Roger, overly playful dog who failed police academy, becomes star of Taiwan quake response

Taipei, Taiwan CNN —

A labrador retriever who failed to become a drug sniffing dog because he was overly friendly and playful has won hearts across Taiwan for his detection work in the aftermath of last week’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake.

Rescue dogs play a crucial role in helping to locate both stranded people and bodies, and teams of capable canines were quickly deployed by Taiwanese authorities after last Wednesday’s deadly tremor.

The quake that hit the island’s rugged eastern coast, Taiwan’s strongest in 25 years, triggered deadly landslides in a scenic national park and caused several buildings to partially collapse.

Roger, 8, was among the dogs put to work, helping to locate the body of one of the 13 people killed in the quake, according to authorities and local media.

He and his handlers ventured into the Shakadang Trail of the heavily damaged Taroko National Park and found the body of a missing 21-year-old woman, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency (CNA).

While other dogs also played similar roles and were paraded for the media, Roger captured the island’s imagination — partly because of his backstory of an initial career failure.

Roger takes part in a search operation after last week's earthquake. Roger, seen here as a puppy, cuddles with his toys.

Roger was born into a training center for drug-sniffing dogs. But his love for fun, food and people got the better of him, distracting his ability to pay attention and react to his trainers’ commands, CNA reported.

As a result, Roger failed to become a drug detective.

But his ebullient personality and intelligence made him a much better candidate to be a rescue dog, which was the career that was then chosen for him.

That excitedness was on full