2005

Getting better all the time

I'm really getting the hang of this searching stuff - it's really easy - as soon as Kaz puts the orange jacket on me I know I'll be looking for someone.It's November now and I'm one year old (although I keep trying to point out to Kaz that I'm actualy 7).

We are starting to do alot of training now - Tuesday nights after Kaz finishes work and also some Thursday nights as well as Sundays. Baz sometimes moans that he doesn't see Kaz - so she tries to make time and then they get all soppy and us dogs have to put our paws over our eyes!

Kaz also keeps mentioning about getting me 'done'. I haven't got a clue what that's all about - although it doesn't sound like something I'm going to enjoy.

All of my other doggy friends who are training with me seem to be doing OK. Ginny is already starting to do 'assessments' - she says that Mik puts on her jacket and they have to look for people for a long time (sometimes up to 3 hours). She thinks that she'll pass all her assessments by April.

(Note from Kaz - all trainee search dog teams have to complete 8 consecutive assessment days before going on the callout list

Here are some of my other friends who are training with me.......Leo asleep after working very hard and Beinn - another of my relations who's really handsome and a trainee like me!

SEPT 2005

So now I'm a trainee

Kaz took me in the car to another mountain near a place called Coniston - it was great because Kaz had just bought a house on wheels (apparently humans call it a camper van)which was really comfortable and I had a bed all to myself. We were going to be away from Baz and my brothers for a week to do SARDA training.

When we go there I met some other dogs who were also going to be training - they were all much older than me - I was 10 months. Fly was nearly 2, Mac was nearly 4 and Siney was nearly 4. There was also two very special trainees called Ginny and Blisstic - apparently they are related to me (my dad was a bit of a lad in his past!)

We all walked on our leads until we came to a wall. We were tied up to the wall and one by one our handlers walked us round in circles on the lead and then they took the lead off - well of course I just ran off cos I was so excited! Kaz told me to 'heel' so I did, just to please her.

Then Kaz told me to lay down and stay - it was really boring - I nearly fell asleep - she walked away and out of sight - I was a bit worried but I knew she'd be back so I stayed where I was. Then she called me and I ran towards her - she shouted to me to lay down and I did. After that she made me bark by waving a tennis ball at me. I was very tired but Kaz was happy - she gave me a big cuddle and told me I'd passed my registration test.

These are some of my new friends - Mac (training like me) and Ginny who is related to me and is already a search dog.

I've started looking for people.....

So for the next few days we started playing 'the game'.

First Kaz would put on my orange jacket then one of the people would take my tennis ball and run away shouting my name. Kaz would hold my collar until the person laid on the floor and then she'd say 'away find'. As soon as she let go of my collar I ran over to the person on the floor. I wasn't sure what to do at first but as soon as the person waved the tennis ball at me I barked, it must have been right because Kaz came running up to us saying 'good girl' and when Kaz got to us the person let me have the ball to play with.

It was very tiring for me - all that running about - and Kaz as well, I think she was pretty tired too, but she still managed to go to something called the pub every night and was always very happy when she came back to the camper van!

On the last day they changed the game - instead of me seeing where the person had run off to - I had to try and guess where they were. It was really difficult because I couldn't see them anywhere so I kept running all over the place. After a while I smelt a human and tried to follow the smell - it kept going because the wind was blowing it all over the place, but I kept refinding the smell and eventually it got stronger and finally I went round a big rock and there was the person with my ball. I was so excited I barked really loudly. Kaz arrived and I got the ball - she was really pleased with me. So was the body - in fact the body was so pleased I decided to jump all over her and lick her...strangely she wasn't too happy about that though.

This is Mary - the person that I had to find who ran away with my tennis ball - she's called a 'body'

JUNE 2005

Dogs can fly....I'm very popular with the two stupid labradors - they dont like the fact that I go to work with kaz every day and they dont. I get to sit in her office and meet lots of people who think I'm really cute (of course) and we go for walks at lunchtime and after work. We've also started going to things called exercises with Kaz's team - basically I get to sit in the landrover and then follow this wierd buch of people up the hill until we get to a person that's pretending to be hurt and then they all start running around with ropes and bandages and stuff....I have to keep out of the way or they get a bit annoyed!

One day we went to an exercise really early in the morning - we got in the landrover and drove for ages until we got to a large concrete field. We all got out and all of the team kept making a fuss of me - saying things like 'D'you think she'll be ok?', 'Has she even seen a helicopter before?'.

We went into a building and someone started talking about safety procedures - it was so boring that I fell asleep - unfortunately a person woke me up just as I was in the middle of a great dream and when

I opened my eyes it was a scary man with a helmet on bending over me - I barked in fright and jumped up banging him right on the nose and making it bleed...apparently he was more frightened than me. I found out later that he was an RAF winch man from the helicopter who wanted to come and say hello to me.

All of a sudden Kaz put me into something she called a harness and we started walking towards this huge yellow machine with spinning blades - it was really loud and windy but I wasn't scared(the noise was just like the one the farmer Sue used to play to me in the barn when I was little) - we got in and Kaz sat down in a special seat and all of a sudden we went up in the air - I got a bit worried then because they'd forgotten to shut the door and it was a long way up! After a while I got used to the noise - but Kaz was looking a bit worried and was talking to the winchman - she got hold of me and we started edging towards the open door - I tried to tell her that we weren't on the ground but she didn't notice. We were connected to a big piece of string and suddenly we were outside the helicopter - but we didn't fall - instead we just floated down to the ground. (I was pretty happy when we got there) (Note from Kaz - so was I).

After that all of the team kept telling me that I was really clever and brave, personally I can't see what all the fuss is about! But I really did milk it for all it was worth when I got home to baz and the other dogs....

MAY 2005

I'm not always really good though.....

My mum Kaz and my dad Baz are great - they take me and the other two dogs Donald and Fraser out loads. We get to play in the water and on the mountains and most of the time we have loads of fun.

Last week I was not so popular - I chewed up a really nice rug that dad puts down for me to sleep on - actually it's not all my fault - Donald was trying to pull it from under me and so we had a tug of war and it ripped - Blimey - dad goes a funny colour when he's angry....

Kaz told me that we were going to Scotland in the camper van to celebrate her 40th birthday - she really is old! So one morning we all got in the van and started to drive - it was sooo boring but eventually we arrived on an island called Skye - it was windy and raining and I wanted to stay in the van but mum and dad dragged us all out and made us walk up to something called the Bhasteir Tooth - it was quite a long walk and it got very foggy. The two labradors were useless - they're really frightened of the little moving stones called scree - me I just run up and down it, no probs. When we got to the top we walked along a ridge and I was very careful coz I was worried that mum and dad would slip - after all they've only got 2 legs not 4 and frankly if you've seen them walking sometimes after they've been drinking you'd be worried to!

We did alot of walking for about 10 days all over Scotland - the two useless labradors were too knackered to walk on some days so just me and Kaz and Baz went out. One day we went to the beach at Sandwood Bay, which was great and as you can see from the photo I really enjoyed myself. It was a good holiday but Kaz kept me making do little searches for Baz - I'm sure she's going mad, I know he'll not get lost - he's too worried about making sure he's going to get some food to go very far

APRIL 2005

New Friends

So as you've pretty much guessed - I was having a good life - spending much of my time running around on the mountains with Kaz and Baz and my brothers Donald and Fraser and the rest of the time playing with tennis balls and eating lovely food.

One day Kaz came and put me in the car (yes I know the name for that now)...we went into the town called Keswick. We walked along the road until I could see loads of other dogs just like me - except they were wearing orange shiny blankets over their coats. Good grief - have they seen what they look like!!

I wanted to say hello to them all so I jumped around and started barking. Kaz had to tell me to be quiet a few times before I remembered that she is supposed to be in charge when we are out.

She walked me up to a man called Mick - who patted me and said 'have you taught her to bark yet?' - idiot of course I can and to prove it I barked really loudly when Kaz showed me the tennis ball. Then all the other people came over and made a fuss of me. I found out from one of the other dogs in the silly coat that the people were all 'dog handlers' and that the dogs were all search dogs. We had an interesting chat - I found out that the dogs and their owners went into the mountains to look for people when they were lost - sometimes even in bad weather and at night. And Kaz was expecting that I'd be doing it as well! I was told not to worry by one dog called Mist as it would probably take me ages and ages to be good enough - right, I thought, I'll show her! Then she told me we were collecting some money for the search dogs because they dont get paid to do it - seems a bit daft that.

Kaz came over to me and put one of the orange coats on me - I was feeling pretty proud of myself because lots of people kept asking if I was a searchdog and giving me pats.

The man Mick said to Kaz that I'd better come along to the next training weekend so we could do a registration test. I wonder what that is?

When to Bark and When not to Bark

Kaz and Baz kept talking about something called SARDA - was this another dog? Was it a person? All I knew was that sometime soon I would be going to SARDA to be registered.

Suddenly Kaz started doing wierd things like waving toys in front of me and squeaking them. I wasn't sure what she wanted me to do; she kept saying to Baz - 'we need to get her obsessed about a toy'....I don't know, if she'd only bothered asking me I could have told her that the thing I really love is something called a tennis ball (I know what it's called cos Donald told me that I wasn't allowed to play with his tennis ball when he caught me chewing it!).

Eventually she worked it out and held the tennis ball in front of my nose - but every time I went to grab it she hid it behind her back - it was pretty annoying - in the end I started barking at her in frustration - blimey, I should have done it sooner - she went wild - hugging me and telling me what a good girl I was and also she gave me the ball to play with - although she kept telling me to drop it when I was runn ing around with it.

So now I know all sorts of tricks - like going back to her when she says 'come', letting go of things when she says 'drop' and most fun of all barking at her when she lays on the floor holding my tennis ball. I like that one best.

Oh, and I finally found out what a mountain is - it's just more grass and rock but just a bit more difficult to walk around on - can't see what the fuss is about though and I still don't understand why a mountain would need rescuing! But just in case you humans aren't too sure what a mountain is - here's my big brother Donald on one.

DECEMBER 04

First Night Nerves

Kaz (....told you it was a daft name - note to all humans - please come up with sensible names in future) arrived one night and picked me up - I didn't really get time to say goodbye to my mum or any of the other dogs on the farm - some of my brothers and sisters had already gone with other people. Kaz put me in a big box and wrapped me up in something warm and fluffy.

All of a sudden I was being bumped about and Kaz kept looking at me and telling me what a good girl I was and that we'd soon be home. After a while I fell asleep but when I woke up I needed to go to the toilet so I peed all over the box.

The bumping stopped and Kaz lifted the box up - and carried it into another barn (well, a sort of a barn - this one was warmer and smelled of dogs and people and food).

All of a sudden I was scared - my mum and the other dogs had gone. I started crying. Kaz picked me up for a cuddle (note to self 'need to keep trying this when I want a cuddle') and then she said 'Here's your dad' - Blimey, he'd changed a bit - last time I saw him he was a miserable farm collie that just barked at me. This one was a man and seemed really nice - he picked me up and cuddled me as well.

Then he said ' Lets introduce her to the others'...and that was when I realised I was going to really love it with Kaz..All of a sudden in came two of the biggest dogs I've ever seen; the man kept shouting 'Steady Fraser, Gentle Donald'. The dogs kept sniffing and licking at me - I was so excited I peed on the floor (yes, yes it seems to be a bit of a recurring theme with me!). After a while Kaz put me back in the box - but then she turned off the light and left with the man and the two dogs and I was on my own - so I cried and cried and cried until she came back into the room - it was really good fun - every time she went out I cried so she came back...funny she wasn't very happy by the morning.

Learning about Life

Things were working out pretty well - I had almost trained the two humans to give me cuddles and food on demand and the two dogs were pretty well trained by now.

It was very cold one day and Kaz said that we were going onto the 'fell'. She put the string round my neck and we walked along - the only thing I dont like are the metal things that make a lot of noise and rush by (Kaz...she means cars) - I keep trying to chase them away but Kaz tells me to lie down (oh yes I can do that one now as well).

We got to a big piece of grass and she took off the piece of string and we walked along - at first I was a bit scared of everything but gradually I got used to it - I did keep looking behind me to see where Kaz was just to make sure she was Ok.

I could smell all sorts of strange things - but suddenly I could smell another human - it wasn't one I knew so I kept following the smell and round the corner there was this man - it wasn't Baz so I barked as loud as I could to tell Kaz to hurry up and help me.

Kaz came up to the man and told me to be quiet (doesn't she get it - I'm supposed to protect her!) The she said to the man that I was going to be a search dog. He seemed really impressed and gave me a pat on the head and said 'I hope you don't have to come and find me' (Stupid bloke - why would I need to?).

After a while I started getting tired so Kaz put the string back on me and we walked home.

We kept going out - sometimes with Kaz on our own and sometimes with Baz and the other dogs. We even went to something called the 'beach' what a great place and I learnt how to swim

Early Days

So the next few weeks were pretty good really - I found out that the barn I was in was actually what you humans call a house - apparently in a house you musn't pee all over the floor when you feel like it. Kaz kept taking me outside to a special place to pee - unfortunately everytime she did I didn't want to go - funny really she got quite fed up after a couple of hours. I also learnt that my new dad is called Baz (again humans please sort out your names, they're ridiculous!). He teaches other humans to climb mountains (still don't know what a mountain is and why anyone would climb one).

The two dogs are my new brothers - they are both Labradors - Fraser is the Oldest and is in charge (well that's what he thinks) and Donald is only 3 years older than me and is great fun cos he runs around with me all the time.

One day Kaz put a bit of string round my neck and pulled me along saying 'heel'. I didn't really like it but I thought I'd try and please her - she's lovely when she smiles and she gives me really great cuddles when I've done something right. So now I just walk alongside her.

The other thing she kept saying to me was 'speak' every time I barked at something and then gave me some nice food. After a while I realised that if she says 'speak' and I bark she keeps giving me the food. (Apparently though, it's not a good idea to practice speaking when Baz and Kaz are asleep! I didn't get any food then!)

NOVEMBER 04

Leaving Home

For the next couple of weeks - Sue the farmer kept calling me 'Dottie' - it was 'Dottie sit' 'Good girl Dottie' all that sort of thing in a really silly voice - honestly you'd think I was stupid, all she needed to do was ask in a sensible voice.

She kept taking me to meet different people in the town - a weird place really, there wasn't anywhere proper to pee - but there were lots of smells and loads of people who kept pointing at me and saying 'ahh, isn't she sweet' - It didn't bother me really cos they kept giving me cuddles. When we met other people Sue kept telling them that I was going to be a mountain rescue search dog - I didn't get it - what's a mountain and why does it need searching and rescuing? She also told them that my new owner was called Kaz (and you think my name's daft) and that she had 2 other dogs - one of them had tried to be a search dog but had failed (it was a labrador - clearly an inferior sort of dog).

Sue still kept playing the noises in the barn - and told people that it was the sound of helicopters and guns so that I would get used to them - the noise was pretty scary but there was no way I was going to look scared in front of that farm cat!

And then it happened....Kaz came for me

How I found my owner

I'm a really pretty border collie and I was born on a farm in the Lake District in Nov 2004. It was all going pretty well really - me and my 6 brothers and sisters just chillin' in the barn.

Back then it was great - we just spent all day sleeping, eating and generally barking at everything - Sue the farmer was ok - but she was a bit bossy and kept playing these really strange noises louder and louder at odd times during the day.

One day - I was about 6 weeks old I think, the barn door opened and in walked this woman who just looked at us all playing in the pen. She said to Sue 'open the cage door and I'll see which one is the most nosy'...well, as soon as the door opened I was off - wagging my tail and barking for food. All the others just huddled in the corner of the pen - woosies! I went straight up to the strange women and peed on her foot!

She picked me up and cuddled me - it was really nice - she didn't shout at me for peeing - she just said to Sue 'that's the one, I'll call her Dottie and I'll be back in 2 weeks to pick her up'.

I forgot about the woman really quickly because there were so many things to think about - ducks, sheep and other dogs at the farm - oh yes and cats!