Kaz and Daryl get a callout and Ted grades

Hi Dot fans, well what a busy week it's been.

Kaz was working from home on Friday afternoon, when there was a callout for Penrith team to rescue a lady who had possibly broken her leg on Kidsty Pike.  Kaz told me that I wasnt needed on the rescue and that I could stay at home with Angus and Dram (hummph) and she jumped in her van and drove off to the base.  Meanwhile Daryl was at work and managed to get across to the base too.  As they were driving over to the callout, Kaz was running the incident and was told that the Air Ambulance was on its way.  When they all got to Mardale Head, they started walking round to the lady, and by the time theyd carried all the equipment round, the helicopter had landed near her.  Kaz and some of the team helped carry her into the helicopter, but just before it took off the lady decided she was too scared to fly so the team had to carry her the whole way off which is a pretty long way considering that at the start there was only 6 of them!  The Kirby Stephen team arrived to help out - Kaz she was glad to have them there.  Here they all are arriving at the ambulance with the casualty....Kaz is talking to the paramedics by the ambulance doing a patient handover.

Then the really exciting news is that my relative Ted has graded as a search dog - hooray!  His handler is Roger Pickup from Langdale - although Ted reckons that if he takes the medical exam and driving test he wont need Roger!  Congratulations to Ted for passing (oh, and Roger too I suppose).



My little brothers go training - and I get to watch.

Hiya

well, hasnt it been hot out there?  I am hoping that all you human types are taking good care of your dogs.  Kaz is always good to us - she even took an umbrella out the other day to make sure we had some shade when we sat down!

At the weekend we all went down to Smelt Mill - home of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team.  We were there so that the Dram and Angus dogs could do some trailing training (and so's I could watch them).

On Friday we all went to a place called Beacon Fell and we all learnt stuff about how to do trails (I thought it sounded quite interesting).  Here is Kathy from Wales getting some one-to-one training from the instructors Iain and Tom.

Kaz and the Angus dog got to try and work out which of the 3 people sitting down was the correct one - here is Angus going into body Helen!

Angus's half brothers Woody and Tor were there too - so they had a big play.

Then Dram had a go at a small trail and did well - he had to go from a picnic bench and follow where Callum had walked which was up a path and then through a gap in the wall and had hid in some undergrowth.  He was really good and Daryl was dead pleased.

When we all got back on the evening we had a nice swim in the river and I told the two boys how proud I was.

On Saturday we all went to Longridge Fell - it was very very hot and everyone had difficulties in the heat - especially the black dogs!  Kaz took an umbrella for Angus and kept him cool under it when we were sitting down.  Angus started to do his first trails - a body walked into a piece of ground and sat there for 2 minutes, then they got up and walked into the woods about 100 ft away.  Then Kaz brought Angus out and put on his harness and long line clipped onto his collar.  She gave him a scent from the body (it was Luci's hat) and told Angus to 'find'.  Angus went to where Luci had been sitting and lay down to tell Kaz he'd found where she'd been - then Kaz said 'Show me' and clipped the line onto Angus's harness and he followed where Luci had walked and then took Kaz all the way to her.  He got lots of fuss from Kaz (I'm jealous) and he then got a big potof smoked sausage and a play with the tuggy toy as a reward!!  Kaz was very happy with him.

The Dram and Daryl had a go and did a really difficult trail along a stony path and even managed to work out that at a cross roads the body had turned right!! So Daryl was very pleased too.

At the end of the afternoon one of the bodies went out and hid so that I could have a go and find them.  I was brilliant and did it super quick and got loads of cuddles.

On Saturday night, there was a callout for the Bowland Pennine Team so some of the people on the trailing course went to help.  Kaz stayed with me and Dram and Angus and Daryl went to help the paragligder who'd fallen.

On Sunday we all stayed near to Smelt Mill - I watched Angus do another small trail onto body Maria - he was really good and Kaz was dead pleased again!  And then Dram and Daryl did another trail over a bridge, through a gate and along where 3 of the bodies had walked and then they split off from each other and he followed the right one!! Clever dog - dont tell him though.

We got home late last night and we were all dead tired.

This weekend it is training at Thirlmere - my cousin Ted will be doing some assessments so I have my paws crossed for him to pass!



A couple of busy weeks

hi Dot fans - how're you doing?  Well it's been a very busy few weeks for us, so I havent lived up to my new year resolution and blogged very regularly!

So, what's been happening then?

Well we had an openday so all the searchdog fans could come and meet up with us - as you can see at the beginning of the day it was pretty quiet - but it soon got really busy with us all getting lots of fuss.  Some of us dogs and our handlers showed off what we can do - I ran all over Red Screes pretty quickly and was very good apparently.

 

 

 

 

Kaz has been having some time off work this last weeek - on tursday night we got called out to a callout to search for a missing man near Cockermouth.  It is quite a long drive over there but after 50 mins or so we arrived at the place where we were to start our search.  Some of the other dogs were arriving too, but as we were being told what to do by the Cockermouth team leader, a member of the team found the man's body.  It is always very sad when this happens and so Kaz and I went home and our thoughts were with the family.

 

Then on the bank holiday weekend we had friends come up to stay with us.  Kaz has known them for 20 years and we all had a good couple of days - especially the humans who were up til all hours playing a card game! Honestly we couldnt get any sleep......

 

 

On the night they went home, we ended up going out on a callout for the Penrith team for a couple of missing people who had rung the Police to say that they were by the summit shelter on Cross Fell, but werent able to get down as the weather was really bad.  When Kaz and Daryl got to the base, Kaz took over running the incident as she is now a deputy leader and Daryl was sent up with some of the others to the top of Cross Fell - they took a long time and Daryl said the visibility was only about 30ft - I was a bit miffed they didnt need me though!  Anyway Kaz and Daryl finished about 2am and came home for a long sleep.

 

Yesterday, Kaz took me and the Dram and Angus dogs up to Small Water for a nice walk.  We got up to the tarn and then she took us scrambling up the gully at the back onto the top....of course I've done all this sort of thing before but Angus is pretty new to it all and I showed him how to use 4 paw drive to get up the near vertical rocks!!  He wasnt too bad actually but dont tell him I told you so.

 

 

 

Oh yes - before I forget, a couple of weeks ago a 9yr old boy called Jamie walked up Consiton Old Man to raise funds for the dogs and the Hospice at Home.  He decided to raise the money after his aunty got very ill and he had a great day with searchdogs Skye, Bute and Einich.  Here are a couple of photos showing just how bad the weather was for him!

 



 

Today i went up to Red Screes with Kaz and did a bit of training which was fun - I got to find body Steve who was half way up the crag in a pretty difficult place to be honest - but it wasnt a problem for a superior searchdog like me!

 

Next weekend me and the other two dogs are going down to Lancashire so Angus and Dram can do some trailing training.  Kaz and Angus went out tonight into the garden and did loads of stuff with different scentts - hmmm I'm getting worried that Dram and Angus will start to get good at this trailing stuff.

 

Anyways - hope to speak to you all soon Dot fans.......

 

Some fun in the sun

Grandpa is in the hospital with a bad heart so Kaz has been a bit worried. She is daft coz her dad keeps on telling her it's ok and he had been texting us lots! Anyway get better soon grandpa!!!!

Yesterday we went to Red Screes for training. Kaz was there to help out as she is now our Training Officer. There were loads there including Kath and Mara, rob and Rona, bill and Ani and Roger and Ted. As you can see I supervised (then I got to find all the bodies - it was fun).

Daryl is away doing his swift water rescue course so we were home alone last night - but it was nice coz Kaz lay on the floor giving us all lots of cuddles.

Angus is still recovering from a torn claw - poor thing!

Today Kaz went team training she said it was a lot of fun with Aubrey even doing some magic tricks to entertain them and Simon demonstrating some improvisation!

Anyway tonight we are waiting for Daryl to come home. Then tomorrow we are doing some training with Kath and Mara, Tuesday we are going training with the dogs and Wednesday Kaz and Daryl have team training - busy week really!!

May Day fun

It was a bank holiday this weekend - I dunno what one of those is really but it means that Kaz and Daryl get to spend more time with us!

On Saturday we all went out on to Red Screes for a walk - we met up with handler Roger and his dog Ted who have only got a couple more assessments to go before Ted is a searchdog. Then we met Handler John and his wife Clair our vet and had a nice afternoon with them.

On Sunday we did stuff at home (well kaz and Daryl did) while we waited in the garden for a quick game which we eventually got.

On Monday us three dogs walked in the May Day parade around Penrith - there were thousands of people there who were all lovely to us. I even got some treats from a lady called Dottie!

On Monday night me and Kaz and Angus met trainee handler Kath and her dog Mara to do some training - I was brilliant and so was Mara! Angus was ok I s'pose as he did a very small trail for Kath and did everything really well (am not praising him otherwise he will get a big head!)

Last night me and Kaz did a searchdog demo to Kirkby scouts and they all enjoyed it - they all practised being my handler and a dogs body!

Tonight Kaz and I are giving a dog talk to Cummersdale WI in Carlise - so that should be fun.

Here are some pics of us on Red Screes, us dogs waiting for a game in the garden and the May Day parade.

This weekend is pretty important for Roger and Ted as its the Langdale training weekend do keep your fingers (paws) crossed!

Oh yeah - better mention that Kaz had an operation which has made her a bit tired and sore - so us dogs are giving her loads of fuss - the picture looks a bit ouch tho!

Busy Weekend for Dram and Angus

Hiya- how are you all?

This weekend me and Kaz went down to Smelt Mill in the Trough of Bowland so that those two brothers of mine, Dram and Angus could be put through their paces as trailing dogs.  Here they are being very good...

It was a good weekend and both of them did really well showing that they can discriminate between scents placed out in a field and tell their handler which box the correct scent was on.  Blimey I do think they go on a bit too much about them being cleverer than me though....they seem to think that as my job is to just rush around the hillside and find any available human being and they have to decide which human being is the one they're looking for makes them more intelligent than me - as if!

Note from Dram - huh - its all the same with these mountain rescue prima donas - they all rush around looking cool with bright jackets on while us trailing dogs are tied on a line in a very boring harness and look as if we are just going out for a walk....one day Dot I'll show you!

Er sorry about that - note to self - dont go away from Laptop to investigte what Daryl is up to in the kitchen without first locking it....

Anyway where was I - oh yes - me!

Thought youd like to see a couple of pics of me training recently - dont you think I look fab!  Also here is a loverly pic of trainee Fern and her handler Dave.

 

 

 

Angus's half brothers were there - Tor (who looks more bloodhound than labrador) and Woody (that looks more labrador/collie cross than bloodhound!) - obviously Angus just looks daft!



Busy few weeks for Mountain Rescue

Hiya Dot fans, well it's been really busy here up in the Lake District.

Me and Kaz and the Dram and Angus dogs and Daryl have been playing in the snow lots lately -

It's not all been a load of fun though - Kaz and Daryl went out on a few callouts last weekend to help dig out lots of people in cars stuck in snow -and even helped out the Sainsbury's man half way up Hartside!

Kirkby Stephen had 9 callouts in one day and Duddon and Furness team were out for 16 hours.....so everyone is really tired out.

Hopefully now it's Easter it'll be better weather.

Last weekend Kaz and Daryl went to their team dinner and dance - here are some pictures of them looking pretty good....

Blimey - we werent allowed to go anywhere near Kaz's dress in case it got dirty - as if!  Handler John Leadbeter and his wife Clair the vet came and so did our friend from SARDA Wales, Caroline.  It was a great time as me and the other dogs got loads of fuss!!

This weekend it is easter and me and the other dogs and Kaz and Daryl are going to have a lot of fun playing out of the fells - woohoo - be safe out there.