Graded Dog Teams

Dave Benson & Moudy
Mike Blakey & Comet
Kaz Frith & Dottie
Mick Guy & Ginny / Mist
Mike Hadwin & Fly
Ian Higginbotham & Vinny
Penny Kirby & Pippi
Andrew McNeil
Kirk Outhwaite & Alpha
Roger Pickup & Beinn
Les Telford & Kess
Steve Walter & Rosie
Dave Watt & Dynamite / Flash
Elly Whiteford & Mac

Dave Benson and Moudy
David and Moudy graded in May 2003. Moudy is a Bedlington Terrier / Greyhound cross - a breed commonly used for hunting game and a very unusual sight on the fells. David (known for his dry humour) is a member of Kirkby Stephen MRT, works as a Health and Safety Advisor for the YHA in the North West and is a trainee assessor with the Association.

 

Mike Blakey and Comet
Mike and Comet graded as a team in the Winter of 2000, following a final assessment in white-out conditions in Coire an Lochan (Cairngorms). Comet, a red Border Collie, began his training with Mike whilst he was a member of Dartmoor MRT in 1997.

Mike is Head of Consulting at Brathay Trust and a member of Patterdale MRT. He was the Training Officer for SARDA Lakes 2004-6, and remains an Assessor and member of the management committee. Mike and Comet have enjoyed a succesful career as ateam, with several finds over the past few years.

Kaz Frith and Dottie
Kaz is a member of Penrith MRT and is the Chief Executive of the Institute for Outdoor Learning. Her border collie, Dottie started formal training in Sept 2005 and graded on the SARDA England course in January 2007 at just 2 years old. Kaz spends much of her spare time walking in the Lakes and Wales. She is the Equipment Officer for the Association.

READ DOTTIE'S DOG BLOG HERE

 

Mick Guy and Ginny & Mist
Mick is a member of Keswick MRT. He started bodying for SARDA in 1988, then became a trainee handler with Search Dog Spin who graded after 24 months of training.

In 1999, he started training his second dog, Mist, who has sustained a spinal injury which is likely to cause her early retirement. Mist's training took 18 months. Ginny, his third dog qualified in March 2006 when Ginny was 22 months old, (this time the training took just 13 months - so Mick is clearly doing something right!). Mick is currently the Training Officer and lead Assessor for the Association. Mick continues to work both Ginny and Mist together (makes it a little noisy for the bodies sometimes!)

Mike Hadwin and Fly
Mike has been a member of Cockermouth MRT for 20 years. He spent 3 years as a body before deciding to train a search dog! His graded dog Brin retired in March 2005 - 10 years after grading. He started training with his handsome border collie, Fly, in November 2004 - another handler had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and Mike took over Fly's training. Mike was always relied upon for his helpful advice and comments to his fellow trainees (Mike was previously the SARDA training officer and continues to be an Assessor). Mike and Fly graded in January 2007. Mike is also on the management Committee of the Association.

Ian Higginbotham and Vinny
Ian is a member of Kendal MRT and started training his beautiful German Shepherd Vinny in the Spring of 2006. Ian bodied for SARDA Lakes before deciding to train a dog. Although a german shepherd is an unusual sight in SARDA Lakes, this gentle giant of a dog is progressed well and gets lots of admirers. (Although he did once mistake Kaz Brush's pigtail for his tuggy toy when she was bodying for him!) Ian and Vinny started their assessments in December 2007, and graded in March 2008.

Penny Kirby and Pippi
Penny Kirby is a member of Wasdale MRT, and has been a member of SARDA since 1982. Penny works as an outdoor instructor.

Her first Search Dog was Ben, followed by Mif, (half sister of Ben). Both Ben and Mif have retired, and her third dog Pippi was graded at the end of December 2003. Penny used an unusual 'reward' for Pippi - dried fish skin - a great hit with the dog, but not with the dogsbodies that went home smelling strangely after training!

Penny is also an assessor with the Association - in December 2007 she started formally training her fourth(!) dog Olli.

Andrew (Macca) McNeil and Corrie
Are members of Cockermouth MRT - Andrew (the better looking half of the team, obviously) and Corrie graded at Pasture Beck, Hartsop in April 2003. Corrie was an abandoned pup rescued from a local police pound at 14 weeks old. She worked extremely hard for her grading and is well known as being the 'grumpiest bitch in SARDA'. Andrew has another rescued collie, Patch, who keeps the kennel warm whilst her mate is out working in the dark. Macca is a trainee assessor with the association.

 

 

Kirk Outhwaite and Alpha
Kirk is a member of Cockermouth MRT and a very experienced handler. Her first searchdog Gali retired in 2002 due to ill health and sadly died in 2004. Alpha (a dog with a fantastic character) graded at just 19 months old in 2004 (one of the youngest dogs to qualify in many years). Kirk is also an assessor for the Association. Alpha, as you can see in the picture on the left, is a real camera-hog whereas, Kirk is the shy and retiring type preferring to keep out of the photo! Kirk's husband Ric is now training his third searchdog.


Roger Pickup and Beinn
Roger is the Deputy Team Leader of Langdale Ambleside team and a Professor of Molecular Microbial Ecology at Lancaster University and has been involved in Mountain Rescue for many years. Roger's searchdog Paddy died suddenly in 2005 - Paddy had attended many call outs over the time he was on the callout list. Beinn started training in April 2006, unfortunately Roger sustained a leg injury in Jan 2007 which put him out of action for a couple of months but on his return in July 2007 they resumed training. Beinn and Roger started their assessments in December 2007 and graded in March 2008. Roger continues to be an Assessor with the Association.

Les Telford and Kess
Les is a freelance translator based in Kendal and a member of Kendal Mountain Search and Rescue Team. Known as 'WSB' (well spoken bloke), Les is always relied upon to raise the standard of the conversation beyond the banal.

Kess and Les graded in April 2003, having survived the disruption to training caused by foot-and-mouth. At home, Kess is also in charge of Les's two other collies. Les is an Assessor and Stage 2 Training Co-ordinator with the association, and has also taken on the task of being the Secretary of the Association.

Steve Walter and Rosie
Steve is a member of Wasdale MRT and works with Search Dog Rosie - (possibly the quickest thing on 4 legs!) - Actually, Steve isn't normally too far behind Rosie as he is supremely fit, being an Outdoor Instructor! Although Steve hadn't been on the callout list very long, he and Rosie had already notched up some finds.

** In July 2006, Rosie was diagnosed with a serious spinal injury and underwent major surgery and was therefore unable to work. After an incredible 15 months off, Rosie and Steve passed their re-assessment tests and returned to operational duties in Oct 2007.



Dave Watt and Flash & Dynamite
Dave is a member of Kirkby Stephen MRT and graded his third dog Flash in August 2006. Dave continues to work his second dog, Dynamite alongside.

Dave is also interested in advanced dog work - buildings and rubble, water searching and has even attended to rail crashes and the 2005 Glasgow factory disaster.

Dave was a founder of the Cumbria unit of 'Skywatch' in 2006 - part of the Auxillary Air Service Organisation which provides assistance to the police using local pilots and privately owned light aircraft .


Elly Whiteford and Mac
Elly is a member of Keswick MRT. She works for the Environment Agency in Penrith and spends much of her spare time climbing, mountain biking and fell running.

Mac, a border collie, was adopted by Elly after being abandoned and half starved on a beach when he was young. He is a real gentleman and loves playing with his fluroescent frisbees. Elly and Mac started training in March 2005 and began their assessments in Summer 2006. Elly and Mac graded at Coombe Ghyll in March 2007.


CHRIS FRANCIS - CALLOUT CO-ORDINATOR

Chris has been a member of Keswick MRT since 1983 during which time he graded two searchdogs. Both of his dogs have been Labradors (or 'proper dogs' as Chris would have it!) and he has attended over 700 rescues and 240 searches. At present he is 'between' dogs but carries the important (and unenviable) task of co-ordination of any dog callout between MR teams and the Police throughout Cumbria and sometimes beyond. As a result, he is used to being woken up regularly in the middle of the night to call out the handlers - sometimes being on the end of some abuse! Chris is also an assessor with SARDA Lakes and a member of the management committee.