Lots of sun, lots of rain and busy times

Since I blogged last it's been a bit mad - grandma fell over and broke her arm last week so has been in hospital - she is now at home and a bit fed up with a plaster on her had which means that opening the treat jar is a little bit awkward for her....Angus has been given strict instructions to not jump at her which he sometimes seems to forget.

So the big news since last time is that Kaz's great friend Elly and her dog Bracken and Dave and his dog Fern both finally got their green tags to say they are now an operational dog team - Kaz was very pleased for them both and so am I cos that means there are more of us search dogs to go out and look for people.

Here they are:-

 

We were all training in Coniston and me, Angus and Kaz went off up to Leverswater to help Roger train John Dunbavin and Cuillin and Kathy and Mara and Martin and Isla - they were all really good on the scree slopes and did very well.  Me and Kaz went off to find Terry later on in the day and then Kaz and Angus did a trail all the way round Leverswater for Terry.... and I made sure he got back safe -

 

 

 

Looking at the next pictures Angus started on the right hand side of the first picture where he was given the scent of the missing person (Terry) who had walked this way about 2 hours before hand.  He then had to decide which way to go (as there had been a lot of people up and down the path and also the baby dogs were working up the hill on the right).  Once he told Kaz which way to go they went round the back of the lake just above the shoreline and the path.  They had to go passed a family but Angus concentrated and carried on.

 Angus then worked to a path junction where lots of walkers had carried on (to the right of the picture below) and he indicated to Kaz that the missing person had carried on round.  Angus led Kaz above the path and over the small hillocks in the middle of the pic and then carried on round - even though John and Cuillin were working in the opposite direction.

 And as they came round the lake they dropped below the path and continued going to the left of the pic below dropping right down to the lake shore where Terry was hiding in a boulder.

 

Here's Ted supervising (don't tell him but he's a very handsome dog)

 

 

and here's Roger, Dave and Martin chilling out and me looking perfect

 

 

 

After the training weekend we had loads of sunshine which was great cos Kaz has been taking us out lots after work - we even got to swim with her in Blea Water one evening last week which was great fun and then we had our tea by the tarn until it got chilly and a bit midgy. This is Blea Water.

 

 



 And this is Angus on the way down from Small water a couple of nights later

Then it was training up at Whinlatter and Angus has been training hard - this time he had to select the right person from a line of people - which he was good at - and after that body Deb had made cake for us all for her birthday 

 

 

On the next day and Glenn from the rescue team did a session with Cumbria Fire and Rescue to show their apprentices all about Mountain Rescue.  They all seemed to enjoy themselves and they gave us lots of fuss.  It ended with a pretend search for a casualty and then they had to deal with the injury - they were very good although it took them a long time to find Glenn, so I showed them what I can do!

Kaz and me and Angus then spent a really nice day at something called PotFest in the park which was people who make sculptures and pots and things showing them to the public inside the big house and grounds at Hutton in the Forest.  We really enjoyed ourselves - and the gardens were lovely.

 

The following night just as Kaz got home we were going to go for a bit of a run, there was a callout for a possible missing man in the Mardale area - so she went down to meet the man's friend who had left him after he started saying he felt unwell.  Luckily Kaz found the man really quickly (I didn't even have to search as she could see him) and she treated him for dehydration before the rest of the team got there.  So afterwards me and Angus still got a run but just round the end of Mardale instead of up at Helton. 

Then there was another training session at Whinlatter and this time it was Rob's 40th birthday so guess what - more cake!  Kaz says she's been really enjoying training lately - I wonder why??

Angus has been continuing to train really hard every week as you can tell from this shot...

But for the last 3 days him and Kaz have been in Bowland for the trailing weekend - and I stayed at home to look after grandma and grandpa.  Kaz took the little caravan as well and so off they went.

Angus had to do 3 different trails in the country park, around an industrial estate and in the area round the Bowland Pennine Team base.  Apparently he did very well on all three and found the casualty each time!  Hopefully if he continues like this it wont be very long at all. But the best news is that Maria and Scarlet finished their assessments and have become a graded lowland Trailing Dog team.  Everyone else - Nick and Woody, Kathy and Tally, Jamie and Diesel, Doug and Jaffa, Benny and Brock, Tim and Damian all had a really good weekend.  Here is Angus finding Cliff the Mountain Rescue Bear

This was the view inside Kaz's caravan this morning - she was so cozy that she couldn't be bothered to get out of bed! Lazy girl

 

Anyway more news soon as Kaz wants to take us both out.............

 

 

 

Angus does some training

Well it's been another particularly busy week here for us 3.

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy time for us all

Its been manic here since we last spoke Dot fans.

The Penrith team had great fun at the Cumberland show - me and Angus got to play with all the children who were lining up to have a go at the zip wires and climbing wall.  We were absolutely exhausted when we finished (so was Kaz I think).

 

 

We got home really late and went straight to bed - problem was that at 0445 the next morning Kaz got woken up and heard that there was a missing runner from a race in Shap - so she started sorting that callout out at the same time as getting dressed and running round the house - I think she was a little confused which was funny as she then got a second callout from the Police for a missing man - Kaz thought they were talking about the same person and couldnt understand how the runner had gone from Shap to Caldbeck.  She called out the team and started splitting the team resources up to go to the 2 callouts.  She also woke up Kath from Kirkby Stephen to see if they could help and then she called the rest of the searchdogs.

 

Me and Kaz n Angus jumped in the car - we were going to the Shap callout first but as we were on the way it turned out he had actually retired from the race the day before but the organisers hadn't recorded it.  So we made for Caldbeck for the other callout which was a search for an 80-yr old who'd been missing overnight.  Kaz sorted out which people were searching which routes and then me and her set off.  Literally 3 mins later we got a call to say the man had been found by a farmer in a farmyard.  We went to help the ambulance people get him in the ambulance - although he'd been out all night he was still alive and was taken to hospital.

 

When we got home we did some more gardening (Angus was in trouble again for eating the top off of one of Kaz's new plants!).

 

The next day the new conservatory was getting some floor tiles which look nice but we aren't allowed to walk on them.

 

 

 

Kaz has also been busy with her DIYing and has now got very excited about building a radiator cover (blimey she really is living the high life!!).  I have added the photo cos Kaz is so proud of it

 

 

 

Angus and Kaz have been doing some training - she worked an area at Whinlatter and he followed the scent all the way to body Anne who gave him loads of food and a play with a ball (he gets more than I do when he finds people!)  It was very midgey and Angus had them all over his nose.

 

 

 

In the meantime Elly and her trainee Bracken and Dave and his trainee young Fern only have 2 more assessments to pass so we are hoping that they will all pass at the Coniston weekend in 2 weeks time - all the humans have got fingers crossed and dogs have their paws crossed too!

 

Me and Angus have been sooo busy helping out with the gardening and decorating - Angus ran himself into the ground the other night (so you can see here) - he really needs to pace himself though

 

 

On Wednesday night me and Kaz and Angus went for a run over at Haweswater - we went up to the slopes of Kidsty Howe and ran all the way back - it was a nice run and we bumped into quite a few people on the way back then watched the sun set at Mardale Head.

 

 

On Friday Kaz got asked to sort out a callout for a missing lady in Ainstable who had been out all night.  We got to Ainstable and Kaz sorted out some areas for the team and search dogs to search - she had to try and work out what the most likely places a person with Alzheimers would go.  She gave Mik and Andy and their searchdogs Ginny (my big sis) and Corrie an area called Broad Wood which was a bit away from the lady's house.  She gave Chris and his searchdog Beck 3 areas of woodland to the East of the house and we were to search a plantation north of the house with Elly and Meg when she got their.  She got the Penrith team members and also our helpers from Kirkby Stepehen to search some other areas but after about 20 mins she got  call to say that Corrie had managed to find the lady in really difficult ground in the wood and that Andy and Mik were helping her out of the area - what great news and well done Andy and Corrie.  The Police and the lady's husband were very happy that she had been found safe and sound- here's Corrie and Andy

 

 

 

On Saturday me and Kaz and Angus were off to see our friends Steve and Elaine and their trailing dog Boris.  We all went for a really long walk round some reservoirs near Bolton and as we stopped for a drink Steve got a callout for a search in Wales.  He said Kaz n us could come so Kaz could help navigate and I could be used if necessary.  We were about 5km away from the cars so had to hurry back and then we jumped into the cars and drove all the way to Llandudno and met the Police at the police station.  Steve and Boris got a pillow case and searched round where the man had gone missing whilst Kaz held back and followed.  Boris trailed all the way to the Great Orme and stopped by a view point and barked.  I couldn't be used as the ground was like cliffs here and it would be very dangerous even for an expert climber like me.  Steve got Boris to try from the other direction but he still went back to the same spot.  The police thanked us all and we started walking back to Llandudno

 

 

When we got back the police gave us some tea and as we were about to return to Steve and Elaines Steve got a call from the Bowland Pennine team leader to help for a missing person in Silverdale.  Me and Kaz were asked to come too.  It took us 2.5 hours to drive up to Silverdale and we arrived about 11pm.  Me and Kaz were given an area of woodland to the east of Silverdale and we were given a navigator called Sarah who gave me loads of fuss.  The ground was slippy and I could hear searchdogs Skye and Floss nearby.  Unfortunately we didn't find anything and we eventually got home at 3.30 this morning.  Kaz and me were tired but Angus wasn't so at 7am he woke us up barking.  Kaz let us out and fed us and then put us in the kitchen so she could go back to bed.  That didn't last long as she got a callout to help a man hit by tree near Longtown - she sorted out the team via radio and phone and they started out but got stood down as the air ambulance managed to get to him.

 

We are now keeping Kaz company as she is taking the lounge apart so that the decorating of the conservatory and the lounge can be done. 

 

We are looking forward to next weekend as me and Kaz and Angus are going away in the caravan to Norfolk/Suffolk for a long weekend of running about - hooray!

 

Anyway no doubt I'll have lots to tell soon.....

 

 

 

 

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!