Two dogs have joined the fight against one of the biggest threats to Australia's native plants, making dieback detection possible in minutes rather than weeks.

The pair of 14-month English springer spaniels, Kelly and Milo, can sniff out the disease's odour before signs of its infection become visible to experts.

Over the next six months the pair will travel across Western Australia to help conservationists manage the spread of dieback — or Phytophthora cinnamomi – a water mould which can move through soil and infect the roots of plants, preventing them from sucking up water.

The disease dubbed by environmentalists as a "biological bulldozer" is spread through natural causes like rain run-off and contamination through human and animal movement, and has wreaked havoc on the country'

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