OLYMPIA-Drug-sniffing dogs are nothing new, but what about dogs that sniff for mussels? Puddles is a 2-year-old Jack Russel terrier mix is the newest member of the team that protects Washington's waterways from invasive species.

Puddles uses her keen sense of smell to detect zebra mussel larvae and quagga on boats traveling through mandatory watecraft-inspection stations run by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

Invasive mussels are a bigger problem than one might think.

"Invasive mussels can impact our state's water quality, power and irrigation systems, wildlife and r...