Kaz decided that she and Angus were going away to Ipswich to do some trailing training and I could go to Grandpa and Grandmas for a holiday - so yet again (and reluctantly) I'll have to hand over to the young pretender to let you know what happened....
So, Kaz and I got her little caravan ready and we set off for the training weekend - unfortunately there was a lot of traffic for something called the tour de france which confused me a bit - I know Ipswich is a long way away but I hadn't realised it was in a different country...although, some people - Yes thank you Angus can you stick to the story please...
Sorry Dot, where was I? Oh yes, we arrived at the Wattisham Airfield in the afternoon - it was quite funny as Kaz parked her caravan and my kennel in the van inside a big building filled with Land Rovers and other stuff....
We met up with Brian and Jamie with his trainee search dog Diesel and Kaz and Jamie laid trails for me and Diesel to do after dinner. We all went out for dinner then got back at 9pm and Kaz and me went 1st from this gate
All we were told was that a man had gone missing and was last seen at this gate about 2 hours before. We had a scent article and I sniffed the bag and then searched the left and right of the gate - suddenly I got the smell and we were off. We came straight away to a T junction where I told Kaz to go right and then another where I told Kaz to turn left - we went down the side of a steep embankment where I suddenly lost the trail and stopped - I turned back and realised that the scent was going over the embankment so I pulled Kaz up and over it then across the road and behind a blast wall and there was Jamie!! Kaz was very pleased.
Then it was Kaz's turn to go and hide and Jamie and Diesel followed Kaz's trail from earlier on - they were really good apart from Jamie tripping over in the dark on a curb! By the time we finished it was nearly midnight and we were all tired.
The next day we also met up with Maria and her dog Scarlett and her twin sister Erin which confused all the humans but not us dogs - we can tell the difference. We also met up with Doug and his dog Jaffa. We all spent the day doing trails and scent boxes and stuff all over the airbase and even got to see the yellow seaking helicopters which are based there at 22 Squadron B Flight.
Here are pics of Jamie and Diesel who was checking with Kaz that they were on the scent; and Doug and Jaffa
We all worked really hard and Jamie and Diesel, Maria and Scarlett and me and Kaz did proper 'blind' trails where we didn't know anything other than where the person was last seen. Our one was from the entrance to a hangar round the airbase in and out of really complicated little areas and ending up in amongst some trucks - I had to really work hard for Kaz and she had to work hard to understand when I lost the trail.
At the end of the weekend Kaz was really tired as we drove home but she woke up when we got back cos Dottie dog was there to give her woofs and licks...
Thanks Angus - sounds like you're progress well Yes Ta..
After Kaz came home she was concentrating on continuing to decorate and she's done really well - as you can see the lounge is coming along with the fireplace being painted to match the rest of the room, and the conservatory getting its first coat. (Yep me and Angus have been helping too!!)
The conservatory still needs another coat but she put a chair in to sit on in the meantime to enjoy the nice sunny evenings with me and Angus. But in the next couple of weeks she says the paint fest will continue as she wants to finish the conservatory and then paint the bedrooms - then build more radiator covers - then when she's done that she reckons she'll be finally finished doing the inside of the house and can start dealing with the gardening!! She never sits still!
Anyway on Monday night Kaz took me and Angus for a run up to SmallWater - well she walked and jogged up and then we had a little game at the tarn then she ran down - it started all grey but the weather was great on the way down.
Last night we were all going to Whinlatter training but that got knocked on the head as when Kaz walked through the door she got a callout for Penrith Team so me and Angus got bundled in the car and she drove us down to Mardale Head where she ran the incident looking for a missing walker who said she could see a big body of water (she was supposed to be walking the C2C route from Patterdale to Shap). Kaz and her team worked out it was likely to be Hayeswater, Haweswater or Kentmere so Kendal and Patterdale teams were also helping out. Ian and Keppi, Bill and Ani and Andy and Corrie were all out there too. Kaz and I were going to be searching Gatescarth and then south towards Mosedale but our team member Rob found her and we all came home.
Tonight Kaz took an executive decision to slob about on the sofa while me and Angus do everything (well, fetch balls and toys to her). This weekend is a bit exciting as Ellie and Bracken and Dave and Fern might pass enough assessments to finally get the green tag so fingers crossed!
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