Mountain Rescue Search Dogs

About Us - Headquarters - Vehicles - Equipment - Team Members - Search Dogs

When a search is necessary, Keswick team often call on the services of Search Dogs to assist. These are specially trained, air-scenting dogs trained by the Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA Lakes). The dogs are trained over a period of two years, to indicate when they find someone, to return to the handler and indicate by barking, before returning to the casualty, and continuing to bark to show the location. Where a casualty is unconscious or unresponsive, they may well be the only certain way of locating a casualty.

The handlers are themselves all members of Lakes Mountain Rescue Teams, and although attached to a “home” team, are available to assist other teams who need their services. The search dog teams are used to operating in darkness, and in bad weather – indeed, most dogs work better in windy, wet weather. The dog teams are rigorously assessed on a variety of terrain, and in a variety of weather conditions, before being placed on the Callout List.

Searches in our area often involve more than one team, as the central fells are the responsibility of Keswick, Langdale/Ambleside and Wasdale MRTs. Dogs are useful to cover areas which would require large resources in manpower, or which involve complex crags and boulder fields so areas such as Lambfoot Dub, the Glaramara ridge, or Seathwaite Fell can be covered with a good degree of certainty using a number of dogs. At the outset of a search, the handlers are paged, and asked to attend at various locations which experience has shown give a good chance of tracking the missing people down quickly. As the dog teams travel from all over the Lakes, dogs are deployed on an “as they arrive” basis.

Currently, the graded search dogs attached to Keswick MRT are ...

Search Dog Mist, a 10 year old Border Collie/Terrier cross, who has three finds to her credit (picture above). A diminutive but determined character, she is now reaching the end of her service, and is beginning to struggle with spinal arthritis. However, she is still an excellent dog for searching woodland, and areas with difficult access.

Search Dog Ginny, aged 4, is a Border Collie who made the grade in March 2006. Trained as a long term replacement for Mist, she has proved a fast learner, grading in only 13 months compared with the average of 22 months. She also has the advantage of being lovable, which she exploits ruthlessly! Both of these dogs are run by Mick Guy.

Search Dog Mac, aged 7 years (pictured at the top of the page), owned and trained by Elly Whiteford, made the grade in March 2007. A rescued collie, Mac has real personality, and chunters on about just about everything.

Waiting in the wings….

Meg. Elly has recently adopted another rescued dog, Meg, a one year old Border Collie, who although initially timid, has come on rapidly, and is now in training with SARDA to join the team.

Last but potentially not least, the newest potential recruit is a Labrador pup called Beck, owned by Chris Francis, who is the Search Dogs' Callout Co-ordinator. He has already trained two Labradors for Mountain Rescue work, Tarn and Loch. We hope that Beck will start training early in 2009.

Visit the website - http://www.sardalakes.org.uk/