Last week me Kaz and Angus went up to Scoltand with handler John and his wife Clair the vet and their two dogs - my friend (and relation) searchdog Skye and Islay.
We stayed in a really posh place in Aviemore - well actually, the humans did - us dogs stayed in our cages in the vans. Daryl and Dram didnt come with us coz Daryl couldnt get the time off work and Dram dog stayed to keep him company (and make sure he didnt have any parties Kaz says!).
 |
| I cant wait to start playing |
We were really lucky with the weather and we went up onto the Cairngorm plateau oneof the days for a nice long walk. The rest of the time we layed with Angus doing some trailing training for him and then we also played in the snow holes that the others had dug a couple of weeks ago when they were up there. Although the holes had got frozen and very covered with snow - it took Kaz, John and Clair nearly all day to dig them out with ice axes whilst us four dogs kept ourselves amused in the snow!
One morning we saw Kathy Grindrod when she was going out to ski which was nice. Kathy is handler Joy Grindord's sister and is a member of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service; Kathy and Joy's dad Malcolm has trained about a million searchdogs and has been in mountain rescue for years and years - he was the first instructor that saw me when I was a 10 month old puppy and said I'd make a good searchdog! Anyway Malcolm is a little under the weather and so has been staying in hospital and we all sent him our love through Kathy who was going down to see him. Get better soon Malcolm!
 |
| Angus checks out the snow |
After we saw Kathy we just played about a bit in the snow - Angus hasnt really seen too much of it and he really loved it all - he was a bit scared of the snow holes though and it toolk a bit of encouragement for him! Me Skye and Isaly showed him what to do though!
He spent most of his time eating it - which I told him was stupid but he didnt listen!
 |
| Clair is lowered into position |
Clair was our body for a couple of the days and she was very funny as one of the holes was really deep - and we had to lower her on a rope into it. Only problem was it was a bit awkward for us dogs to get in and out and me and Skye needed a bit of help at first as we got a bit scared as it was so deep - but Clair kept playing with a toy and we both went in there in the end.
 |
| Kaz having a cup of tea |
 |
| Jacqui and Clair taking a rest |
Then on one of the days we went for a really lovely walk onto the Cairgorm plateau via Lurchers and back down under the ski runs. It was a great day and we were joined by Jacqui from Duddon MRT and her boyfriend Dave's dog Fern who is training to be a searchdog with us. So us 5 dogs and the 4 humans had a great time up there - Kaz even bumped into someone who knows her and Daryl and we met searchdog Corrie from SARDA Wales right at the top and said hi and ran about a bit with him!
 |
| John and Clair on the plateau |
It was a lovely time and we all had a lot of fun. We came back and Daryl and the Dram dog were really pleased to see us all. Today we are going to do a bit of training up at Whinlatter, which is going to be fun as we'll be meeting up with all of our searchdog friends - hooray!
.jpg)
