Its been a bit manic this last couple of weeks - coz first of all the Dram dog and Daryl (plus me and Kaz) went to Lancashire and the Bowland Pennine MRT base for a week to learn all about Trailing. It was a very hard week for the Dram dog - there was lots for him and Daryl to learn about - first of all they learnt all about how to exercise and eat properly so that Dram dog doesnt get injured, then they learnt all about how scent works - blimey Kaz said it was very complicated and scientific - particularly the bit about how the Dram dog will need to discriminate (big word) between different peoples smells - I dont have to do that as us mountain rescue dogs only have to find humans (we dont have to pick a particular one, anyone will do!). Then Daryl had to learn about how to work with the Dram dog on a long lead (he found it quite difficult really) - Dram said it was a real pain when Daryl pulled on the line at the wrong time and put him off! The instructors were ace - here is Iain and his clever dog Mij showing us what to do...
The Dram dog and Daryl go to look for a person in the woods - he found them too!
Clair and Skye demonstrated how to bandage us dogs properly
Instructor Tom Middlemass explains how to work a dog on a line using Liz as the dog and Annette as the handler
The Dram dog found the right scent on the box and got a really nice reward of chicken!
Scotland - 2012 training.....
As soon as we came back from Smelt Mill we drove up to Aviemore for the Winter training course for us Mountain Dogs - sadly though there wasnt too much winter left - the snow wasnt really any good for the avalanche stuff we do but nevertheless we managed to get loads of training done. The Dram dog came too and he did some trailing training on the days when Daryl wasnt bodying. Me and Kaz worked on a mountain line search with handler Joy Grindrod and her dog Einich (a younger, feistier version on me!) and then we went and did a long footpath search together and on Thursday me and Kaz searched a great big bit of the forest and found both the bodies in record time. The rest of the week Kaz was assessing and there was lots of good news - some of the trainees under assessments passed more of their tests and are now well on the way to joining me and Kaz on the callout list. Bill and Ani, Chris and Beck, Ian and Keppi, Mike and Moss all passed assessments and the other trainees who went (Andy and Corrie, Rob and Rona, Paul and Loch and Steve and Blaze) all managed to do some great work and have moved on loads!
Here's a piccie taken from Daryl's bivvy bag when he was laying about waiting for the line search to find him!
