Angus and Kaz are busy and I'm on holiday

It’s been a busy week or so for my little brother Angus as well as for Kaz.

After the bank holiday Kaz went up to Scotland for a couple of days to Police HQ to a course for PolSA’s (Police Search Advisors).  She said it was very interesting learning all about how missing people behave and how different things can influence you when you make decisions about searching for people whether it’s in the town or in the country or hills.  I don’t know – it’s pretty simple for us searchdogs – we just run about like lunatics until we smell someone – we don’t fill out forms or ‘hypothesise’ (Kaz has just told me off – she says that the Police do really important stuff so we searchdogs can go out and do our thing – sorry).

Kaz was tired when she got back but me and Angus still got her up early for a run on the fell – Kaz dropped a hat when she was running (crafty) and on the way back she told me to find it – I did (Angus was too busy eating sheep poo) and I ran backwards and forwards barking very loudly at her.  She gave me a big hug and a play with the tennis ball.  She also told me afterwards that I would need to understand that her and Angus are getting ready to do assessments for the trailing thing and so she might be a bit busy with him but to not worry as she still thinks I’m the best (err, Dottie I’m not sure I actually said that…..).

On Thursday Kaz and Angus went down to Bowland Pennine MRT base for his trailing course.  I stayed at home with Grandpa and Grandma getting lots of fuss and playing with the tennis ball in their garden (and of course supervising what they were doing),  As I didn’t actually go I will let Angus tell you all about it. But before I do Kaz has had some sad news from Dave Benson who was one of the Lakes dog handlers with his search dog Moudy – he also had another lurcher called Mia – sadly Mia died last week and Benny and Moudy miss her very much.  She wasn’t a searchdog but she was as feisty as me and very very fast at running.  Benny’s new dog Brock seems to be making up for Mia.

Gosh, I’m allowed to write in Dottie’s blog – I’m honoured cos normally she just wont let me touch the keyboard (Yep that’s coz you are useless and your paws are too big for the keys).

Shut up Dot, whose story is it?  Anyway me and Kaz went down in the van and she left me in it all on my own like a proper grown up dog until we were ready to train.  Then we all met up together at a country park called Beacon Fell.  They split us into 2 groups – one was the baby dogs who are just starting to learn how to train and they went into the classroom while me and Kaz, Kathy and Tally, Maria and Scarlet and Jamie and Diesel went outside to do some tests.

The first test we all had to do was go to a field and there was 4 markers in a big square about 50x50ft – in this square had been placed a scent of a person on a tiny piece of fabric (they get the scent by rubbing the fabric on the person’s neck).  Kaz had to give me the scent to smell (it was in a little plastic bag which I sniffed) and I had to search the area and when I smelt it I had to show Kaz I found it by lying down.  I wandered around the area and eventually I thought I could smell it but it wasn’t very strong, so I got as close as I could to it (inside some reeds).  Kaz was very pleased.  At the end of the session me and Kaz and Kathy and Tally had found the right scent.

The second test was me and Kaz being shown a line of 3 people in the field and Kaz had to give me the scent in the bag again and then I had to walk along the line a lie down by the correct person which I did.  (We were the only ones that got that test right).

After that we all went inside and were told that Maria and Scarlet, Kathy and Tally and me and Kaz would be doing a proper search.  Kaz was given the hat of a person which she had to keep warm so the smell grows strong (she puts it down her top!) then she was given a scenario that said a man called Brian had been seen in the carpark 4 hours ago and was now missing.  Kaz took me to the carpark and we searched all the way round it after she gave me the scent in the bag and me and her wandered round.  Suddenly I could smell the scent of Brian on the ground by an exit to the carpark so I laid down for Kaz.  She clipped my lead on to the harness and we were off.  We went up a hill for about 100m and the scent had drifted into a wall so I followed it til we got to a crossroads in the woods.  I thought kaz had seen me look to the left as if I was going to walk up there, but she stopped me and told me to walk all the way round the crossroads and tell her which direction he’d walked.  Now, this sounds easy but it’s not – the wind had been behind us and it had blown the scent of Brian across the crossroads and all the way down the other side of the hill. So I followed that for some time until I couldn’t smell it any more.  Kaz eventually realised that I was trying to tell her I couldn’t smell it and so she took me back up to the crossroads and we tried the path to the left side (which was where I originally thought we should have gone).  Sure enough the smell was there and I continued up the hill with Kaz puffing behind me.  We got to the top and another junction – this time Kaz and I went right and eventually we came to a small path on the right.  The wind was on my back again and the scent had been blown straight on.  Kaz realised very quickly that I’d lost the smell so went back to the little path and tried me there – yes I could smell Brian and we worked along that path for a fair while until I suddenly could smell him on the wind and not on the floor.  I dragged Kaz a long way through the Heather and trees and eventually there was Brian sitting on a bench – I laid down and Kaz made a big fuss of me and gave me lots of sausage!  She was very pleased and so was I – the sausage was excellent!

Maria and Scarlet also did a trail which went really well, but Tally had cut her foot and was limping badly and she couldn’t really do it very well so stopped.

Yesterday me and Kaz and Maria and Scarlet did another trail which was 1.4km long with lots of twists and turns and I did ok.  The start was very hard as it was on a busy road with about 5 different exits plus ducks swimming in the river.

Here are Maria and Scarlet at the beginning of theirs. By the way don't be fooled - Maria is a Captain in the US Airforce - she is tiny and Iain is very tall!!

 

Me and Kaz have just got home and we are very tired.  Dottie however, is not and has just chased me round the lounge wanting the laptop back.  Anyway the good news is that me and Kaz will be doing our assessment exams in August – apparently Kaz has a lot of work to do – I’m very good though!

Huh Angus is clearly getting a big head so I’m back in control of the Laptop.  Kaz has told me she wants to do some emails now so I will have to go now.  This week the kitchen is being painted so me and Angus plan to assist in some small way and then hopefully we will be picking up the little caravan at the weekend and be able to disappear away on holidays very soon :-)

 

 

 

Happy Easter

Well you humans celebrate something called Easter - not sure what it is but Kaz has had some time off work to spend with me and Angus. On Friday we went for a run at 6am - it was a beautiful day and Kaz got a bit daring and ran further than normal before turning around - hah she paid for it coz she ended up walking a bit on the way back (well it was up hill!)

After we got home and had breakfast she took Angus in the garden and did some training with him to make sure he is keeping up to scratch - he was - I made sure by keeping a close eye on things.

We also helped her build an outside sink area for me and Angus to drink from (apparently she thinks its for other things though). Here is a pic - she was very proud.......oh dear little things and all that! (Don't tell her that the patio needs weeding tho!)

 

 

 

 

 

Kaz also had some photos sent over from Wednesday night's training session with Penrith team - as you can see they had some serious fun with Gerry the casualty but then Kaz sent them all off to find a missing vulnerable young party - they had to go and find the easter eggs in the dark - Kaz wouldn't let me and Angus help at all - that really wasn't fair.

Yesterday after doing stuff in the garden, Kaz went down to her friend Angie and Colin's - what she didn't tell me and Angus was that she was going to have the first BBQ of the year - that's really unfair - dogs are great BBQ guests, we can offer help in clearing up crumbs and can tell if something's not cooked by trying it out.....well me and Angus made up for it this morning by making sure that Kaz got up really early to go out on Helton Fell - it may be Easter Sunday but 6am is a great time to be out and about listening to the Curlews.  Angie and Colin are going to Bolivia soon to climb 5 6000m peaks and were telling Kaz all about it - they wanted Kaz to go with them but Kaz cant get the time off at the moment but she hopes to go away with them at some point soon.

Today it was the Easter collection for the search dogs so me and Angus were given a really good brushing (boo) and then we went off to stand outside Keswick Motor co and meet all our fans - I met some of the dog blog readers and had a bot of fuss and Angus certainly met loads of people and we both got lots of pats and cuddles.  Whilst me and Angus spent some quality catchup time with the other searchdogs (Skye, Kitt, Ted, Keppi and big sis Ginny), Kaz, Roger, John, Ian and Mick chatted to people about what we do - that is until Keswick team got a callout and Mick had to take Ginny off to help someone with a hurt leg.

We got back here and it was another stint in the garden for me and Angus watching Kaz plant 8 acer trees - apparently we weren't being very helpful eating the compost afterwards and we were told off and sent in in disgrace!!

Hopefully everyone on the mountains in the Lakes is taking it easy today so Kaz can spend the evening having a cuddle with us.  We're off to Kirkby Stephen tomorrow morning so Angus can do a bit of training (and hopefully I can too) - he needs it because he's going to be on his training course this weekend!  Then we are going out in the evening with one of Kaz's friends to the pub in Pooley Bridge for tea - yum.

Kaz is off work all week so on Tuesday she goes to Scotland for a few days away at the Scottish Police College for a search course and then she'll be back on Wednesday hoorah!

Now then before we go and as it's a holiday, Angus and I thought we'd share with you a selection of our favourite jokes:

Q: How did the little Scottish dog feel when he saw a monster?
A: Terrier-fied!

Q: What do you get if you cross a gun dog with a telephone?
A: A golden receiver!

Q: What do you get if you cross a Beatle and an Australian dog?
A: Dingo Starr!

Q: What do you call a dog magician?
A: A labracadabrador.

Q: What is it called when a cat wins a dog show?
A: A CAT-HAS-TROPHY!

Q: What did the skeleton say to the dog?
A: bonappetite

Q: What do you get if you cross a sheepdog with a jelly?
A: The collie wobbles!

Q: What do you call a black Eskimo dog?
A: A dusky husky!

Q: How is a dog and a marine biologist alike?
A: One wags a tail and the other tags a whale.

Q: What do you get if you cross a dog with a frog?
A: A dog that can lick you from the other side of the road!

Q: When does a dog go "moo"?
A: When it is learning a new language!

Q: Why do dogs bury bones in the ground?
A: Because you can't bury them in trees!

Q: Why did the poor dog chase his own tail?
A: He was trying to make both ends meet!

Q: What do you get if you cross a sheepdog with a rose?
A: A collie-flower!

Q: Why do dogs wag their tails?
A: "Because no one else will do it for them!"

Q: Who is the dogs favorite comedian?
A: Growlcho Marx!

Q: What did the cowboy say when the bear ate Lassie?
A: "Well, doggone!"

Q: What happened when the dog went to the flea circus?
A: He stole the show!

Q: What do you get if you take a really big dog out for a walk?
A: A Great Dane out!

Q: What do you call a dog with no legs?
A: It doesn't matter.... he's not going to come anyway.

Q: Where does a Rottweiller sit in the cinema?
A: Anywhere it wants to!

Q: What kind of dog does Dracula have?
A: A bloodhound!

Q: What is the only kind of dog you can eat?
A: A hot dog!

Q: What kind of dog sounds like you can eat it?
A sausage dog!

Q: What do you do if your dog eats your pen?
A: Use a pencil instead!

 Q: What happens when it rains cats and dogs?
A: You can step in a poodle!

 Q: What dog wears contact lenses?
A: A cock-eyed spaniel!

Q: What's a dog favorite hobby?
A: Collecting fleas!

Q: What did the hungry Dalmatian say when he had a meal?
A: That hit the spots!

 Q: What do you get if you cross a cocker spaniel, a poodle and a rooster?
A: Cockerpoodledoo!

A lot of water under the bridge

So I’m very sorry not to have written to you all since January but I haven’t felt like it but Kaz says it’s time to start writing again because I’ve had a lot of people contacting me to see why I haven’t written for so long.

So here goes.

In February Daryl decided that he and Dram were not going to live with us any more as he was now in his new job and he thought that he wanted a new life with all his new friends.  Kaz was very upset and for a few weeks felt very ill and very sad and wasn’t her normal self.  I know she was upset but so were Angus and me – Daryl was our dad after all and we used to love to play with him lots.  Dram has been my little brother for 5 years and although I called him the idiot pup, I really do miss him very much.  Kaz has been really lucky and has had the help of lots of her friends to try and get over it.  At the moment she seems to be pretty good and is concentrating on enjoying her new job and training with me and Angus.  She’s even taken up running again and so every other morning at 6am we all get up and go on Helton Fell – she’s not walking so much now so me and Angus are having to work to keep going!

I cant really remember a lot about what has happened in the past few weeks, but Kaz did take me and Angus for a haircut.  Blimey - never trust her to do that!!!  Look at me I'm bald!  Still it has been quite nice not being so hot and my fur not being matted.  It's started growing back now so at least everyone isn't laughing so much now.  Everyone says I look like a puppy dog and not 9 and half!!

Me without much hair

Me two weeks before with some hair!

Kaz went on something called a tracking course where she learnt to track people using signs on the ground and bushes – like footprints and broken twigs – she said it was fun (hmmm I’ll believe her!!).

Here are one or two pics of the course.

Ester inspecting a print

Measuring stride lengths and transferring the footprint to a sheet of plastic

All the teams following different tracks up the hill

All of the students

Last weekend we went with Kaz’s team, Penrith up to Haweswater for training – Kaz and Angus had to go to the carpark at Mardale Head.  He had to work out where the missing man (Harry) had gone from the car.  Kaz and Angus went all the way round and eventually Angus lay down next to a fence which surprised Kaz as she thought Harry would go out of one of the gates.  Kaz and team mate John lifted Angus over the fence and he started off pulling Kaz up the hill a long way.  Then he turned right and went back down the hill and eventually found Harry under some crags about 600m away.  Kaz was pretty pleased with him and gave him lots of fuss.  After we did our training session with the team, Kaz and everyone were putting the mast down on the control vehicle when a man came across and asked for help as his friends he was mountain biking with were feeling very cold and not well.  Kaz went over to see them and sorted out the 2 hypothermic ones and offered to get the others back to their vehicles – so poor old Glen H and our team Doc Beth ended up doing a 2 and half hour round trip.  Apparently the people are going to send us a donation!!

This last week we’ve been really busy helping Kaz and Grandma and Grandpa clearing out our garage.  Kaz is a real wimp – she’s scared of spiders and screams really loud when she sees them!!

I’ve been doing some training in the evenings – Kaz hides rucksacks and stuff around when we go walking which I go and find and then bark at her to say I’ve got them.  I’ve not been on many callouts lately cos of Kaz either being away or it being stood down as we start out.  I’m pretty sure that we’ll get busy as the summer starts.

Yesterday Kaz worked Angus on a trail in the Borrowdale valley.  It was very bad weather and I was quite pleased to be in the van watching them.  They went across the river (and Kaz managed to fall in), but they kept going and Kaz eventually found Terry after about ½ hour and about 1km of walking. 

I took a panoramic picture to try and show where Angus went – it was through the gate, then right along the river, then over the river up to the crags and over the top, then through the middle of the picture and over the dry stone wall and all the way back down to the bottom.  Kaz was really happy cos there were other people who had walked through the area and there were even other bodies laying around but Angus didn’t get distracted – well, only when Kaz fell in the water.

Today me and Kaz and Angus decided to walk up Crossfell.  It was very windy and there was a lot of fog and rain.  By the time we got onto the shelter area, Kaz couldn’t stand up and so we hid there for a while to see if the conditions improved at all….they didn’t!

The last thing is that Kaz has bought a new toy for us all so that we can go on holdays together – it’s called a pod and is like a caravan but just a bit smaller.  It’s coming all the way from Germany and I think she will be picking it up in a couple of weeks time and we are all looking forward to going away......

 

Anyway Kaz wants the laptop and so I’ve promised I’d better finish now, but I will really and truly start blogging again.