out and relaxed. It looked like there was this connection between them already. It was just unbelievable.”

Ashleigh said she loved her puppy. “It’s really cute and white and fluffy,” she said.