Dottie's Blog For 2009
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
18th June...training weekend coming up and our house is still coming along
Kaz is still waiting to move in to the new house. We have been doing lots of things there - well, Daryl and Kaz have, but me and the Dram dog have been supervising them as well as everyone else who has been coming in to help (including handler Ian Higginbotham who is a decorator!) Kaz tells me that there is a Bar-b-Que planned for the summer when all the searchdogs, handlers and bodies can come along - hooray just think of all that food!! Yum
This weekend we are training in Barbondale - the Dram dog will be going along to do some socialising - I have already started to explain search stuff to him but he still asked a daft question about why we have to rescue mountains (huh - as if I would have ever been that stupid!!......er, Dot, take a look at the first page of your dog blog you wrote back in 2004!!!....ah, well, em......have to go now Dot fans, Kaz needs the PC for some urgent things!
16th June - Callout and other things
Kaz and me and the Dram dog and Daryl went to training at Whinlatter on Tuesday night - there was quite a few of the young dogs there - Molly, Einich, Beck, Corrie, Meg as well as us big dogs me, Moudy, Fly, Mac, Jake, Ginny and Mist. Everyone had a good time and just as we were coming down the footpath afterwards the pager went off for a dog callout to help look for a man lost in the Easdale Tarn area. Kaz and I jumped in the car and Daryl and the Dram dog went off home. We drove all the way over to Langdale and was just about to get started when we got a radio message to say that he'd managed to get off the hill ok - which was nice. So Kaz and I had a long drive back to Carlisle.
Last night Kaz was training with her team - well - I'm not too sure I call going to the opening of a pub training - see the photo below!!! Actually Dot, it was the opening of the Shepherds inn in Melmerby by the Heskett Newmarket Brewery. Sir Chris Bonnington was there to do the honours, but co-incidentally, Hesket Newmarket brewery are about to launch a beer called 'Lost in the Mist' which is in aid of Penrith MRT. Also Chris is going to be giving a lecture at Rheged in September in aid of the team - that's why we were there!!! In fact Chris was very interested in the work of SARDA.
6th June - Fundraising Day
Me, Kaz Daryl and the Dram dog went to the Wetheral Animal shelter today for a fundraising thing. It was not fair - Dram got all the attention and occasionally people said I was a good dog. I'm not sure I like this puppy too much - he's taking a lot of the fuss away from me. Still, it was a good day and we did sell some of our SARDA puppy dogs (my ones were particularly popular).
MAY 2009
29th May .... Huh - me and my big mouth.....
Well - you know I was moaning that it was quiet on the dog front, well - low and behold we got 2 callouts in the space of 3 hours. First of all Kaz and Daryl decided to go our for a meal. Just as they were finishing there was a dog callout for a missing walker of 76 years old (fair play!!) on Haystacks. So Kaz and Daryl quickly drove back home and told me that we were off to work and then told the pup that he was staying at grandmas - (He wasnt impressed). Anyway we had just go in the car and were driving to Gatescarth when we had another pager message saying that he had turned up safely. Kaz turned the car back round and we went home. When we got back Kaz and Daryl and me and Dram played in the garden for a bit then just as we were all going to bed the pager went off again - this time from the Penrith Team for a man missing in the river in Carlisle. Kaz is a swift water technician and so she got all her protective stuff together and also a special jacket for me that lets me float if I fall in. Me her and Daryl got in the car and drove to meet the Fire Brigade and Police. Just as we got there and I was ready to start doing stuff, the firemen told Kaz that they had sadly found the body of a man in the river.
28th May .... Kaz starts new job and I am still teaching the pup
Hey dog blog fans, its still been very quiet here on the callout front. Kaz and Daryl have continued to be really busy with the new house and me and the small pup Dram have been helping - although Kaz and Daryl dont think we are.....still the house kind of looks a bit better now - they have finally put the new boiler in, done the roof, done the electrics and tiled the kitchen floor - they are now trying to build a kitchen and then put the wooden floor down and then we can move in - hooray!! Me and Dram love our grandpa and grandma but we can t wait until we live in our new house.....
Elsewhere in SARDA handler Christyne (whos searchdog Skye retired last year) has got her new pup and it looks really cute (much better than Dram does) - here he is surrounded by his favourite toys....ahhhh......can you spot him?
This week Kaz started her new job with the Cumbria Fire Service - she is doing something clever with computers but this week Dram and I havent been with her - but we will be going along next week and we are looking forward to having lots of nice walks and stuff when she has her breaks in the day!!
Finally - Dram had his first real walk last week - we went training at Whinlatter and I showed him just how clever a search dog I am - he wasnt too bothered - he reckons he'll be brilliant - huh, we'll see!!!!
Sorry I havent blogged much but what with supervising Kaz and Daryl decorating and bossing the puppy around..........
I just am sooooo busy really! So I'd better fill you in on all the news.
First of all the great news - Olly Benson from Langdale Team and his lovely dog Kitt (my relative) passed their final assessment at the weekend - it was rotten weather and they worked for nearly 4 hours - well done you 2.
John Leadbetter and his dog Skye unfortunately didnt pass but I know how good they are so they will be passing in the next few weeks and then they'll be on the list too with me - hooray!!
Here's a piccie of Olly and Kitt - sweet
What else has been happening then? Oh yes the puppy and I went to the Penrith Carnival and it got all the attention - I am not amused - everyone thinks it's really cute but I know different - it's a monster it keeps trying to bite my ears and everything. Here is is in it's little training jacket that Kaz made it - huh I am the only proper dog in our house!!
29 April ......Proof I havent murdered the pup yet!
I suppose it's ok really - apart from the small puddles on the floor and the fact it keeps jumping all over me!! It seems to be eating us out of house and home at the moment.....it might just make it to 4 months if it behaves itself!
29 April ......News from the weekend -and the pup is still here
Kaz and me left the training a bit early so we missed all the action - Body Jess (who used to look after me lots when I was a little puppy) came to training and she bought her lovely dog Rigg who used to a a trainee. She left him down at the cars and after she had finished bodying she asked someone to let him off and send him up to her.....well Rigg has obviously not forgotten anything he learned and he shot up the hill in search of Jess - except that he took the most amazing route - visiting where she had been the previous day and then following his nose, meeting up with a lady walker on the way - click here is a file showing Rigg's route!!! Clever old Rigg..
Also the other news is that former handler Christyne has got a new puppy called Bute - which looks a lot cuter than the thing that's living with me!! Here he is....
And Dave Ellis from Kirkby Stephen team is planning on training his new dog called Mill - she is a bit too pretty for my liking - I want to be the prettiest in SARDA!!!
27 April ......And it's finally arrived
Hmmmm - yesterday Kaz and me went to the Howgills for dog training - Kaz was assessing John and Skye and Olly and Kitt in the Black Force area of the Howgills and I was assisting! Both of the teams were really good (I could have done better)....(I think not Dot!). Anyway after we finished we went back over to our new house and picked Daryl up and went for a drive - but I should have realised that they were up to something - we went and got Dram. Huh. We got home and he and I stayed in the kitchen over night. I was quite impressed really - he was very good and slept all night through without annoying me - he has been trying to bite my tail today but I told him what's what.
I will put some piccies onto the blog this week once Kaz has had chance to get them off Daryl.
Great News for John Leadbetter!!
Well, John Leadbetter (handler of trainee Skye) is a bit of a dark horse - rumour has it that he recently went on a hot air balloon ride with his lovely girlfriend Claire and he did the whole ring thing and asked her to marry him ---- and she said 'Yes' - hooray!! Kaz thinks that John has taken his 'eye off the ball' and should have waited another couple of weeks until he and Skye have graded - I dont know she's not very romantic is she!!!
NEW HOME AND A NEW BRUVVER!!
Hi Dot fans - sorry it's been a while but what with one thing and another Kaz has just not let me get near her new laptop. So - did you all see us on the TV the other week? I got lots of comments on my Facebook Page and Kaz's friends sent us some nice emails.
Since last week things have certainly been happening - on Tuedsay Kaz finally got the keys to our new house and her and Daryl (and me) have been over there ripping out floors, kitchens, doors and anything else we could find. Then I have been playing in my new garden - and informing the local cat that it'd have to find another way through to its favourite walk!!
Then on Saturday we went over to Aunty Sue's - all week Kaz and Daryl have been mentioning the dreaded D word - yep - they keep talking about Dram Dog. Anyway - we got there and they bought it out to meet me - the first thing it did was jump on my tail and tried to bite it; well I wasnt having any of that and I told it - after that it behaved itself. I think I can see it may be able to be trained as a search dog - here it is after it scaled its first rock face (all 1ft of it!!!) and I finally allowed it to sit next to me for a family shot - it's not that bad really. Apparently I have another 10 days before it comes home for good!
29th March....SARDA get filmed for Countryfile ..
MAKE SURE YOU WATCH IT BBC1 - 7PM SUNDAY 5TH APRIL!!
Kaz and me and Daryl went over to Whinlatter yesterday and met up with some of the bodies and handlers Mike Hadwin and Laura Connolly coz we were going to be interviewed by Countryfile (Apparently its a programme that appears on TV all about interesting things that happen in the country). Anyways, they decided that the 1st episode of the new series would be filmed in the Lakes and so we are a part of it - especially as one of the presenters Julia Bradbury is the Patron of the Friends of SARDA Lakes!
Anyway Kaz and Laura and me and searchdog Jake got to be interviewed by both Julia and Matt Baker which was nice - here a couple of piccies:
But a funny thing happend, Laura told Kaz and Daryl that handler Andrew Mc Neil (Macca) really likes Julia - so Daryl asked if she would speak to him on the phone and she did! He was very pleased about that, but very disappointed that he couldnt get a photo with her - so Daryl stood in for him (sorry Macca)!!
After that we did the serious filming stuff - blimey it takes a long time! Laura and Kaz and me and Jake had to do a pretend search for Matt - Jake found him. And body Terry also got asked lots of questions about why he lies around in the hills for us! Hopefully the programme should be good. Oh yes, Kaz says to say thanks to all the others from SARDA like bodies Glenn and Jan, Rosemary, Mary and Penny who turned up to make teas and coffees and give us some moral support!
PS.....4 WEEKS AND COUNTING TIL THE NEW PUP ARRIVES! STILL NOT IMPRESSED
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26th March....IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED - I'M GETTING A LITTLE BROTHER!!
Yep, I know, I cant quite believe it either, just when I thought I was the only thing in Kaz and Daryl's life, they announce I am getting a little baby brother who is going to train as a search dog! Oh great.....we went over to Aunty Sue's (my breeder) a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was because I was getting a day out at my favourite holiday home, but no, they were secretly planning to have a chat about this imposter. Anyway on Saturday Kaz and Daryl told me we were seeing Sue again - fine I thought, this'll be fun. But when we got there we ended up looking at what I thought was a load of black and white guinea pigs, but what turned out to be puppies and what's more they chose one! He (a boy - I really am fed up now) is going to be coming to live with us in May and here he is....wait for it.....he's called Dram - I am distinctly not impressed........
25th March....Scotland - what fun!!
A lot of us went to Aviemore for the annual winter training course - ok what winter was that then? The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the snow was melting! Anyway - all of the trainee dogs had a great time and we met some new friends, Catherine and Jarlath from Ireland with their two trainees Lilly and Hugo. My relatives Skye and Kitt both passed more assessments (hooray) and all of us graded dogs and Skye and Kitt did a huge line search across the Cairngorm plateau. Kaz and I also played in some crags one day and I had to find body woody who was hidden in a tiny cave (not sure how he managed to getin there though!) Corrie also found him but she was very clever and climbed down a tiny hole to get to him - clever girl...... All in all we had a great time - and the handlers did as well - particularly in the evening apparently! Kaz says I have to say thanks to all the lovely bodies and to Cathy and Vera Grindrod who made all the lovely food. Here are a couple of photos - me finding the body on the Plateau, and the team after the long day of searching!!
9th March - Sad week for Cockermouth MRT and SARDA......
We are all very sad this week. One of our friends - handler Kirk Outhwaite died early last week. She was a lovely lady and Kaz tells me that she was always really helpful and kind when Kaz was training the stupid labrador Donald before me. All we can do is send lots of love to her husband, dog handler Ric.
3rd March - Sorry it's been so long Dot fans......
But I have been pretty poorly with a very sore paw - last weekend Kaz and I went to the training weekend at Patterdale - on the Saturday I helped Kaz with looking after the stage 2 dogs which was good coz I was able to get a couple of runs in myself which was great. I think I must have caught my dew claw when I was rushing about but I didnt tell Kaz. On Sunday we had to do a big search exercise in Keppel and Brown Coves - there were 6 of us dogs and some people from the Patterdale team. I started to work but first off my paw hurt, then there wasnt much wind - but I kept going and all of a sudden I caught a whiff of someone - I worked really hard and found the body on a ledge quite high up on the head wall of Keppel Cove - it took ages for kaz and the 2 Patterdale navigators to get to us so I had to keep barking really loudly - blimey I had a sore throat! Anyway once we'd done the first aid (...well Kaz did and I played with a stick I'd found), it was time to move on to look for the other 3 pretend casualties - Kaz and me and Mick and Ginny worked across some very steep snowpatches that were very icy - my poor paw started to bled quite a lot but Kaz didnt notice til we got off the hill. That night it got worse and I was told off for chewing at it. By Monday I had a temperature and I had to go to the vet who gave me some tablets (and shoved a thermometer in a nasty place). He told Kaz I couldnt do anything for 5 days. So I was a bit fed up when the pager went off on Tuesday and we couldnt go - searchdog Beinn found the missing lady but she had sadly died.
On Sunday Kaz decided that I could go out and she thought it would be a great idea if we went to the seaside so I could swim in the sea. We had a great time until Daryl threw the frisbee and I accidentally dropped it in the sea - it sank and we couldnt find it......I was not very happy ......here's me and Daryl trying to find it. Anyway I promise to blog soon paw permiting!
17th Feb - I've been to see my dad!
Kaz and Daryl and me went over to Windermere at the weekend and we saw the lovely Sue who bred me. I was really please coz not only did I get to jump all over Sue but my Dad Ben was there and I ran around with him for a while (although he is really old) and also my sister Coire was there - she is very clever and is going to be at Crufts this year. I had a great day and at one point there were 14 of us running around Sue's field playing with the frizbee!
After we went home Kaz's dog pager went off and we ended up driving all the way back down the motorway to Patterdale to help look for a couple who were overdue - we started to walk up Caiston Glen with our navigator Will, but we heard that a member of the public could hear some whistles above Hartsop Hall and Patterdale team members quickly found them - which was good news all round!
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10th Feb - Kaz cant wait to move!
We've had a few callouts because of the bad weather lately - lots of people are having fun in the snow and ice but some arent being very sensible. Kaz says she cant wait to move to our new house because at the moment we are living at grandma and grandpas and it is in Carlisle - so when we get a callout in to the central lakes area, it means that we have to drive for over an hour to get there and then we are trying to play catchup. The other night we had just got in when her pager went off for a search for a man in the Bowfell area. We had been training that night and had just arrived home from Penrith. Kaz and I got in the car, but on the way she decided she was just too tired and so we turned back. She was feeling a bit guilty because she doesnt want to let anyone down, but sometimes I think she has to look after herself (dont let her know I care about her,.,,,,,,she'll think I'm going soft or something!).
On Sunday we went to team training and Kaz was doing the instruction in Winter Skills - so the team were practising ice axe arrests (I thought she'd left the Police) and all sorts of stuff. They even buried Daryl in the snow and I found him and dug and barked loads - he was very pleased to see me but not so pleased when I jumped in the snow hole with him! Then Kaz's team mate Paul buried a rucksac to see how long the team would take to find it with avalanche poles. It was very funny - they went backwards and forwards but couldnt find it - Kaz didnt know where it was but asked me to search the ground carefully which I did and suddenly I smelt it and began to dig. All the team thought I was messing about (because it was in the area that they had searched a couple of times), huh, I thought; I'll show them so I kept digging and guess what? Yep - there it was!!! Kaz was very pleased with me and made a lot of fuss of me which was nice and now the team are beginning to think that us superior collies might bve a bit of an asset after all. When we went home, we were cold and tired and sure enough, the dog pager went off for 2 seperate callouts to Langdale and Keswick. This time Kaz decided that we were both too tired, but she still felt really guilty about it - she promises me that this week she'll get some sleep!
Anyway both Mac and Beinn were out and about yet again (I bet they are really tired too!).......and tonight we are all meeting up at Whinlatter to do a bit of training in the forest - hooray so I get to have some fun in the snow.
See you all soon, Dot fans! As they used to say in a TV program that Kaz liked - 'be careful out there'......
1st Feb - Fantastic find by Searchdog Beinn!
As you know there has been loads of snow around here - Kaz and I have been out and about in it playing with snow balls - well I can tell you that they are rubbish - as soon as you try to catch one in your mouth it explodes all over you.....
Anyhow, the real news is that lovely Searchdog Beinn had a fabulous find on the Crinkles (hands off all you girly dogs he's mine!)......now, dog Beinn tells me that he smelt the person and tried to tell Roger but (as is typical with these handlers, Roger didnt believe him at first)....infact, Roger thought Beinn was barking at a rock. (Daft man!) This turned out to be a lady, immobile, and almost frozen to the ground in an icy gully. The rest of the party were located further down. Two ended up as stretcher cases, the other two were walked off.
Kaz says that this just goes to prove that all the training we do to help people does pay off in the end........well done Beinn (I'll give you an especially big woof when i see you next)..........and in case you jealous dogs dont know what he looks like - then here he is!
23rd Jan - Deja vue on Skiddaw!
We'll there we were - Kaz working on her University assignment and me happily chewing the ear off my pink piggy when the pager went off - it was a team pager message so I wasn't too bothered about it. However, Kaz came in to the office and told me it was for the Penrith team to be on standby to help out the Keswick team; then she rang Elly and asked what was going on. Turned out that there were 2 groups of people cragfast on Sharp Edge on Blencathra and then at the same time there was a lady who was lost in blizzards on the top of Skiddaw. Next thing I know - Kaz is waking me up so that her and I could drive down to Latrigg carpark and start searching for her. Daryl had just finished work and he came with us to act as a navigator. We set off up the hill with lovely searchdog Fly and his handler Mike Hadwin and then they went off up Lonscale Fell while we continued round to Burnt Horse - the snow was rubbish and the heather was pretty difficult for me to run through and Kaz says she was tripping over a bit as well! Anyway we were above Skiddaw House and Daryl saw a light in the distance and at the same time the light was seen from the other team members on Skiddaw. Happily the lady was ok, but it took us quite a long time for us to walk back round to Latrigg. Here are a couple of piccies that Karen and Daryl took on their mobile phone..........
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21st Jan - A crazy 24 hours!
Blimey - I'm knackered.... I was at work with Kaz on Monday when the team pager went off for a callout to Brougham as someone reported seeing a person being swept downstream in the river. Kaz and me arrived and Kaz was managing the initial incident as she was the only Swift Water trained person on scene at the beginning. As more people arrived Kaz and me and 2 of Kaz's team mates searched the river Eamont banks for about 5 miles but didnt find anyone. Then we went home. We'd just got into bed when Kaz's phone rang to say there was a callout in the Pennines for a man missing on the Pennine Way - we left home early on the 20th and started searching up the High Cup Beck - after a little while he was found safe and well by the RAF helicopter. Then Kaz drove straight to work to a meeting and when she finished that we were on our way home when there was a callout to help Keswick team search for 5 missing people on the top of Skiddaw in very bad weather (high winds and blizzards) - luckily the team found 4 of the casualties (one of who needed to be carried off on a stretcher) but there was still a single missing lady- all the dogs were searching bits of Skiddaw - the weather was horrid - Kaz and I were on our own on the footpath towards Skiddaw House but luckily that clever searchdog Mac found the lady near the top - she was very cold and not well so he saved her life. As all this was going on Kaz's team pager started going off for a search with Patterdale on High Street - she ended up trying to phone round to say that all the dogs were on Skiddaw and we ended up asking the dogs in Southern Scotland (thanks Paul) to help out if necessary - luckily that callout ended very quickly soon after. The callout on Skiddaw continued for sometime as in the end 3 people needed to be carried off and we even had to draft in help from Patterdale and Cockermouth teams to help. Kaz and I got home a bit late and she had a whisky and I had an extra special biscuit! Today I am mostly yawning and half heartedly playing with my pink pig at grandmas!
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14th Jan - What a busy week and some sad news!
Kaz told me today that a friend of mine had died recently - Lanky who was Jess Stam's dog (and big brother to former trainee searchdog Rigg) had died last week and I was very sad as Lanky and Jess looked after me when I was very small and he was always up for playing with tennis balls. Here is a piccie of him and Rigg when we went out one day....big woofs and licks to Jess who is missing him!
Kaz has spent all weekend moving boxes from one place to another then unpacking loads of stuff at my grandpa and grandmas - good grief you lot - how much stuff can one human being have?? I just packed my tennis balls (about 15) and my 4 pink squeaky pigs and my blanket and two bowls and that was it - all you need for a perfect life! Kaz and I missed a callout at the weekend cos she was somewhere in between moving all the boxes around. We are now living at Grandmas and Grandpas and it is great fun but Kaz is a bit worried that when I get a pager callout in the middle of the night that i will be running around the house barking like I usually do and waking everyone up!
There is a very exciting weekend ahead - three of our dog teams are being assessed on the SARDA England course - John and Skye, Olly and Kitt and Ric with Alpha - hopefully they will all do well - Kaz will be helping assess them now she is a trainee assessor and I am going to be allowed to watch over them and pass on some canine telepathetic (...note from Kaz - are you sure you really mean that Dottie?) advice and guidanced. Good luck !!
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6th Jan - Callout in the snow and searchdog Mac locates them!
I had had a good day today with Kaz in the office - I got to play in the field and she hid my tennis ball rather sneakily I thought - but after 15mins I found it and then we just played fetch til she decided that she had to go and do some work in the office. After work we drove home and she was planning on doing some more packing - just as she started the dog pager went off for a callout on the Keswick side of Helvellyn. I was dead pleased as it had just started to snow but Kaz looked a bit fed up; still she cheered up once she made herself some hot juice and we set off.
It turned out it was a call to a man who was lost 'somewhere' on Helvellyn who had a mobile phone acting as a torch, and wearing basball boots and a fleece - honestly when will you humans learn!
Anyway we had just got to Keswick's base when we heard that Mick Guy and Elly were on the hill with their dogs and had spotted a light high up on Birkside so we stayed at the base waiting with searchdog Fly and some of the Keswick team. Eventually, Elly and Mac got up to the man and helped him off. Well done Elly and Mac!!!
Kaz and I had a couple of drinks of tea (Kaz) and biscuits (me) and then we went home - it was great though cos it was snowing hard....but Kaz didnt stop on the way as she was worried she wasnt going to get home through the snow!
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5th Jan - News from SARDA and I get a new home
Good news all round - trainees Skye and Kitt passed their first ever assessments which is great news and hopefully we'll be seeing these 2 handsome boys on the callout list soon!!!
Kaz and me are moving house on the 10th January - we are off to grandma and grandpas and then we'll be looking at buying a new house soon!!!
So I hope you all have a fantastic new year and I look forward seeing all you Dot fans very soon!
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Xmas Roundup
Well here we all are, another year and I still havent achieved my goal of eating my own body weight in dog biscuits...there's still time though!!! So I thought I'd say hi and give you a potted history of what I've been up to over the Christmas break.
I got some ace pressies - including the Dastardly Book for Dogs (from which I shall be passing on some doggy intelligence to you all this year). On Christmas day we had great fun with my Grandma and Grandpa and Kaz and me and Daryl and some of her team members went for a nice walk up Helvellyn on Boxing day. We then spent the rest of the Christmas visiting people and I got loads of fuss - naturally. I need to say a big 'hello' to a few people so here goes - Hi Beth and Holly, Ryan, Molly and Jack and Susie G - big woofs and licks to you all. Also thanks to everyone who sent me and Kaz loads of cards and messages over the holidays.
Click the year to read her story - 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
This blog is written by Dottie - a tri-coloured border collie bitch born in late November 2004. The entries follow the trials and tribulations of training a human (Kaz Frith) to work with a search dog ....upto the point where Dottie graded as a searchdog
and everything that's been happening since with Dottie, Kaz's team and other stuff. (Please note that this blog is a personal account and does not represent the opinion of SARDA Lakes).
