Molly – the world’s first doping dog coming to World Championship!

Molly – The worlds first doping dog.

Pictures: Antidoping Sverige

Molly, the world’s first doping detection dog, works to detect prohibited substances and helps in the selection during a doping control. Molly lives in Falun, Sweden. She is an 8-year-old Springer Spaniel work together with a dog handler, who is also a doping control officer. 

Molly will appear during the World Championships for Group B, Group A and Women in Sweden in the end of March and beginning of April. Molly will help with the on-site doping controls, but when is of course a secret.

VISIT THE WEBSITE WITH MOLLY (Swedish text)

The website text translated to English here:

Molly, the world’s first doping detection dog, works together with dog handlers to detect prohibited substances and helps in the selection during a doping control.

Molly is an 8-year-old Springer Spaniel and together with a dog handler, who is also a doping control officer, she forms a search dog team that is used to detect specific doping substances that are prohibited according to WADA’s doping list.

The search dog was acquired in 2017 after a collaboration with a former dog trainer at Customs. An analysis of the dog’s characteristics and suitability was then carried out and the dog Molly has subsequently received equal training to that of Customs’ drug dogs. The training took place at the Customs training center outside Stockholm. Molly is the world’s first and today only search dog for doping substances only.

Photo: Jesper Zerman, Bildbyrån

That’s how it works in practice
If Molly on a mission makes a mark, we try to identify who is the owner of the item the dog marked. We use Molly to track substances in bags, lockers, on equipment and in the training environment itself. Molly’s searches are then used to refine our selection of athletes in the doping control process.

Molly creates a lot of attention and interest, both from the sports movement and the media. Many come forward to talk, give tips and ask questions about the anti-doping work, and video reports and newspaper articles have been produced in both Swedish and foreign media. Molly has an Instagram account and pictures both from assignments and in everyday life are posted frequently.

Follow Molly on Instagram:  @dopinghundenmolly