Kaz has yet another holiday...

So - yet again me and the Angus dog have been left 'home alone' by Kaz.

No sooner than she and Angus got back from their holiday in the caravan, Kaz was getting ready for another one!  On Tuesday night though, we went over to Hollows Farm campsite in Keswick so that Kaz and Angus could do some trailing practices in more busy areas.  Here's Angus......

Ohh I'm getting used to this now - anyways me and Kaz were told that we were looking for a missing person who'd left their car in the carpark at the campsite.  About 2 hours earlier all of the other dog bodies and a load of handlers had parked there and walked all over the place as well as the people staying at the campsite.  Here's a pic of the car park.

 

 

There were about 6 exits from the carpark all going in different directions and we didn't know which one the missing person had taken.

 

Kaz took the missing person's hat which had been given to her and put it in to a fresh plastic bag.  Then she put some gauzes in which had a fine spray of salty water (this is so that the smell/bacteria can grow on them and then these 'clones' can be used instead of the hat in case the Police need to keep the hat).  Once she'd left them for a while she then split them in to some more bags and got my collar and lead out.  She put my harness on, and clipped the lead on to the collar - I was going a bit mad at this point as I was getting pretty excited - and eventually she told me to 'sniff sniff' which means take a smell of the thing in the bag - I got a bit over excited and nearly ate it!!

 

Anyway, once I took a big whiff of the scent I was then told to 'check' and went up to Mick and had a sniff of him (this is because he took the hat from the missing person and was possible that his scent could be on it and that would mean I might end up following Mick instead of the missing person.

 

Once I'd sniffed Mick, Kaz told me to 'find' - this means I have to search around and when I find the scent that matches I must lie down to tell her.  Kaz lead me to just outside the carpark and we went to each exit in turn and I had a sniff around.  Suddenly I realised that the scent was just by a wooden footbridge over some boggy ground so I lay down.

 

 

Kaz said 'Good boy' and then clipped the lead on to my harness and said 'Show me'.  This means I now have to follow the trail to the person.  So I set off.  There was a family eating outside one of the tents and I wagged at them as I went past. I was pulling Kaz pretty hard, but she kept me steady.  We went across the campsite and there were lots of people and some dogs who were off their leads running about but I was good and carried on.  We went left by a big knoll and then the scent went back towards the way we came down the track we had driven in on - we got all the way back to the carpark entrance and Kaz got worried that I'd gone wrong so made me start all over again.  I did exactly the same again and she was really concerned that I'd done it wrong that she radioed the missing person Rosemary who said I was right as she'd walked across the campsite then cut round the knoll and walked back down the main track and past the entrance to the carpark and then had carried on for another 100m or so and hidden by the river!!!  Kaz started again and this time she just let me get on with it and I found Rosemary!!  I got loads of cuddles and Kaz kept being told 'trust your dog'.  Then me and Dot went for a swim with the other searchdogs which was great!

 

So thanks Angus for such as short explanation!  Kaz then left us with grandma and grandpa to go to the Pembroke National Park in Wales for a seakayaking course.  She got back really late last night just as her pager went off for a dog callout at Newby Bridge (typical) - despite 7 searchdogs the man still hasn't been found yet and we may still be called out again.

 

Anyway here are some of her pics from the weekend...she says she really enjoyed it and even enjoyed practicing the capsizing thing:

 

 

Even though Kaz was a bit tired this morning she had arranged to go with my favourite dogsbody Glenn to Stainton Primary school to talk to the children about the searchdogs.  It was brilliant - Angus behaved himself while me and Glenn showed them what we all do.  The children seemed to really enjoy their assembly and me and Angus got loads of hugs.

 

 

Anyway better go - at the moment me and Angus are supervising the conservatory people and Kaz should be back soon so I'd better get on with that!

We all get a holiday

Hi there Dot fans - how are you then?

It's been another busy few weeks in the house with Kaz.

She's still a bit down about Daryl leaving and Dram not being here any more - it got worse as Daryl came to tell her that he is in another relationship with someone else so soon after he said he needed to be alone.  Kaz has been very angry and gets upset at times....but me and the Angus dog cheer her up and cuddle her and she says that us dogs are the only thing she can rely on now.

The good thing is that we've all be doing a fair bit of stuff.

Kaz had a callout for a missing person near Ravenglass - all the graded searchdog handlers who have a Swift Water qualificaton were asked to go as we would be searching near to water.  Kaz left work early and rang her team who were also going to the callout to bring her drysuit along to the callout.
The trip from Kaz's work to the Ravenglass is a long way - by the time she picked me up it was already an hour since the call - then the drive down took another 1,5hrs but then we got stood down!!  So we drove back home and on the way back Kaz took me out on the fell for a run around which was great.

That was the Monday then on the Wedesday there was a Penrith team callout for a lady with a broken ankle - Kaz was at work but she managed the incident as she was able to use her radio set and computer link to the callout page.  Luckily Penrith team were able to get to the lady who had fractured and dislocated her ankle (she had 2 operations the next day even!!).

Then me and Kaz went to a callout for a missing person on Scafell - we got to search Kaz's favourite valley (not) - Langstrath.....

 

 

Kaz's team mates were searching the other routes to Allan Crags but we started very early in the morning and I was running in front of Kaz up the left had side of the valley - zigzagging to the side of her - we didn't see anyone or I didn't smell anyone but we kept going for ages - then at the end of the valley we started to climb up Glaramara Ghyll towards Allan Crags - but just as we were going up there we got a call to say that the body of the missing man had been sadly found in Piers Gill.  So we ended up having a very long walk back.

Then we've been working in the garden really hard - Kaz has got the old conservatory down (lots of spiders and ants made her scream) and there is a brand new base in place ready for the new frames to go in place in a couple of weeks - apparently it isn't really the done thing for dogs to run around over new concrete!!!  Whilst the conservatory is down Kaz has been taking the opportunity to paint the eaves above it - it's looking really nice (well as much as human houses can).  Kaz has been planting some plants in the garden and weeding - again me and Angus tried to help out but the bad dog (Angus) managed to eat one of the new plants so we were banned from helping any more!

Then we had a Penrith team callout for a missing man in Kings Meaburn - Kaz had literally just walked in the door from work when the pager went off - she called in to the Police on her radio and was told to take me and meet at the village hall.  Blimey I haven't seen so much rain for a very long time (it was raining cats and dogs).  Me and Kaz got the description of the man and set off with our navigator Glen to search for him.  But just as we were about to set off he was found by the Police not very far from where we were.  By the time we walked back to the village hall we were soaked - the rest of the team hadn't even set out from the hall and were laughing at how wet Kaz was.
Last week Kaz and me and Angus went 'darn sarf' to visit with some friends in Essex - we had a great time and even played with their dogs too

- here's 14 week old ZaZa.


 Kaz and Angus went and did a very quick trail round a busy country park - it was hard for him but he got there in the end - he was a little scared of some of the dogs running round and so Kaz and her friend Doug discussed the situation and he suggested that Angus is probably missing Dram and a little unsure of what has happened.  He suggested that she take him off for a couple of days in the new caravan and get him to meet as many new dogs as he could.  So that's exactly what they did.  I got to stay with grandma and grandpa which was great as I got loads of cuddles and fuss.  I'll pass over to Angus to let you know what they both did (don't tell him but I was a bit jealous really).

Ohh, I've got the laptop again.  So me and Kaz loaded up the caravan and set off for the Bay of Luce in Galloway.  When we got there Kaz sorted it all out whilst I laid outside 

 

 

Me and Kaz walked on the beach loads and met loads of new dogs which was scary for me - I keep thinking I've got to look after Kaz now but I haven't really - she can do it all on her own - she can look after all of us.

 

Here are some pics of our days out ......

 

 

 

 

Kaz loves the little caravan - her and I had a great time and I think we're all going to enjoy some really fun holidays.  Agghh, Dottie, don't snatch.....

 

Honestly give the dog an inch it'll take a mile!

 

Next weekend Kaz is leaving me and Angus dog at home with grandma and grandpa for a few days whilst she goes off to Pembroke in Wales to a seakayaking course which she is really looking forward to.  So until laters - see ya.

 



 

 

Angus and Kaz are busy and I'm on holiday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

 

 

Happy Easter

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A lot of water under the bridge

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

So here goes.

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

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

Me without much hair

Me two weeks before with some hair!

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

Here are one or two pics of the course.

Ester inspecting a print

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

All the teams following different tracks up the hill

All of the students

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

January Training news and Angus gets his paws on the laptop

Another great weekend – particularly for some of the trainee dogs and my little brother Angus dog.  Kaz was assessing at the Lakes training weekend which was being held in Langdale – cos she was going to be busy standing around and also doing a bit of work with Angus, I decided to stay at home with Daryl and help him with stuff round the house.  So this time I’m gonna let Angus tell you what happened – this wont be a regular occurrence!!!

Hah that’s what you think Dottie…anyway I have had loads of fun – first off I was allowed with Kaz all on my own and I was allowed to watch some of the trainee mountain rescue dogs working.  We walked down a place called Mickleden – blimey it was a long way and the paths were actually streams!  When we got to the bottom we watched Dave and Fern work an area which was really igh up and also go to see Elly and Bracken, John and Cuillin, Kath and Mara, Phil and Crag, and Martin and Isla – blimey I have had to start learning lots of new names…..so these type of dogs just rush about over the hillside using their noses and look for the scent of any human being – when they find the person they bark at them then run back to their owners and bark to let them know – they were all really fast.  We watched for a while then Kaz told me we were going to do some work.  3 hours before body Elaine had walked across the river, through the drumlins and then up a big zigzag path by Greentongue Gill and then onto some crags.  She then gave Kaz her hat which Kaz put in a bag for me to smell. First of all I put a special harness and Kaz clips on a very long line (about 30m) to my collar - then  I lie down and Kaz opens the bag for me to sniff and when I have done that she says ‘Find It’ – this means I have to tell Kaz when I find a smell that matches that one.  I do this by comparing the scent she has given me to all those interesting smells – when I think I can match it I then have to lie down.  Once I lie down to tell Kaz I’ve found it she then clips the line to my harness and says ‘Show Me’.  This is my big opportunity and I get to follow the scent of the body along – sometimes this is hard as the wind may have blown the scent a long way away from the exact place the body walked- especially when its been a few hours.  Anyway – the scent was easy to find and I started trailing over some drumlins – at this time we suddenly had really bad hail and wind and it hurt my eyes a bit but I kept taking Kaz along (She wasn’t too sure where the body was).  After a few hundred metres of going steeply up I realised that the scent had crossed a gully which would be too difficult for Kaz to cross so I took her to the edge of it – she let me off my line and I crossed it and waited on the other side for about 5 mins for her to get across further up.  When she got to me she made me refind the scent again to be sure I was right – so I laid down and she clipped me back on my harness.  We went up into some crags – buy this time it was hard to stand up but I pulled Kaz alog and eventually found body Elaine and lay next to her like I should…..I was very happy and so were Kaz and Elaine – I got loads of sausage and a ball to play with!

Today the other trainees did the same thing again and me and Kaz did another trail from a farmyard along a path that split and along Mickleden – again the weather was rubbish but I did really well and found the body again.  Kaz was dead pleased!!

The good news is that Dave and Fern have now passed 2 assessments and the others all did really well.

Here’s a piccie of the area today – I look a bit drowned!

 

Thanks Angus for the update – don’t get too comfortable with that laptop!

Couple of callouts at the start of the year

Well then - happy new year everyone!  It has been fairly quiet at the start of the year other than me and the others have been out and about over Christmas with Kaz and Daryl.  We got quite a few doggie Xmas treats which were great and we went down to see grandpa Ron for a few days.

Me and Kaz have been pretty busy – the Sunday Kaz got a message from Patterdale team look for a missing man near the lake at Glenridding.  Kaz and I got ready – it was raining again really badly so Kaz thought she’d take welly boots instead of walking boots as we had already been told we’d be searching the edges of the Lake near the steamer pier and other areas.  We got in the car, not before the Angus and Dram dogs tried to get in the car too, and we set off towards Patterdale.  Kaz had to be very careful because the rain had caused some big floods – it was like driving past a sea wall in places where big waves were crashing across the road.

We got to Patterdale base and we heard on the radio that Andy and Corrie and Roger and Ted were searching the bit next to us.  Me and Kaz arrived at the start of the search and we began searching through some moored boats, making sure we looked inside each of them – well actually making sure I jumped up and looked in them.  The rain was pelting down and we were very wet really quickly.  We didn’t find anyone and by the time we’d finished some of the other handlers and dogs were arriving and searching areas. At about 9pm we got told to finish for the night – Patterdale asked if we could come back the next day to continue helping but Kaz said she had to go to a meeting and so couldn’t.  We got home and Kaz had a nice hot bath whilst I went and shook my wet fur all over the others!!  The next day Kaz heard that Andy and Corrie, Elly and Meg,Mick and Ginny and Chris and Beck went to help but they didn’t find anything which was very sad.

For the rest of the week some of the dogs have continued to try to look for him but there is still no news yet.

Then on Friday night just as me and Kaz had come back from our walk on Helton with Angus and Dram, Kaz's pager went off for a callout to a missing person on one of the Pennine fells.  Luckily, just as Kaz was about to call out the Penrith team, the Police called to say that she had turned up ok which was great news.

On Saturday morning we all went up to Red Screes to watch the trainee dogs.  Phil and Crag, Martin and Isla and John and Cuillin were there and they all looked as if they were doing well.  The weather was pretty cold and there was a bit of slippy snow on the ground - I got to have a go and me and Kaz set off to search the area opposite the pub.  It went really quickly - Kaz thinks I was on drugs cos I was super fast - I found body Steve really quickly and then body Jim in a cave.  Unfortunately as I was barking at Jim for the toy, he threw it and I went to get it but I bumped my nose and ended up with a pretty bad nose bleed (oopps).

 

Last Sunday Kaz and Daryl were training with their team at Tebay practising their first aid for the first aid exams – they took us dogs in the van cos the plan was that we’d go for a walk afterwards near Orton Scar.  They’d been working really hard – Kaz and her team leader Mike were talking and Kaz said – ‘I bet we get a callout’…..and about 3 mins later sure enough the Police called them both to ask the team to look for a missing lady near Carlisle – how weird is that!  Anyway the team started packing up as Kaz and Mike drove up to Carlisle to meet the Police.  Me and Kaz with our navigator - body Glenn (who is also a team member as well as being my favourite dogs body) were told to search a very long bridlepath which had a lot of open ground either side – it was about 3 miles long and then ended in a large area of woodland with a very big river in the middle.  We set off while the RAF helicopter was above us – I don’t mind the helicopter too much really, a lot of the other dogs get a bit scared.

It was hard work – the ground was very boggy and slippy and in the steep bits Kaz and Glenn were sliding around.  We lost the light and I kept working really hard – the area was very big and occasionally we stopped for a quick drink (Kaz) – although I didn’t really need any especially as a lot of the ground was very wet with big puddles.

After a few hours (and when other searchdogs had arrived) we were told we could stop for the day and that the Police might want us out on the Monday.  Because Kaz has only just started her new job she told me we wouldn’t be going, but some of the others could.  We went home and the other dogs had a quick walk (I didn’t need one really) and Kaz and Daryl ate fish and chips – and I got a treat for working hard!

On the Monday Kaz came home from work and told me that sadly, the body of the missing lady had been found quite a long way from where we were searching.

On Tuesday night Kaz was just about to take us all to Whinlatter for a walk before a dog meeting, when she got a message for searchdogs to help Keswick team look for a missing lady.  Me and Kaz and Andy and Corrie were tasked with searching the northern side of the river Greta in a very steep sided thick wood – the rain was really bad again and the ground was really difficult – me and Corrie split the area in to two and we worked really hard with me at the bottom doing the edge of the river up the steep ground for about 150m and Corrie doing the top half.  We could hear lots of the other dog teams on the radios – Mick and Ginny and Chris and Beck were working the areas immediately next to us.  Despite a long night (with the occasional stop where Kaz and Andy were having trouble negotiating the difficult ground) we were not able to find the lady in our area.  Keswick team called in help from Cockermouth team and at about midnight they found the body of the missing lady which was very sad.  Me and Kaz went home – it’s always hard for Kaz and the other handlers when the search isn’t positive.

Last night me and Kaz and the other two dogs went up to Helton for a long rainy (surprise surprise) walk – Kaz even set out some smells for the Angus dog to find which he did!  Yes and when we got home we muddied up the house some more!

Anyway – I’ll be writing soon Dot fans as it’s the dog team training at Langdale next weekend.