2007

DEC 2007
News from the Training Weekend

Kaz and I went training this weekend at Buttermere - Kaz picked up two of her Penrith team mates Phil and Glen who are hoping to start training dogs next year - they are both nice - I get loads of hugs from them!! Anyway we drove over to Buttermere and met up with everyone else. Kaz was a bit thrown because when we got there we were told that we were going to be under assessment

(Note from Kaz - all graded dogs are re-assessed to ensure that they are continuing to maintain a high standard).

So Phil and Glen watched us - we were sent to a really horrid part of Honistor Pass where there was a load of scree and crags - we started out - it was very slippery (and didnt get helped by the fact that it then started snowing heavily and the wind was very gusty). Well I was marvellous as usual - I found body Terry after about 10 mins and barked really loudly - actually I was trying to get him to let me in the bivvy bag but he was having none of it! We then continued on right up into the hard scree - Kaz slipped about quite abit but she seemed pretty happy when we got back because we were told we'd passed. Apparently it is the first time Glen and Phil have seen us work and they were quite impressed (but I'm not sure if it put them off!!).

All of the others have done really well this weekend - my friend Searchdog Mac (and Elly) passed their re-assessment, trainee Beinn (Roger) passed their first two assessments - hooray and trainees Vinny (Ian) and Blisstic (Leo) passed an assessment.

The bodies were all really good - and they got to try out some new sleeping bags and waterproof covers - funny though, I spoke to the other dogs and none of them was allowed inside one either!!

Callout

Ohh - Kaz is knackered (I'm told that's a technical term you humans use). She was due in London yesterday and had to get the 6am train and had forgotten to turn off her pager - so as ususal it went off at 1.30 in the morning for a call out to Grizedale. In the end the callout has gone on for 2 days and we attended as well as loads of other dogs from the Lakes and even other parts of the country. Sadly
a man was found dead this morning.

Training Weekend

It's the training weekend this weekend in the Keswick area - Kaz and I will be going to play with the graded dogs but it is another important weekend for the trainees - some of the baby dogs are being tested to see whether they can start training properly and Blisstic (and handler Leo) will be doing their 2nd and 3rd assessments. Also Trainee Beinn (with Roger) will be doing their first assessment and trainee Vinny (with Ian) will be being looked at to see whether he can start doing assessments.
Good luck all of you - woofs and licks from me -you'll be great!!

Fundraising at Hawkshead

SARDA Lakes went fundrasing to Hawkshead Christmas Fare and made lots of new friends. Body Rod has been helping us by getting special fluffy toy collie puppies and making searchdog collars and then each of them has a label with a picture of one of us graded dogs and a bit about what we do. Well, we sold out of all the puppies and we collected over £400. Don't worry though, there will be more for sale soon!!

Searchdog Rosie makes a double find!

Searchdog Rosie who has only just come back to callouts after a long time off with an injury went out on Scafell and found two seperate groups of people who had reported themselves missing - fantasic - well done Rosie (secretly I'm really jealous though, cos I've never found anyone).

NOV 2007

Training Weekend and we meet a new friend

Kaz and I went to the Kirkby Stephen MRT base this weekend and we were going to meet up with the other graded dogs to do an exercise on Wild Boar Fell - and the exciting thing is we were going to be helicoptered in to the top to start the exercise (Kaz was very happy for some reason .... yep - probably because I was going to be walking down hill for a change!!).

The graded dogs (including me) have all been given new helicpter harnesses so we all tried them out in the base first.

The excercise was really good fun and we finished at 4pm. When we got home Kaz has a couple a drinks and was not able to go out on the 3 callouts that happened that night (The dogs had 3 seperate callouts - including a find by Search Dog Comet and Mike Blakey and elsewhere handlers and dogs were out until 3am- so actually am quite happy we didnt go! )

On the Sunday we helped the trainee dogs and they all did really well - we also met a lovely lady called Dee Moossa from San Diego who trains Assistance Dogs - she braved the weather and watched us train - here is the link to Dee's website.......www.pawsteams.org

And a really big Well Done to Leo and trainee dog Blisstic who passed an assessment!!!

Long callout in bad weather

Me and the two stupid labradors were at Kaz's office on Friday and we had all been out for a nice walk at lunchtime and Kaz had promised that we would be having a walk after work. Anyway it was about 3pm and Kaz's dog callout pager went off and so we jumped in the car and all of us drove to Keswick - Donald (the very stupid labrador who failed as a search dog got really excited - he thought he was coming on a search - idiot!

Does he not realise that it is me the clever one that gets to do that - him and the other stupid one will have to stay in the car). Anyway - we were told a man was very unhappy and wanted to hurt himself somewhere on quite a high mountain called Skiddaw and Kaz and I had to search from Barkbethdale up a steep and rocky ridge to the top of Skiddaw. Well, it was lovely and sunny when we started but after 1.5 hours it got dark, very windy, rainy and very very misty.

At one point Kaz was climbing the rocks under Gibraltar Crag and it was a bit difficult for her to keep going - we started descending and suddenly I could see searchdog Mac and Elly's torches on Ulock Pike and the helicopter was above them and a long way below us were searchdogs Kess and Moudy searching up the valley floor.

It was 7.30pm when we finally got back to Keswick base - actually I'm beginning to wonder whether the 2 stupid labradors are quite so stupid after all (they didnt get cold wet or tired). There was some good news though - the man turned up safe and well. Here's Gibraltar Crag in the daylight - doesnt look too bad - try searching the scree slope under the crag in the dark, rain and a howling gale!!

Sad News and Happy News

It was very sad - we had an email from one of the handlers Ric Outhwaite to tell us that his retired searchdog Bo had died. Although I never worked with Bo, I met him a few times - he was very handsome. Ric retired Bo in 2006 and when he died he was 105 years old (15 in your human years!!). Here's a piccie of Ric and Bo......some good news though is that Ric is training his new puppy Col.

I also had a nice email from some doggy fans out there who read the blog regularly - so hi to Tammy, Copy and Tassel (and Liz) keep up having loads of fun out there!!

Also I had an email from dogsbody Dave Lewis who moved south earlier this year (straight in to a flooded house) - finally things are settling down for him and Sharon and my mate Merlin the dog -

Dave also tries to keep up with the SARDA news by reading my blog. Congratulations Dave on being a grandad for the third time!

5th November - Busy few weeks

It's fireworks night tonight - I like loud bangs but some dogs don't, so if you humans have pets please make sure they are safe!!

In the last two weeks there's been alot going on - first off a couple of callouts which basically have consisted of me and Kaz bundling ourselves in a car and driving somewhere, getting out, putting my jacket on and then getting back in the car again because the person has been found. (Good in some ways - obviously because the person is safe - but Kaz is worried that I'm getting fed up with not working and finding something so she is trying to have abit of fun and play with me at the moment).

Also a lovely lady called Fran Thomas emailed SARDA Lakes and asked if she could donate some money to buy some equipment for us on as a present for her sister's birthday - what a nice thought! Anyway, here is the lovely fleece jacket Fran has bought which will be ideal for keeping a searchdog warm in the winter! (clearly a very lovely looking model!!) Happy Birthday Fran's sister!!

OCTOBER 2007

Training weekend - great fun and great weather

It was the SARDA Lakes training weekend and Kaz and I (and Elly and Mac) were asked to help out by watching two trainees work 'blind' areas and to see how we would score them if they were on an assessment - it doesnt mean Kaz and Elly are assessors it was just to test out whether the Assessor training program is working. Anyway, it was good fun as Kaz worked with Mik the training officer and Elly worked with Dave Watt. I havent been into Coombe Ghyll since I did my assessments last year - it bought back some memories!!

Kaz had to brief the handler and then watch them work around the area and then talk to them afterwards about what they did well and what wasnt so good. Both of the trainees (Leo and Blisstic and Ian and Vinny) did well although it was the first time Ian had done something quite so big and it was quite a big step for him

It was a lovely day - here's a picture of Kaz and trainee handler Ian talking about the area after he did it, a picture of me looking pretty, a picture of Elly with Vinny and then a picture of the assessors taking a rest (blimey that's all that you lot ever seem to do).

Callout close to work

Kaz was working today and me and the two stupid labradors were with Baz - Kaz said her pager went off as usual just as she was having lunch. It was a big different this time as the callout was a team one and it was to a lady who had injured her leg - and the callout was about a mile away from where Kaz works, so instead of driving into town and meeting the rest of the team she drove directly to the scene and met someone who showed her where the lady was. Kaz did the first aid and called the ambulance and waited for her team to arrive which they did about 40 mins later and then she was able to help the lady some more by giving her pain killers and also splinting her leg.

Eden Valley Dog Training Club and a busy weekend coming up

The nice people of the Eden Valley Dog Training Club have raised £180 for us - so they asked me and Kaz to go along to see them to pick up the cheque and also have a photo taken for the papers...of course I am more than happy because I'm such an attractive dog!! Also this weekend it is the monthly training weekend so we will be in the Newlands Valley near Keswick (I havent been there since one of my assessments).

Callout to Scotland

Kaz and me and the two stupid labradors were at Kaz's office and she got a phone call from the callout co-ordinator Chris asking if she and I could drive all the way to New Abbey in Scotland and help out with a search for a missing man. Mik Guy and Ginny were also going to be going. It took a long time to drive to the other side of Dumfries - then just as we arrived Kaz heard on the radio that one of the Scotland dogs had unfortunately discovered the body of a man in a stream. So Kaz and Mik were told they were no longer needed so drove all the way home again.

Sponsored 10 mile walk

The lovely pupils, parents and teachers at Casteron School near Kirby Lonsdale organised a 3rd annual sponsored walk in aid of SARDA Lakes - me and Kaz and the two stupid labradors went along and we had a lovely day with everyone - 79 people and lots of dogs did the walk and it was great fun. Les Telford told Kaz that he and searchdog Kess also had a callout yesterday and he managed to arrive home just in time for the kick off so he was relieved as well!!

Rugby fever!

Kaz was dead excited - it was England playing in the semi final of the Rubgy World cup today - apparently Kaz played rugby for 10 years and played for Worcester ladies and also captained the West Midlands and played at national level - she is also a qualified referee so you can imagine how much fun it is in our house when the rugby is on!! Anyway she had got everything ready so she could put her feet up when she was called and we were put on standby for a callout on the Howgills for a man who was missing - Kaz was fretting that we'd end up going out and then missing the match - luckily within the hour the man was found and so Kaz and Baz managed to watch the match (blimey you humans get a bit excited about that bloke Wilkinson dont you?)

10th October 2007 - Kaz has a long night!

Kaz and I ended up on a callout last night - Kaz went to bed about 9.30 and her pager went off at 1130 - it was a weird message as it told her to phone Keswick and Wasdale - she did and it turned out there was 2 callouts at the same time on Scafell - one for a husband and wife and another for a group of 5 people. So we went over to Keswick as that is nearer for us. Kaz was still a bit poorly from her man flu and was really hoping that she'd be able to do a lower level area, but when we go there it turned out that search dogs Rosie and Pippi were on the Wasdale side and at that time me and Kaz were it on the Keswick side! We got given a navigator called Chesh and we drove to Seathwaite and we started walking up the path towards Styhead (and then we were supposed to go onto Sprinkling Tarn, Glaramara and back round - a nice short walk!!). The weather was getting bad (heavy rain) and I was really loving it - I went miles in front of Kaz and Chesh. After a fairly long while we suddenly saw a red flare in the the sky and Kaz and Chesh thought it was one being set off at the rescue box at Styhead - unfortunately when they legged it up there it tuned out it had been set off by a Wasdale team member. We started heading up towards Sprinkling but Kaz was coughing really badly and made the decision to turn back - just as we were walking back towards Seathwaite the missing people were found over at Esk Hawse. Kaz was glad and she said thanks to Chesh for looking after us (and sympathising with her for her bad chest). We got home about 6am and Kaz got to work at 10am but was a little tired to say the least!! (Afterwards we found out that searchdog Kess was also out on our callout).

Kaz is 294 in dog years!

It was Kaz's birthday on the 6th - she was 42 in human years - my god that's old. We'd had quite a chilled day really - she'd taken us all out for a nice walk and in afternoon her mum and dad came over and then my favourite aunty Elly - and search dog Mac came over with some flowers. Kaz and Elly had a bet that because it was Kaz's birthday, there was sure to be a callout. Anyway Baz came home and they had something to eat and no callouts!! Unfortunately at 0345 in the morning Kaz was woken up by the dog pager and came down to get me - Donald (one of the stupid labradors) tried to make a bid for freedom and come with us but Kaz was too quick and shut the door before he could get out (Doesnt he realise that I'm the working dog in this family??)

Anyway the callout was over to Cockermouth to look for a 15 year old girl who'd got lost coming home from a party - we arrived at the base and Kaz and Elly had a laugh about the fact that they'd been right....then Kaz, Elly and Mik got told to go to Fang Brow to start searching. Just as we got there though, the police found the girl and we were told we could go home. Mik, Elly and Kaz decided to go for a walk in Whinlatter with us dogs (seeing as we were all up and awake) and on the way home Kaz bought some breakfast and we went straight to Penrith team base as Kaz was due to be training - she only managed 3 hours and then we went home to bed!

Kaz gets to play......

Even though Kaz was ill she had been booked to go on a course called Swift Water Rescue Technician Level 1 which would help her be able to assist her team and the Fire and Rescue people when there are floods and stuff - or people trapped in rivers etc. So on Friday night along with 5 of the guys from her team she had to go for a theory session and then she was due to spend all day Saturday and Sunday in the water all over Cumbria learning stuff. She did have fun on Saturday and they all played about in the water at a place called Skelwith Bridge near Ambleside - here's a piccie of what they played in...

On the Saturday after they finished for the day, just as they were packing up and driving back to Penrith, they got asked to assist on a callout for Patterdale as they'd got two callouts at the same time on Helvellyn - the lads went up the hill to help whilst Kaz drove around ferrying people and stuff....she thought it best that she didnt try and do any more exertion as what with the rotten cold, doing the course and wearing a very tight collared dry suit all day she was feeling a bit rough!! After the callout they all went home and were back in Patterdale the next day early for more training - can you believe it - no sooner than they'd all got into their dry suits (we are waiting to see some of the photos of Dave Bond's face as he struggled badly with the tightness of the neck)..there was a pager message for another Penrith callout - this time though Kaz and the lads on the course said they needed to concentrate on the coursework and so they asked some of the Patterdale team who were on a training day at base to help out which they kindly did.......after a hard day in a gorge on Sunday setting up technical rope systems all of the guys and Kaz passed their tests and are qualified for rescue in Swift water - hooray!

She's still ill though and has croaked her way through a meeting this morning.....me and the two stupid labradors are just keeping our heads down.....

SEPT 2007

Kaz is ill - don't we all know it!

After all the excitement of Rosie getting back on the list - it's all gone downhill at home - Kaz has managed to get that very common disease called Man Flu - (apparently women can also get it too) - she is currently lying in bed hogging her laptop trying to do some work and me and the two stupid labradors have just been told we've got to go to work with Baz so she can get some sleep - honestly you humans really love to milk it - look at what poor Rosie has just been through and did you hear her complain?.....(ok I know it's a tad difficult for a dog to talk, but you know what I'm getting at......)

Kaz missed a team callout and is turning into a Grumpy Old Woman

Kaz has had to travel a lot on the train lately and today saw her getting up for 5am to go to London for an 11am meeting. Kaz used to be a Police person and she is always moaning about people and their behaviour to Baz - especially about manners. Anyway she has noticed more and more that when she is on the train the other passengers (and she reckons it's mainly younger people) dont seem to show any consideration to others so they shout on their phones (despite there being no signal between the Lakes and London) or they play their music so loud you might as well be sitting with the band or their kids just run around throwing things etc (good grief I sound just like her!) Anyway she was really fed up on the way home - the lad next to her was paying the Ramones at 110dB and the family from hell were opposite drinking, swearing and throwing things around so she decided to say something to all of them - so she asked them to show some courtesy and got a load of abuse back -ah well at least her theory was right - so now Baz has started calling her a GOW ..The train manager ended up getting involved - but I think Kaz was just a bit fed up after a really long day of meetings! Then to cap it all as she got on the train home her pager went off for a team callout to assist Keswick MRT with 5 casualties who had go into difficulties and some were hypothermic on Lining Crag in Borrowdale.

Great News - Searchdog Rosie is back after 14 months off!!!!

Searchdog Rosie who frankly was the quickest thing I ever saw on 4 legs (including me) got badly injured last year - she got some bad pain in her back and when Steve took her to the vet they found that her spine had exploded (good grief that sounds scary) and bits of the bone were all around her spinal cord. After a very long and dangerous operation (Note from Kaz....and very expensive one I've been told!!)

 Rosie had to take it easy so everything could mend - apparently us superior breed of dogs (collies) are not very good patients and so it was quite a hard task for Steve and Saffron to keep Rosie from rushing around!

Anyways after all that time Steve and Rosie had to take some assessments to get back on the callout list (note from Kaz..all teams who have had a lay-off or have not been active for a while will need to complete usually 4 days of assessment to ensure they are still operationally effective before going back on the callout list) and they passed!!!

So they are now back on the list - Rosie tells me she can't wait - Steve tells Kaz he's dreading the cold sleepless nights (Note from Kaz ... yep we all say that but we love it really) - here's a piccie of Steve and Rosie to remind you all...

Kaz's team training is interrupted by a callout

Kaz had team training today and she and I went to the Penrith base to meet all the others (The two stupid labradors came too). We were supposed to be doing some training with the RAF helicopter from Boulmer but they rang to let us know that the weather was too bad - so instead they did some first aid scenarios (Note from Kaz - all MR personnel are encouraged to sit the MRC casualty care examination which is an advanced first aid qualification which permits the holder to administer certain drugs).....Then they all drove in the landrovers over to the Grade 3 Ice route in Haweswater where they were going to practice rescuing someone from a steep ledge. We all walked up to the area and were just starting to practice with ropes and stuff (well I was just laying down and watching really!) All of a sudden all the team pagers started going off - it was a callout request from Patterdale team to help them. We all ran down the hill and got in to the landrovers and drove to Patterdale - we went straight to Greenside Mine (I got left in the landrover) while Kaz and the team went up to a place called Keppel Cove and up the zig zag path to help a girl who had dislocated her knee. Team Doctor Andy was already there so they were just there to carry her off the hill. When she was in one of the landrovers and being taken off the hill, I was let out of the landrover for a run around - it was fun. Then we all drove back to Penrith, cleaned the vehicles and Kaz and I met the two stupid labradors who had had to stay in Kaz's car while she was at Patterdale and we went back home.....

15th September - Quick Callout

Me and the two stupid labradors were at home with Kaz and we all decided (well us dogs did ....Kaz wanted to sit down and do nothing!!!) to go for a walk on Helton. When we were out Kaz's team pager went off to help a lady who had fallen over near a place called Wet Sleddale (Good grief there are some daft names in the Lakes). We were pretty close so Kaz got us all in the car and she radioed her team to let them know that she was going direct to the scene. When we got there she met up with team Doctor Andy McAlea and we dogs were left in the car. Kaz and Andy ran up to where the poor lady was and started doing the first aid stuff. It turns out she'd broken her ankle and was in a lot of pain. After about 15 mins the rest of Kaz's team turned up and then the lady was put on a stretcher and taken to the Air Ambulance. Kaz got back in the car and we went back to Helton to continue our walk - all in all we were only out for about an hour - which wasn't too bad.

12th September - Another Callout

Kaz had been in Birmingham with work and I had another nice day with the two stupid labradors and Baz - when she got home she was a bit tired and went to bed about 10pm. At about 10.30 she got woken up (probably a good thing I'm told by Baz because she was snoring for England....) Anyway she rang in to say we would help and we left to go to the Wasdale base to help look for a missing walker in the Haycock area.....unfortunately from home to Wasdale is a 112 mile round trip and it was a bit foggy so it took over an hour to get there. When we got to the base we were told to go and work with Les Telford and searchdog Kess in a really nasty area of forest, cut down trees, tussocky grass and bog. By this time searchdog Mac had reached the man as they could see his torch light in the distance and Elly radioed us to say that she thought we should continue and help her take the man off the hill. The ground was very hard work and Kaz and Les struggled - they fell over a few times and Kaz cut her shin quite badly..... we eventually got to Elly and Mac and we all walked back together and got off the hill about 3.30am. Kaz and Elly were both very tired and hungry and they decided to drive back the same way to make sure each other was ok. Kaz and I got home about 4.45am - but Kaz only got 2.5 hours sleep as she had to get off to work early - she was very tired tonight when she got home.

Kaz looked at her email today and found lots of piccies from body Jo Wilmott that had been taken at the last training weekend....here is a particularly nice one of the view that Jo had from her bivvy bag -it's pretty high up!!

AUG 2007

Sort of a weekend off.....till 10.30pm Sunday night

Kaz and Baz went to a place called Donnington Park this weekend to watch fast, shiny metal objects race round a track (hmm sounds dull to me)...they didn't get back home til late and we we were then all reunited with Kaz and Baz made loads of fuss of.

Kaz decided to go to bed about 10pm and was dropping off to sleep when the inevitable happened - yep the dog pager went off - Kaz came downstairs yawning and she and I got ready to go out. We arrived over at the Keswick base about 11pm - we were told that a man and his son had gone for a walk up Scafell at midday and hadnt come back. Keswick team had alreadt been out on a load of calls and their team members were a bit tired and wet!

We were tasked with searching from Seathwaite up over Glaramara and back....I'm not sure Kaz was really looking forward to it coz it's an awful long way - Elly and searchdog Mac were on their way and Les and searchdog Kess arrived and were tasked with their area. Kaz and I were waiting for Mike and searchdog Fly to turn up so we could work the area together when the missing person phoned to say he was ok....which was good news all round because Kaz and I could go home - we got back at about 0030 and Baz moaned coz Kaz had cold feet which she proceeded to drape all over him!

This morning me and the two stupid labradors are at Kaz's office - we've all just been out for a quick walk and I'm typing this while Kaz has a meeting - then I'm going to go back under the desk and chew my pink cuddly pig!

Here's my pink pig and a piccie of me playing in Kaz's office with it!

Callout for Kaz

Kaz has been manic this week - she was in London all day on Monday so I stayed at home with Baz and the 2 stupid labradors - we had loads of fun running about. Anyway Kaz was at the office yesterday and her team pager went off just as she was having lunch. It was a call to some cragfast people near Howtown. Kaz thought she was only going to be a little while but because the ground was tricky and they had to get three people off individually it took ages so she didnt get home till late and was tired - i think she was hoping that we didnt get a dog callout last night! This weekend she and Baz are going to a place called Donnington Park for some fun and me and the stupid labradors are on holidays with our grandma and grandpa.

Before I go I thought I'd show you some piccies that Val Gill of Duddon and Furness Mountain Rescue Team took of trainee searchdog Skye on an exercise - boy, isn't she pretty!

Fundraising Day

Kaz's team are still trying to raise loads of money for their new Landrovers. A company called Samworth Brothers have decided to make the team a focus for their fundraising events this year and earlier they organised a Challenge Event through a company called Distant Horizons. Well today they ran another event and it was brilliant - have a look at their website for some more info. But the important thing is that they raised a fantastic £40,000 in total over the two events. I went along with Kaz to help out with the day and also stayed for the presentation - it was great fun - here is a piccie. I wasnt in this photo coz Kaz and I had gone home by then - the chaps stayed for a few drinks!!

Callout - what a long day

Kaz had to go to a meeting with work in Birmingham and so she left home to get the train really really early. Grandma and Grandpa came over to look after me and the two stupid labradors and we had a great time - it was a bit odd though, coz grandpa was going to pick Kaz up from the station at 6.30 and just before he left Kaz rang from the train and told them that she had to go to a callout with me to Keswick to look for an elderly man who had gone missing while on holdiday - apparently the Keswick team had been out all day and needed some extra help. Kaz got off the train and immediately got changed and we jumped in the car and drove straight to Keswick where we met up with the other handlers (some of whom had been out all day). We were given a big area of fields to search and we were doing really well, when I suddenly smelt a person and ran to a tree and barked - unfortunately it was a couple of teenagers out for a 'chat' - Kaz said sorry and we quickly moved on. Later on in the evening at about 11pm Kaz and I were searching the Lake shore and the woods and it was pretty spooky - Kaz got a bit scared when I crept up on her and then trod on a stick behind her!! Anyway, we finally got home about 12.30 and Kaz was very tired. The good news is that we've just heard the man has been found safe and well - hooray!!

Poor old Elly and Mac

Baz went back to work today so Kaz was left at home with me and the two stupid labradors - as it is something called a Bank Holiday (now I thought that's where you humans get money from - so they have holidays too?) Kaz wasn't working. Kaz took the two stupid labradors out for a walk on the fells - she told me I couldn't go too as I play up too much when we are all together......and after about 1.5 hours she came back. Then she picked me up and we went to see our friend Elly and Searchdog Mac in Keswick to go for a walk. Elly has been a bit ill with a bad back and we thought we'd go to the Lake and have a gentle walk. Unfortunately when we got there Mac was also poorly - he'd hurt his paw so although we went for a swim in the Lake, Kaz carried Mac to and from the car. It was still fun and afterwards we all went to the Shepherds Cafe in Borrowdale for a cup of tea (humans) and a piece of cake (humans and dogs) - and then we went to see our favourite people body Terry and body Mary who made lots of fuss of us.

Elly also gave Kaz a CD with lots of photos on it that were taken by our Callout Co-ordinator Chris Francis - here are some of them...........Trainee Handler Laura not sure which way up the jacket goes; Searchdog Mist waiting her turn; handler Mick Guy giving his sarcastic look; Searchdog Mac looking handsome; me looking fairly pretty and spot how many searchdogs you can get in the back of a car!!!

Almost a callout

Kaz is doing something called studying at the moment at a place called University and she needed to write some sort of report that had to be 4000 words long (blimey I know she can waffle but 4000 words!!) Anyway she told Baz that she was going to spend all day doing her University work and she'd been at it about 3 hours when her team pager went off - but she couldn't go coz she needed to finish her essay......Kaz's friend Jess from the Kirby Stephen team told her later that they'd been called to help as there were not many people around - Kaz felt a bit guilty about that, but Baz reminded her that she is a volunteer after all and can't go to everything! After that Kaz managed to finish her essay and she was just having a cup of tea when the pager went off for a Dog callout - hooray I thought, I'll be able to run about and play my favourite game!! Kaz was getting her self and me sorted out when she was told that the missing people had been found.....ah well never mind.

A small holiday

Kaz had some friends to stay this week - Baz was working at Coniston. Kaz's friends Pete and Carol came up with their children Molly and Jack and me and the two stupid labradors spent loads of time playing with them in the lake and on the hills - it was great fun!!

News from old SARDA members and yes I'm a TV star again

It was a day of news today for Kaz - first of all body Dave Lewis (who moved down south and promptly got flooded out) sent an email to say that things are gradually getting better - but they are still in temporary accomodation for a little while longer - but the wierd thing is they are going to be moving very close to the village Kaz used to live in when she lived in the Midlands.

Then we got an email from ex handlers Karen Newman and Pete Collins who moved to the north of Scotland to build a house earlier this year - they sent us a piccie just to make us all jealous - guess where Kaz and Baz will be taking the camper van soon??!!

Also I was on BBC2 on the show Do Something Different - this was the bit of work Kaz and I did with the Coniston team to show what happens when someone joins Mountain Rescue. I was ace and there wasnt too much of Kaz (thank goodness - hopefully someone else will start being filmed instead of us now!)

Training Weekend at Haweswater- wet, wet, wet!!!

Kaz and I went to our local area this weekend for a change to do some training - I was really looking forward to it coz Laura and her handsome trainee Jake were going to spend the evening with me and the two stupid labradors at our house.

Anyway we all got there on Saturday and it was chucking it down - agghh - Kaz and I walked up to Small Water and we did some training in the slippery bouldery ground there with searchdogs Ginny, Mist and Moudy - The idea was to get our handlers to stand at the bottom whilst we went and did all the work as usual (note from Kaz - not quite like that Dot, we were supposed to demonstrate that our dogs can be instructed to keep going up hill without the need for us to actually move) .... well, anyway, the handlers were having a very interesting time, both Kaz and Benny were trying out their rock climbing skills on vertical wet slabs, finding that fingernails do not stop the slide!! But us dogs were ace and found the bodies no probs. In the other areas the trainees all seemed to be having fun. (the arrow shows the place which we slide around on)

In the evening Kaz and Baz and Laura went to the pub and us dogs stayed indoors playing - it was great!! There was a callout in the middle of the night for assistance to the 3 peaks in Yorkshire but by the time we'd got sorted out to go, it was stood down.

On Sunday some of Kaz's mountain rescue team members came along to body but the weather was so bad and alot of the dogs and handlers were ill so they weren't really needed - but they stayed and watched what we did and seemed to enjoy themselves. On the way home Kaz's pager went off and she was about to drive straight to Howtown to start helping look for 2 missing divers, but luckily they were found ok.

John Leadbetter and one of my relatives Skye passed their registration test - (as if there was any doubt!!) and they are now officially trainees - here's a lovely piccie of Skye (oh and John)

Poor old Fraser.....Kaz is sad

Fraser, the oldest of the two stupid labradors (he's nearly 7) was not very well yesterday. He had something called a mild stroke and Kaz took him to the vet. He seems ok now but Kaz was very upset - Fraser was diagnosed with Progressive Retinal Atrophy (which means he is going blind gradually) a couple of years ago and this year he was also diagnosed with cancer - it doesn't seem very fair he has had this as well. The other stupid labrador Donald and I kept sniffing him last night just to check he was ok - but I think I was annoying him because he barked at me when I woke him up........Donald was really upset because he has always lived with Fraser since he was a puppy (before I came along). I'm upset as well really because although I call them stupid they are really my big brothers and have taught me lots......get well Fraser

(note from Kaz - I'm thinking of getting a permanent chair installed at the vets - I seem to spend alot of time in there lately!!)

14th Aug 2007 - Lots of callouts

Since Saturday there have been 4 dog callouts but everytime we got in the car and either had just arrived or were nearly at the rendez-vous point, we got stood down - this is good really as it means that the people are safe. Poor old Mick Guy (Ginny and Mist's owner) had his 60th birthday on Saturday and spent all day on 2 very long callouts with the Keswick team - he apparently got home for 9pm......happy birthday Mick. (Mick has been counting up and he thinks he may now be approaching 1000 callouts since he's been in mountain rescue - blimey Keswick team are either very busy or Mick started out when he was 6!!)

Also we saw our friend Elly today and unfortunately she's hurt her back - except that she did it picking up the ball for Mac and not doing anything heroic - get better soon!!

This weekend there is the Haweswater training weekend - Kaz and I are going both days and on Sunday there will be a special exercise for the graded dogs up on High Street - we are hoping that an RAF helicopter can come over and join in the fun as well. So if you are out and about at Mardale Head and High Street this weekend and you see lots of us handsome and pretty dogs in orange jackets - come and say hi!!

13th Aug - Kaz was very worried about me

I wasn't well at Kaz's office on Friday - I'm afraid to say I made a bit of a mess in the carpark and I didn't want to eat much, anyway she took me to the nice vet (well that's what I thought) and he stuck a thermometer in a place that I wasn't keen on and also gave me a check up. - he thought I had eaten or drank something that was not very fresh....Kaz also told him that I drink an awful lot of water and that she wanted to know if that was a problem, so I then had the embarassment of having to wee on the floor so they could test it and also I gave blood as the vet started talking about the possibility of something called kidney disease. Kaz spent the rest of the day looking very worried - but she's just got a call to say that I'm ok and that it is probably a 'behavioural' reason for me to drink so much - great, now she thinks I'm nuts!! The stomach problem also has started to clear up (not a good idea to drink rubbish water!!)

11th Aug 2007 - Camper Vans - Kaz is really getting old

Good grief - how long do you humans need to look at a camper van? Kaz and Baz spent all day (all day!) looking at various camper vans - it was duller than ditch water, but they've now got loads of leaflets and frankly me and the two stupid labradors don't care what they get as long as there is somewhere to lay down and it's fully stocked with food!!

Us search dogs play at being 'Bob the Builder'

Lovely Tommy Cubby (thanks Tommy) set up a training area for us graded searchdogs to play (sorry - train) in tonight - it was lots of rubble, pallets, containers, pipes and holes where various people hid. It is a bit different to what we do on the hill as we can't run around at 100mph as normal, but we have to slow down and search very carefully around all the rubble and stuff. As it was a building site the handlers, including Kaz, had to wear special hard hats. I was a bit too quick over the ground at first but I did slow down a bit and I found Annette hiding inside a concrete pipe. All of the dogs managed to find all the bodies and I even found Dave Benson on top of a 7ft container and barked loads!! Mick guys dogs Ginny and Mist were really funny as they searched together and were deafening to the bodies in the pipes! It was great fun although if Kaz sang 'Bob the Builder' one more time I was going to apply for a handler transfer.......here is a picture of Elly and Mac finding the body in the pipe and also one of Kaz (who doesnt like enclosed spaces) acting as a body

The reason we are doing this is so that if we ever do need to search this type of stuff, then we and the handlers would know what to do.

5th Aug 2007 - Training and then a callout (oh and a man operates a hoover!!)

Kaz and Craig and Chris from her team were running the driving training today so I was left at home. When Kaz came home she was a bit tired and went off for a bath and a quick snooze whilst Baz took me and the two stupid labradors out for a run. We had all just finished our tea and Kaz and Baz were reading when Kaz's pager went off for a search on the edge of the Kielder Forest for a 71 year old man.

Kaz made a flask of tea and got her stuff together and then we went to the base to find out the details. 5 of us got in to a landrover and we started driving up - an hour later, just as we were almost there we got a radio message to say that he had been found by a Police helicopter so we came back home again. I enjoyed the ride in the landrover as Kaz's team mates all make a fuss of me - particularly Terry who let me cuddle up to him!

After training or callouts it is always important to make sure that the vehicles are clean and ready for another callout - Kaz was very proud that she managed to capture a man operating a hoover - here's Dave Bond with a smile on his face!

Callout for Kaz

Kaz had a call from Mik Guy the training officer for SARDA - apparently he'd been told of a poor dog that had an accident on the fells and was needing some help. About 10 mins later Kaz's pager went off and her team started to make their way to the fells. Luckily a member of the public helped the dog and Kaz wasnt needed - we since found out that the dog broke one of its paws in 4 places - ouch!!

Kaz's team training

Kaz and her team (and me of course) went over to Stoneycroft Beck in Keswick to practice extracting a person from a gorge - Kaz's team mate Craig Palmer was the casualty (he was very convincing) and we spent a good time making sure we got him out safely - I had to do a bit of work at the beginning with Kaz locating Craig - but he is very smelly so it was easy really! The midges were out in force and poor old Dave Bond got lots of bites!

Einich the puppy is a star!

Me and Kaz and some of the other handlers, bodies and dogs went to the Windermere Airshow this weekend to meet our adoring public. There were lots of people there and they all fell in love with puppy Einich who is now 13 weeks old...she was very well behaved and didnt seem at all frightened of all the noises and planes and helicopters that were there. Trainee searchdogs Vinny and Beinn (both of who are very(!) handsome) were there, along with searchdogs Moudy, Flash and Kess. My breeder Sue Jones and her family came along and all of us dogs who were born on her farm went beserk when we saw her....we all love seeing Sue. We all did a demo to the public but it was a bit difficult as the load speakers were very quiet...I was very tired when I got home. Here are some nice photos....Einich crashed out under the tent, Beinn being very patient with some dog fans and Einich learning to sit nicely.....

26th July 2007 - Surplus to requirements....

Kaz and I were at work when Kaz's pager went off at about 2pm. It was a team callout and she was told to go to assist Patterdale team on Threshwaite Cove. I wasnt required so I stayed at the Patterdale base and Kaz went up the hill (hmm..must remember that eating dinner just before rushing up a hill isnt a good idea.) Anyway, after about 4 hours Kaz came back and was muttering about chivalry being dead on her team - apparently the team all got to the casualty and the helicopter came to help - there wasnt enough room for all the team to get a lift to the bottom so Kaz and 2 others were left on the hill and had a long walk off (Just wait til I get my own back on the Penrith team...). As soon as she got back to the Patterdale base she drove us back up to Kirkstone Pass so that we could go training, but I think she was a bit tired and cold after the callout, so we didnt stay very long.

25th July 2007 - Poor Old Dave!

I mentioned recently that one of the regular dogsbodies and all round great fun bloke, Dave Lewis, decided to move back down south - well he did 3 weeks ago and guess what? they've been flooded out with their bungalow under 3ft of water. What a welcome to their new home!! Dave sent us a piccie of the rising water (and Merlin the dog) before he abandoned ship!! Honestly, the lengths some of these humans go to just to get out of lying about on the hillside for me to jump all over........take care Dave

25th July 2007- A hello from some dog blog readers

I was, as you know, beginning to wonder if anyone ever read my dog blog (honestly if you understood how hard it is to type with my paws you'd be really sorry for me) .... anyway I got a lovely email from some readers called Tassel, Tammy and Copa (3 King Charles Spaniels) - hi guys - make sure you keep reading!! It made my day

25th July 2007- A thank you following a 'dog rescue'

A couple of weeks ago Kaz took Fraser to the vet and while she was there two people in walking gear came in with their dog who was quite poorly - they had been doing the coast to coast and Sam the dog had hurt himself - the problem was that they had been in Shap and were now stranded at a vet in Penrith with no transport or anywhere to stay. Kaz was feeling kind and so she drove them all to a local campsite that allowed doggies. Well today we had a nice email and a couple of photos thanking Kaz and also letting us know how Sam was...here it is...(Mark also made a generous donation...cheers).

Karen,
You may recall rescuing us from the vets in Penrith.....well Sam the dog never got any further than Pooley Bridge on our coast to coast adventure, We made 4 return trips to the vets in 48 hours!! as the dog got steadily worse, temperature, shaking, didn't move for the hole 2 days! and a high temp of 105.5 is was not looking good!!! The vets finally decided it was a tick born infection, and gave various anti inflammatory drugs + antibiotics etc, My girlfriend came to look after Sam for the weekend as it was strictly rest, which I must say, both the dog and I were both very upset about! We continued our walk on Saturday, and moved camp to Keld, however SAM seemed happier but still limping very badly, Sam returned to Leicester with my very understanding girlfriend, to be admitted to the vets on Monday morning with a very swollen shoulder, which mystified the vets, in 24 hours it turned into a tennis ball sized lump protruding from the shoulder, They think it was a reaction to the tick bite!! Anyway Sam has made a complete recovery ( as you can see from the pics!!!!)
I just wanted to say how grateful we were for your kindness and generosity taking two smelly blokes and a wonky dog in your car! I hope you and all your dogs are well, we will keep an eye out for you in the lakes on our many trips to the lake district.
Grateful Always
Mark. xxxxxxxx
SAMXXXXXXXXXXXX
PS we completed the C2C in twelve days and raised 700 pounds for the British heart foundation! what an amazing experience, we met some wonderful people (including yourself!) and a fantastic time!

24th July 2007 - catchup on all the SARDA news that's been happening

I Missed a Callout
I found out from Kaz today that whilst she was away we missed a callout in the Keswick area - what a shame I really would have liked to be up all night - as soon as Kaz has the details she's going to update the website.....
Searchdog Ginny was very poorly
We also heard from handler Mik Guy that searchdog Ginny (my half sister) was taken very ill one night with an abcess that grew really large behind her left eye and it was touch and go for some time. The good news is that she is now recovered after having lots of antibiotics etc and is back to her normal self ... here's a picce of Ginny taken when she was poorly and another of her when she's healthy - I know which one I prefer...

Kaz and Baz are back hooray!!
Kaz and Baz are back from their holidays - they had lots of fun in Andorra although Kaz said that whilst she quite likes doing via ferrata's she doesnt like the overhanging bits (Baz told me that she had a bit of a temper tantrum on an overhang!)....here's a piccie of Kaz taking a rest on the way up a via ferrata and a piccie of Baz and Kaz at the top of one of them.

I was very excited to see both of them - but I am proud of myself coz I didnt pee all over them this time!! The two stupid labradors were released from prison and I suppose I was pretty pleased to see them as well.

While Kaz and Baz were away I stayed for a bit with Elly and Searchdog Mac - we had some great fun on the hills so thanx lots it was a nice time - can I stay again? (Apparently Dottie wasnt always on her best behaviour so Elly and Mac deserve a double thankyou for putting up with her!!)

JULY 2007

Kaz and Baz are going on holidays and another relation joins SARDA

I'm very sad - Kaz and Baz are going in their camper van to Spain and Andorra for 3 1/2 weeks holidays and I'm going to stay with my grandma and grandpa for some of the time and then some of the time with my great friends Elly and searchdog Mac. The two stupid labradors are going to doggy prison (Kennels Dot, kennels!) - I do like my grandma and grandpa but I really miss Kaz when she is away.

Here is a picture of the new puppy that Joy Grindrod is getting - her dog Anna died 2 years ago and she has wanted to get another for a long time. Her new dog is called Einich (wierd name or what!) and she is related to me and is 6 weeks old.....(not as pretty as me though!)

Nice walk and hello to Freda from SARDA England!

Kaz did some work leading a group of 4 people on the hills yesterday - I went along to help her and we had a nice walk. Also I want to say hello and thanks to dogsbody Freda from SARDA England who sent me a lovely email ...... I was beginning to think no-one ever read this blog!

14th June 2007 - Kaz and I do a demo at North Lakes School

Kaz and I were asked to go and see the children of the North Lakes Primary School to talk about searchdogs and for me to show them how clever I am. There were lots of children in the hall listening to Kaz and they asked loads of really clever questions like 'what does Dottie do if she finds a person who's got a dog - does she play instead of telling you she's found them?'.

Afterwards I did a quick demonstration and found Mrs Clarke their teacher and then all the children lined up to pat me - it was loads of fun!!

12th June 2007 - Dave's Last Day

Dogsbody Dave Lewis who has worked with the dogs who train at Keswick on Tuesday evenings for four years has decided to leave the Lakes (with wife Sharon and dog Merlin) and move down south to be closer to the family. Dave was a fun body to work with and I always got loads of cuddles and fuss. We'll miss you lots and here is a photo of Kaz giving Dave a pressie to thank him for his hard work......keep in touch Dave

Kaz on DVD

Kaz went to her team base today - I went along as well - Kaz and team mates Craig Palmer, Tim Saunders and Steve Ullyart were making a DVD on mountain safety for students of the new University of Cumbria. I got lots of cuddles and fuss as usual and Kaz and the boys had some fun.

10th June 2007 - Training at Ennerdale

Kaz has been really busy with work and its been pretty quiet on the dog callout side of things so not much to report. Kaz and I went to Ennerdale for the training weekend - Kaz could only go for one day as her and Baz had been sorting out the local village fete on Saturday. Kaz and I and Elly and Mac went up the path towards Red Pike - it was very warm and there were lots of midges as well. (I was keeping a really close eye out for those adders! My chin is still sore from the adder bite - hmm). Kaz and Elly were given an area to search and it took us a long time...I found all the bodies (I was just lucky - poor Mac must have been on the wrong side of the wind). Elly and Kaz were told that they hadnt been very efficient in the area - I think they're both a bit down now, but they are both still learning lots (and so are me and Mac). I still dont like sheep though - you cant trust them....some of them were lurking about in the bracken and when I see them if they dont move out of the way I'm not sure what to do so I tend to just stand still and wait for Kaz to catch me up, apparently I should just ignore them and wander through - hmmm I'm not keen on that. Kaz and I went training last night which was fun. Body Glenn hid on a fallen tree and it was very difficult to find him as I lost the scent at the spot where he climbed the tree and had to run round it trying to pick it up again.

JUNE 2007

Adders are not something to play with!

Kaz and I went for a walk in the Haweswater area with the two stupid labradors after work. I was off the lead having a rootle about in the boulders and grass. I saw something that looked kind of interesting so I had a bit of a sniff - I felt a bit of pain under my chin and barked for Kaz, I decided to have another look and this time felt a bit more pain and really barked! By the time I got home I didnt feel very well - my chin was really sore and was swelling up and I started feeling really tired and a bit worried! Kaz was really nice - she picked me up and carried me to the car and took me to see the nice vet. They think I was bitten by something called an adder which had been 'basking' in the sun and I was very lucky because I didnt have too bad a reaction. So Kaz has been told I must be rested and kept quiet - I quite like this....here is a piccie of the nasty beast who bit me! I've got a sore patch under my chin still and I guess I wont be sniffing at an adder again!

Callout for Kaz

Kaz and I were at Kaz's office at lunchtime when her pager went off - she can tell the difference between a dog callout and her team general callout because the pager gives a different noise - it's quite good really coz as soon as I hear the continuous tone I can go back to sleep!! Kaz left work and went to the base - it was a call to an injured horse rider - it took about 4 hours to deal with and then Kaz finished and went home. She was a bit grumpy because she'd been just about to eat lunch when the callout started and by the time she got home was starving!

29th May 2007 - SARDA training

Kaz, Elly, Mike Hadwin and Mick Guy all trained at Revellin. They worked in pairs and covered quite a big area together. Kaz decided she would take the upper part of the area and Mick would do the middle and bottom - I think she was regretting it by the end! It was quite hard work for both of us and coz the wind was blowing up hill all the time I kept going down to the bottom bodies so poor Kaz was zig-zagging up and down - she was a bit tired at the end. Although there was some bad news - Dave Lewis one of the bodies who comes to training on Tuesday nights is going to be moving away and his last training night will be on June 12th....it's a real shame because he's really good fun and always has time to play with us dogs. Here I am finding Terry the other week in the woods.....

Penrith Team Fundraising

Kaz's mountain rescue team - Penrith now need to raise some money to buy a couple of landrovers and a minibus, so they have started a fundraising campaign. Kaz and I went along to Carlisle City Centre to help out and I had a fun day meeting lots of lovely people and the team raised over £1100 with a charity abseil and stretcher lower as well as a street collection. Thanks everyone!

25th May 2007 - Nice walk in the Howgills

Kaz and Baz decided to take the day off work and they took me and the stupid labradors to the Howgills - it was a really long walk and Kaz and Baz played with us all. The stupid labradors got very tired after about 15k but I'm super-fit and wanted to swim and jump about in the river near to Tebay when we walked back to the car. I have to say that Kaz and Baz seemed a bit quiet afterwards - they had a 'medicinal' drink before having an early night!

24th May 2007 - Crag Training

Kaz and some of the guys from her team decided to put in a bit of extra crag training on Thursday night so we went to Martindale and did some setting up of lowers and belay systems. I didnt do much but they all made a fuss of me - especially Glenn who always give me loads of cuddles.
12/13th May 2007 - Training Weekend

Kaz and I got up early on Saturday to drive to the training weekend. This time we were going to meet 4 people from the Norwiegian Search Dogs who were coming over to see how we do things. They were very interested in what we do and Kaz and them talked about the differences in the terrain and also the training (yawn!!) In the afternoon Kaz and Elly were told to search a big area together and me and Mac were brilliant and we found all the bodies between us. Kaz and Elly were given a bit of stick - first of all they didn't talk enough on the radio and then when they got off the hill they were told they'd talked too much!! The trainee dogs all seemed to have a good time (I sort of wish I was still a trainee coz I had loads of fun and cuddles from the bodies).

On Sunday the trainees were working in Mickledon and the graded dogs were doing a big exercise in the Greenburn area - Kaz and Elly had to decide on the best way to search this huge area with just 7 dogs-(Dottie, Mac, Ginny, Flash, Corrie, Rosie and Fly) - well, they must have done something right coz we found the bodies within about 2.5 hours and we had been given 4 hours to do it all in. Malcolm and Jim the assessors and the Norwiegians watched from the ridge. Kaz and I worked with Macca and searchdog Corrie - we worked really well together but it was really hot and there wasn't much wind so I did stick quite close to Kaz, but I did find body Paul from a long way away.
Everyone was really pleased as we got off the hill before the rain started.....the poor trainees got soaked (so perhaps I don't want to be a trainee again!)

It was also a big celebration as Terry (one of the bodies) is 70 and we all gave him a card and a big cake......here's Elly presenting it to him!! Happy Birthday Terry!!!!

Kaz's pager went off at 3.55am and so she came downstairs looking a bit bleary eyed. She packed her rucsac and then we drove over to the Cockermouth MRT base, where we were told we would be looking for a man near Bowness Bridge. We searched for about 3.5 hours in really difficult ground (Steep and very woody with big boulders which Kaz slipped alot on). Elly and Mac, Mick and Ginny and Mist, Dave and Flash and Dynamite, Les and Kes, Macca and Corrie and Mike and Fly were all there and we were all given bits to search. The missing man was found but he had sadly died. Kaz and I got home around 12.30 and she decided to have a quick shower before doing something called email!- I'm writing this while she is drying her hair. We still plan to train tonight so I need to make sure that I get a bit of sleep before hand - not sure Kaz will as she needs to do a lot of work apparently.

MAY 2007

May - On TV again

Kaz was asked to do an interview with the ITV people who are making a programme about Wainwright - so we were filmed - Kaz was being asked lots of questions and I just sat on the rock by her shoulder looking at her and the man (Fred) who was interviewing her - he thought I was really well behaved (and extremely pretty) and I did a really good demonstration by finding him behind a rock....keep an eye out on Sundays at 6pm in July....blink and you'll miss us!

Kaz's team training was held at Bleawater in Birketts Gully - Kaz was a bit put out as she is the only girl and still had to carry up her own kit plus an extra rucsac full of oxygen and entonox (she should have used it herself!)....(Note from Kaz - I was seriously thinking about it!) . They practised getting someone (who frankly had been a bit daft) out of a water filled gully then lowering him off and carrying him on the stretcher. Later, I got to show off and found Kaz's team mate John who hid in the scree and boulders - he's great fun he always makes me bark.

On Bank Holiday Monday Kaz and Baz and me and the stupid labradors went up on to Helton for a nice walk and a play....blimey it was really busy and we bumped into Dave Benson and his search dog Moudy and his other dog Mia - so that was nice.....here's Moudy - he's a strange breed but very handsome!

Training again

Kaz has been all over the place with work in the last 5 days - I went with her to a conference in Rydal on environmental awareness, then she went to a Medical Seminar for Mountain Rescue in Ambleside on Saturday and then on Monday she went to Edinburgh for an Outdoor Learning Festival (I stayed with grandma and grandad and the stupid labradors). I must say, Kaz's job sounds a bit of a doddle really (....Note from Kaz - oh yes - really easy!)

Last night we went training over at Whinlatter - it's only just May but already the midges are out in force. We searched on the fell side and found body Terry and Glen and then the rucsac that had been hidden...wot a great laugh. It was also good as Laura (and her trainee Jake) have been away for 5 weeks on holiday and they came along.

It's been very quiet on the dog callout front but Kaz has told me that the mountain rescue teams are all quite busy at the moment (probably because of the nice weather).

24th April 2007- Big Thanks to the Ambleside Folk Festival

Mick Mead and all the people at the Unicorn Pub, Novel Cafe and Rugby Club at Ambleside spent the whole weekend collecting money for us during the Folk Festival - they raised over £700 - so many thanks!! Kaz and I were at the pub on the Sunday afternoon and we saw a lady who looked a bit worried - turned out that her husband was late coming back from a walk. We waited for a while then Kaz and Les Telford began to sort out calling out the rescue team and planning a route to search. Luckily he turned up just as everything was getting underway.

23/24th April 2007 - Training Weekend

It was really foggy as Kaz and I went to Ambleside via Kirkstone Pass on the Saturday morning - we went to the Rugby Club and all of us dogs saw the vet and had our annual jabs. Then we all went out in the field and practised some obedience - I was great (although it was very funny when Blue was told to stay whilst his boss walked away - every time his boss turned his back he inched forward a bit, as soon as his boss looked back he stopped!!) Olly Benson and my half sister Kitt, Bill Malone and Blue (another relation) and Ric Outhwaite and Col passed their registration tests and are now formally training....here's a piccie of them

In the afternoon we all went to Kirkstone Pass and the trainees worked on Red Screes whilst us graded dogs (me, Mac, Dynamite, Flash, Rosie and Kess) went off into Woundale to practice finding bodies who had got into difficult spots (.....Note from Kaz - thanks Woody for getting into the worlds smallest hole!).

On Sunday Kirkstone Pass had disappeared so we had to go somewhere else to train,........ So we all trained at Whinlatter - it was great fun as usual

Road trip to Wales

Kaz and Baz decided to take off to Wales for a long weekend so me and the stupid labradors went along. We stayed over in Llanberis at Malcolm and Linda's new house which was huge and we had lots of fun on the beach and then we went to the Aber Falls and had nice walks round there. Funny though, Kaz says that Baz seems to work harder when he helps other people do up their houses than when he's at home!!! On the dog front - it's been pretty quiet which is good news as that means people are safe!

8th April 2007 - Keswick Collection

Kaz and I were due to be at Keswick to help with a collection for SARDA at 1pm. Just as we left home Kaz's pager went off and she got called to Penrith Team base to help with a callout for an injured quad biker. I waited at the base for a while til she had finished that callout then we carried on to Keswick. Lots of nice people came and patted us all and gave us lots of money - Thank you!!
In the evening Kaz and Baz decided to take me and the stupid labradors out for the evening and so we went to Alston Moor in the camper van and we all went for a long walk up by the ski tows. I was well behaved but Donald wasn't!

In the morning we went for another long walk in the mist - Kaz and Baz had a discussion (!) about the navigating! Me and the stupid labradors just messed around!

APRIL 2007

Callout

Kaz was moaning that I haven't done enough training lately and as it has been quiet she seems to think that I'll forget what I need to do. So she dragged me over to Whinlatter Forest to do a bit of training which was ok. We got home at about 8pm and Kaz was just making herself a cup of tea when her pager went off - guess what - a callout back in Keswick. 'Ho Hum' she said (well sort of) and we got back in the car and went back to Keswick base to see if we could help look for an elderly lady who was missing from a nursing home. 7 other dogs were out - including Mac - it was his first callout but he was pretty chilled out really. Kaz and I went with Mike Blakey and searchdog Comet and we searched around the grounds and fields and gardens in Keswick for about 3 hours. We were just back at the base waiting to get re-tasked when the police helicopter located the lady. Luckily she seemed to be ok and we went back home - getting to bed around 2am.

Last night was quite sad as Pete Collins and Karen Newman (handlers of search dogs Drizzi and my half sister Kidsty) came round for dinner as they are learving the Lakes and moving to the North of Scotland - so Kaz and Karen did lots of crying and Pete and Baz did lots of drinking......good luck inScotland and we'll be up to visit soon!

MARCH 07

Mac and Elly graded - hooray!!

Excellent news all round - my friend Mac and his boss Elly have passed their final assessments - so they are now on the callout list with me and Kaz!! Kaz and Elly spend alot of their time together gossiping so it'll be even worse now they are both on the callout list together - nothing will get done!!
Here's Elly and Mac being given the coveted green tag by Mick Guy the training officer!

Kaz and I missed the celebrations though because Kaz was at work in a place called Whitby - she took me with her though so I could show off my skills to some people - they were really sneaky and hid the body under some twigs inside a bivvy bag. All of the people who were looking couldn't find him - even after 20 mins of looking, but I got my jacket on and found him in about 30seconds! Just goes to show what superior beings we are!!

Today I'm sat in Kaz's office - I've already been outside to play with the ducks - at the moment I've got a nice bone to chew on - it's ok but it'd be much better if I was running around working. Tonight we are going to Whinlatter so Kaz and Elly can gossip and me and Mac can do some training!

15th March 2007 - Not too much happening at the moment....

Hi Dot fans - well the spring is on its way apparently - good n ews coz Kaz can take her ice axe and snow stuff out of the car (it makes an awful racket when she goes over bumps - the woman has no consideration for me at all). Today just me and Donald are in the car at Kaz's office - Fraser my eldest stupid labrador has had to go to the vets for an op on his eye - Kaz decided that none of us would be fed this morning so Fraser wouldnt feel left out- huh! (Sadly Fraser has been diagnosed with cancer - he is also going gradually blind due to an iherited disease - poor old thing (Kaz)).

Kaz is off to the NEC with work to run a stand for her company at the Outdoor Show and I'm going
to my grandma and grandads with the stupid labradors - excellent loads of food and fuss!
Well, what's new in the world of the Search Dog Association? A couple of news items for you:
trainee searchdog Beinn's handler Roger Pickup sent us a piccie of himself plastered...very nice Roge!

Trainee searchdog Mac and handler Elly have only got a few assessments to go and they will be under assessment this weekend at Patterdale so fingers and paws crossed...

Searchdog Corrie and her handler Macca were in the papers after the train crash - another nice photo for Corrie and a shame about the handler!

FEBRUARY 07
I'm an Aunty and trainee searchdog Beinn is a dad!

I had an email from Sue Jones my breeeder today telling me that I am an aunty to 7 boys and 1 girl who have been born in the last couple of days. Apparently the father is none other than trainee searchdog Beinn (he's a bit of a lad isn't he!!) All the puppies are doing really well. Here's a piccy of the proud father, mum and the pups and the pups themselves!

Kaz and I went over to the Coniston team today to help out with a BBC childrens TV programme about kids getting out and about and doing something different. A boy called Reece joined the team for a couple of days and did all sorts of things like climbing, abseiling and first aid. We joined in to do a big pretend search for a person who was lost in Levers Water. Reece navigated us to the area and then I had to search for the missing person and let Kaz and Reece know I'd found them. It was a bit odd as normally I don't have loads of cameras and stuff close by the body! Also I was a bit worried about whether my bum looked big in my new working jacket (Kaz is always moaning about hers). We had a great day and I even got winched in and flown about in a RAF helicopter and everyone made a big fuss of me (and I got loads of treats). Look out for the programme on CBBC in
April.

Train Crash - what a long night (23 Feb 07)

Kaz and Baz had been to a lecture on the Himalaya and me and the stupid labradors were left at home. At about 9pm Kaz's pager started going off and I knew that there must be a callout - unfortunately I couldn't switch it off and it was a bit annoying until Kaz and Baz came in at 9.30. Kaz looked at her pager and said to Baz that there was a major incident and that she and I needed to go. She made a flask and some sandwiches and we jumped in her car and drove to the Kendal base to meet up with the search teams. We still didn't know what was happening but as we got closer on the A6 we could see lots of flashing lights. Kaz and the rest of the Penrith team went to a church hall to wait to be told what was happening. At the same time there was a search callout on Helm Crag (Langdale) and we weren't sure if we were going to be sent over there to work on that. In the end Search dog Skye and Christyne went. At about 11.30 Kaz got me and told me we were to be looking for any missing passengers from a train crash. We got into a van with searchdogs Kess, Corrie and Dynamite and Flash and were taken to the scene. It was pretty scary as there was a train which had crashed - we searched the farmland for about 4 hours - it was hard work - very wet and muddy and we eventually got home at about 6am. It is very sad that the elderly lady died and that others were injured.

Feb 07 - Reports from a non-snowy avalanche course

Elly and Laura (Kaz's friends and trainee handlers) were keeping Kaz up to date with the gossip from the Scotland course - so that she didn't feel too left out! There's been not much snow and so they've all been doing lots of normal training and some assessmets - so far Elly and Mac have passed 4 assessments which means they have done 5 so are not far off being graded - hooray! Laura and Jake have had a good week as well.

All of the guys and dogs in Scotland did a massive search exercise across the Cairngorm plateau (about 20km in total) and Elly said that they're all knackered now!!

After the course finished Elly and Chris Francis stayed on and finally got some snow - here's a piccy of them in the snow.

20 Feb 2007 - Callout to Scafell

Kaz and Baz and us dogs were just settling down in front of the fire after tea when the pager went off. Baz's eyebrows seem to always be affected when the pager goes off as they start going up. Anyway - Kaz and I were called over to the Keswick team base to help search for a family of 4 who had gone missing - including a 14month old baby and a 5 yr old boy. Kaz and me and Mick Guy with search dogs Ginny and Mist were tasked to go up towards Scafell via Styhead. It was lashing down and I was very glad when about 45 mins after we set out the family were found.

19 Feb 2007 - Day out with Searchdog Drizzi and a bit of special training

I think that Kaz was feeling sorry for me - not being able to go and play in the snow in Scotland so she rang Karen Newman and we went out on Shap fell with her and searchdog Drizzi. We had great fun running about all over the place and Kaz and Karen did a bit of directional control with us. (we just humoured them and actually did what they asked us to do!) - Here we are looking gorgeous!
After we went home - Kaz and I travelled over to Whinlatter to do some special training with Mick Guy and Ginny - we worked for about an hour and found Terry, Mary and Glenn and then everyone went for a cup of tea! (except me - boo!)

Feb 2007 - Cant go to Scotland - it's not fair!!

There I was - really looking forward to going up to Scotland with Kaz for the snow work - but Kaz now has to work - it's not fair, all the others will get to play and I'll be stuck at home with Kaz....still I do love her really!

11 Feb 2007 - Search Exercise with the East Cumbria Search Panel

Kaz and I were asked to go with the other searchdogs to help on a big exercise in the Howgills on Sunday - we picked up Karen Newman and Drizzi and drove over to Kirby Stephen MR base for 9am (Kaz was moaning that she hadn't had enough sleep). There were 5 search dogs working an area looking for 8 people who had got lost while orienteering. Kaz and I were given this area and we went off - the snow was quite deep in places and Kaz went in a couple of times. Also the fog was really bad so Kaz was having fun doing the navigating. We didn't find anyone but I did find 3 SARDA England Dog handlers who were also searching in our area - I get so annoyed when others try to muscle in on my search area!! If you look at the map below you can see Kaz's route is in girly pink - I covered loads of the ground either side of the gill - she got the easy bit! Mick Guy and Ginny got a really good find - lucky things. We finished about 2pm after about 4 hours of work. It was a really fun day - 3 teams plus us and the RAF.

Kaz and I are getting ready for going to Scotland at the end of the week - she's getting het up about clothes (typical woman). More information and piccies after then, then.....see you dog fans xx
Feb 5th 2007 - Another callout that wasn't and a new radio for Kaz
Kaz's mum and dad (my grampa and grandma) came over on Saturday night for dinner with us. Kaz had cooked a nice pheasant casserole (which the stupid labradors had picked up on a shoot) - even us dogs got some - it was yummy!! At about 8pm Kaz was just about to have a glass of port when the pager went off - we had been called over to Crinkle Crags to search for 2 missing people. Baz wasn't very happy that Kaz was going (something to do with having to wash up and entertain the outlaws he said!) Kaz got me into the car (Blimey if this keeps on happening I'll get indigestion at this rate).

Anyway it took us a while to drive over to Ambleside as the fog over Kirkstone pass was pretty bad and Kaz was driving at about 5mph which is a bit different to normal. We went to the base and met Roger Pickup (Beinn's owner) who's still in plaster after doing his achillies tendon in. We were given our area to search (3 tarns) and were just about to leave the base when they were found. So Kaz and Karen and Pete Collins went to the pub for a quick hot chocolate before going home.

On the Monday Kaz went to have a new SARDA radio fitted into her car. What a mistake - it's bad enough she's got a mobile and a laptop - even more stuff for her to break!

At the moment it's a beautiful day in the Lakes - me and the 2 stupid labradors are at Kaz's office and we've been out in the field playing chase for a while. Baz has gone climbing in Deepdale and Kaz is moaning that she needs the laptop to do some work - so I'd better go!!!!

PS - A get well message to my friend (and trainee) Mac who has had a sorely poorly tummy this week. Hopefully we'll see you on Sunday when we do a search exercise in the Howgills with the nice people from Kirby Stephen team.

JANUARY 07

26th Jan 2007 - Another Graded Dog and I'm a TV star

After a really tough assessment on Helvellyn on Saturday 26th, Mike Hadwin and Fly graded. I'm really pleased coz Fly is a gorgeous boy and perhaps now we're both graded we'll be able to work together and he might take a fancy to me!!!

As you can see from the picture, Fly wasnt so impressed that all he got for his hard work was the green tag!!

Mike started training Fly when Fly's handler Patrick became ill and sadly died so he was very proud and honoured when Patricks daughter was there to present them with the tag.

Kaz and I are going to be on TV tonight - Border News have filmed us because I passed my assessments and am the first dog in Penrith Mountain Rescue Team for a long while to grade - (Kaz - it's probably also because it's a quiet news night!!) . We haven't had any callouts in the last week - Kaz is getting pretty nervous because she thinks I might forget everything - so she is making sure we do at least one night of training a week, although we can't tomorrow as Kaz is at the House of
Commons in London for her job.

Jan 2007 - Good Luck to Mike and Fly

Just heard that gorgeous dog Fly and his not-so gorgeous handler Mike Hadwin are going to be taking an assessment this weekend - hopefully if they pass that'll mean that they will also be graded - so please keep your fingers crossed for them and I'll keep my paws crossed (well, only when I don't need to use them!). I went training last night on Red Screes - it was cold and snowing but we found everyone and then Kaz and Baz went for a drink in the pub! Here's Mike and Fly

Jan 25th 2007 - Accidents happen...

In the last couple of weeks there has been a bit of a cloud of 'black luck' hanging over the owners of 2 of my half brothers and sisters who are training. Just before Christmas, John (Leo) Sayer - Bliss's owner had a fall on a rescue and ended up spending alot of time in hospital with a serious leg injury - he came out of hospital on his birthday yesterday and Bliss is now looking forward to starting training again as soon as he's better. Also 2 weeks ago Roger Pickup - Beinn's owner went training up at Red Screes, he slipped over and thought he'd sprained and ankle and then he found out he'd damaged his achillies tendon and now he's in plaster - apparently he told Kaz that he has some pictures of himself plastered so she can put them on the website! I better take really good care of Kaz now - they say bad things happen in threes! Hurry up and get better John and Roger!!!!

Jan 22nd 2007 - First Callout for me and Kaz

This picture was drawn of me since I got my tag and jacket! Don't I look lovely - Sally Logue the artist has done piccies of me and the two stupid labradors for my mum and dad - of course this one is the best!

D'you know, since I graded and got the green tag I've been basking in lots of praise and cuddles from Kaz and everyone. Apparently I'm a bit of a superstar as we made the TV and the newspapers. I thought that once I'd become a searchdog life would be a lot easier - no more running around training at night - just lots of lying around getting patted....how wrong can I be? Two days after we passed I was just settling down in my cosy bed at about 11pm, when mum's pager went off and she came downstairs. Normally us dogs just look at her, wag our tails and go back to sleep. Not this time, she got me out of bed and told me I was going to be working - honestly - I need to talk to the union about this - isn't there something called the Working Time Directive? We drove over to near Ulverston but just as we were about to arrive at the search site, we got a pager message standing us down. Kaz decided to just say 'hi' to the controllers and then she ended up going up the hill to help carry the person they'd found off. I was ok, though, I stayed in the car. If all searches are like this then I'll be quite happy!! Kaz and I got home about 2.30am and then she had to get up at 7 to go to work.
Can I just say that we've had loads of emails and phone calls from lots of people and dogs congratulating us (particulary from relations of mine!!) - thanks a lot!!!

Jan 21st 2007 - Me and my half sisters - all graded dogs together Left to right - Search Dog Kidsty and Pete Collins, me and Kaz, Search Dog Ginny and Mick Guy - this was taken about 10 mins after we finished our last area (I think Kaz was annoyed coz she didn't get time to put on makeup and brush her hair!)

Jan 2007 - It's all serious now - We graded!

And this is all we get after all that hard work!!!

This weekend (18-20th Jan) we were invited to the SARDA England assessment course to do some more assessments - Kaz was very nervous (how many times do I have to tell her - she can trust me - I'm brill!). Mike and Fly were also there. On the Thursday we were in a place called Newlands valley and the weather was very bad - the wind was really strong and when we did our first area Kaz was blown about a lot - didn't bother me though and as usual I found all the bodies no probs!! The SARDA England assessors and bodies were really nice and we also met some other England and Wales trainees who were also on assessment. Some good looking dogs but I never got chance to chat any up :-(

After the bad weather on Thursday (and Kaz having a bad foot still from the week before) she was worried about Friday's areas as they were a lot bigger and she could only contour round one way because of the bruises on her foot but I worked really well and found the two nice bodies in the morning and in the afternoon we went round the hillside on Kaz's opposite foot and she was a lot quicker and we had lots of fun.

When we got home on Friday night Kaz got lots of phone calls wishing her luck (no-one ever rings for me!) and Baz was really nice to us both - making sure we had lots of nice food and cuddles (Well actually Kaz got the cuddles, I got to lay in front of the wood burner). On Saturday we had two areas on the Thirlmere side of Helvellyn - it was really fun - I found body Spence half way down a crag but couldn't quite get to him - Kaz had to help me out. After the areas we came off the hill and lots of people clapped and cheered and then we went back to the YHA and Kaz was given a green tag for me. (I showed Baz and the stupid labradors when I got home - Baz was pleased but the Labradors just ignored it). Mike and Fly also passed the three days and Elly and Mac got another pass which was great.

Kaz says 'please can I say a big thank you to all the people from SARDA England who assessed and bodied for us!' and I hope that Caroline's dog Keeper (from somewhere in South Wales) recovers from getting lame.

Well done to Paul Renwick and Skye, Rich Hey and Molly and Catherine Clarke and Jilly from SARDA England who all passed their Novice Dog Assessments on the same weekend.
I'm a bit scared now (so is Kaz) coz now we are on the callout list and it's for real - I hope I don't let anyone down. I'll keep blogging to let you all know what it's like to be a graded dog!!!

13/14th January 07 - and yet more assessments

After the fun of Christmas Kaz started getting more annoying this past 2 weeks cos we were up for assessment again. I really don't know why she gets so stressed - anyone would think that it's her that does the work! Anyway we went over to Loweswater again on the Saturday morning and met up with Mike and Fly the other team on assessment - Fly and I had a mooch around in the village hall carpark having a sniff at various things while Kaz and Mike sat inside drinking tea and waiting to be called. We got called up and started the walk in which took about 1/2 an hour - the weather was terrible - high wind and loads of rain - honestly my lovely fluffy coat was really soaked. Kaz and Mike got told that we were to work together to do something called a line search. Kaz was stressed that she'd never done one before and wasn't sure if Fly and I would work together without playing about (that woman has no faith!). Anyway we started - Mike was at 400m and Kaz at 300m and we had to work up and down the hill all the way along the valley through difficult crags and scree and steep ground.

When we reached the far end we had to come all the way back along the lower part. After 4 hours we'd found all six bodies and Kaz and Mike were told they'd passed - they were both happy and we I went home Kaz and I had a cuddle on the sofa!

On the Sunday - Kaz and I were the only team on assessment - Kaz was having problems as she'd bruised her foot the day before and could only walk one way round the hill. The assessors gave her a huge(!) area and I worked really hard for 2 hours before I found the body. The next area was smaller but Kaz was really having problems so I had to make it look really good and found all four bodies (two were together which was a bit strange). I was really pleased as we'd passed another assessment (Number 6 now). Kaz got a lift back to the pub on the back of a quad bike and I ran along behind (typical of the woman - I do all the hard work yet she gets the lift!!).

The nice people at SARDA England are holding assessments up in the Lakes next Thurs-Sun and Kaz and I are being assessed with them for 3 days - so keep those paws and fingers crossed. More news after the 20th Jan.........

Jan 2007 - Happy New Year and more assessments coming up

Hiya - hope you're all having a nice new year - Kaz is miserable because she's back at work and she has also vowed never to drink again (Hmm)!! We all went out and about in the camper van for a couple of days - here is a lovely photo of me trying out Kaz and Baz's new fleece blanket (it was very warm - but they weren't too happy I was wrapped up in it!).

We walked in the Howgills which was nice (the two stupid labradors had trouble keeping up with me though and we nearly lost one of them in the mist - shame we didn't manage it!)

On the day before Christmas Eve Kaz, Baz and us three dogs went to Penrith to do some collecting for Penrith Mountain Rescue Team. Just as we got there, Kaz's pager went off so she and I rushed off to the base to go to the callout - because I'm not a qualified search dog yet I got put in Searchdog Kidsty's cage whilst Kaz navigated for her and her handler Pete. (Actually, it was quite good coz the people who were manning the control vehicle let me out and gave me some nice treats). After Kaz finished we went back home and Kaz's pager was quiet for a couple of days!

On New Years Eve we did another collection in Keswick for SARDA - I met some lovely people who donated lots of money to us - thanks very much - and I had loads of hugs - despite the really awful weather (I was pretty glad when we went home though)
Today (2nd January) I'm in Kaz's office - after work we are going training over at Keswick - I haven't done any training for a while and we are due to be assessed next weekend...I hope I don't let her down!

More news soon....and a bad joke to start the year....

A chihuahua, a doberman and a bulldog were approached by a good-looking female collie. All of them wanted a date with her.
To settle the dispute, she told them "Whoever can say liver and cheese in a sentence can take me out on a date".
So the doberman said, "I love liver and cheese."
The collie said, "That's not good enough."
The bulldog said, "I hate liver and cheese."
She said, "That's not creative."
The chihuahua won - he said, "Liver alone.... cheese mine."

And finally....a couple of special happy new year messages:

to Sue Jones who bred me - she reads my dog blog regularly to keep up with all the news on the dogs from her farm who are now training to be search dogs (me, Beinn, Blisstic, Kit and Blue) as well as those who have graded (Kidsty and Ginny) .....
to all you trainees and graded dogs in SARDA England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and Eire and Lowland Search dogs - keep up the good work
to all of the people who go out in bad weather just so I can look for you and get to play with a tennis ball.......thanks