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Sunny
17 Nov 2009:
A
message from Sunny: Just to let you all know that
last weekend my Dad took me up to the not so sunny,
apart from me, Peak District. Just to get my own back,
for leaving me all night in a cold dark van with
Springer Spaniel Scoot and not left nice and comfy under
his bed as at home, I dragged him up and down these very
steep and slippery hills and crags. I totally ignored
him, for a change (not really) and found in record time
lots of nice people who played with me with my toy. I
thought he would be rather annoyed with me but at the
end of the weekend he looked really pleased? Humans I
just don't understand them!
And a message from Alan his dog handler:
Yep we've gone and done it and become DSRT Plymouth's
first full grade search dog and handler. What a relief.
Sunny really did work hard, ranged well and had some
really good strikes. I understand the assessors were
really impressed. What a star!
Update from Alan: More than a year has passed
since we graded but we have continued to train, despite
injuries, operations (Sunny was beginning to be a bit
aggressive with other male dogs so we decided to remove
his doghood before this got out of hand and it has
worked!) and holidays permitting, on a weekly basis to
learn and improve our standards. We have to be seen to
train in different locations including moorland,
woodland, rural, riverside and suburban. We also have to
attend at least seven training days per annum on
National Training courses. In 2008 we attended courses
in the Trough of Bowland, North Pennines National Park,
Brecon Beacons, Dartmoor twice(April & August) and in
the Peak District, each course lasting three days.
Our first call out, with lots of panic and excitement,
was in March where we were tasked to search steep
woodland in the Dart Valley near to Ashburton. I’ve
never seen so many Policemen but after six hours we had
found nothing. I was, however, impressed by Sunny’s
endurance, concentration and stamina. This search was
soon followed by another four hour marathon searching
along the coast near to Gunwalloe in Cornwall. We
attended at least twelve call outs in 2008 including
Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Woodbury Common. We have also
searched the countryside, some overnight, near to
Launceston, Bude and Bodmin, this was re-sited to Truro
and Newton St Cyres, North of Exeter. We certainly get
around. We have responded to many more call outs where
we have been either turned back on route or upon
reaching the R.V point. So far this year, in 2009, we
have searched parts of Bodmin Moor as well as
countryside and woodland near to Holsworthy and
Chumleigh in North Devon. We have also trained in
Swaledale, Yorkshire which included an interesting and
unusual urban search in the warfare village in Catterick
Barracks. The dogs were locating, in pitch darkness, in
boarded up buildings, drains and tunnels. They were
collecting scents from grid covers even though the
body’s hiding were a good distance away and further up
the drain. It’s amazing how they quickly learn and adapt
as this became obvious a few weeks later when we used a
large country house near to Okehampton for our training.
Unfortunately we have not had an official find yet but I
am confident we will in the not too distant future.
Where we search is the responsibility of the Search
controller and we have come very close on a couple of
occasions. The first was a search for a missing school
girl on Dartmoor. We had just been tasked to search the
area when she was found by the Hasty team who had been
instructed to circumnavigate the outer edge of a more
extensive search area. If they had gone the other way
round then the find would have been ours. The second was
a search for a lady in Newton St Cyres. She had been
missing for two days and nights and search teams had
been out all of the night before. We were tasked, along
with another dog team, to search some nearby woodland.
As I was in the area first I elected to search along the
far boundary and the casualty was found near to the
nearest boundary by the other search dog Max. I was
still able to give much assistance until the medics and
ambulance arrived and the lady made a full recovery
after spending a few days in hospital. This was a very
rewarding result and one which makes you realise why all
this effort, time and training is worthwhile. Sunny
loves and revels in it. For him and all of the other
search dogs it is just one big game |
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Toohey
9 Mar 11:
SARDA now has its
first registered Australian Kelpie Trainee Search
Dog! This was taken at Hebden Hay (Hebden Bridge
Scout centre ) when she passed:
Toohey was born on
November 4th 2009 on a working farm /
Kelpie breeder, near Lydney in Gloucestershire on
the edge of the Forest of Dean. I chose the Kelpie
breed as I already have a seven year old Kelpie /
Collie cross, and hope they have the potential to
become one of the most helpful tools in Mountain
Rescue.
We started basic obedience training in March 2010 at
Hebden Bridge, with Jacquie Hall, a Canine
behavourist expert,
www.caninecentre.co.uk who is responsible for
all the puppies initial training as Honoury Training
Adviser for SARDA.
This involves, initially, and critically teaching
the dog its very first command; its own name !
Meaning, “Look at me there is another instruction
coming which I need you to obey in the following
second”! Then over the following several months we
are taught to walk our dogs to heal, both on and off
the lead. Speak (Bark) on command. Re-call; return
straight back to their handler under control when
called. To drop on command to the Down position
whilst being recalled back to the handler. Lastly
to stay in the Down position, without standing or
sitting up for at least 10 minutes, during which
time the handler must go completely out of sight of
their dogs for between 3-5 minutes of the total 10!
Once all these are mastered, dog and handler are
tested in a field of sheep to ensure they are
completely safe and not likely to chase, or attack
livestock during the next stage of training, or
later on a call out. This involves re-calling your
dog through the path of approximately 15-20 sheep,
and also putting your dog in the Down position, and
then waiting for the flock to pass between the
handler and dog. At no stage should the dog show any
interest in chasing or aggression towards the sheep.
Once all these requirements are met, then the dog
and handler can become a registered member of SARDA
and can commence stage 1 of the search sequence.
(see the SARDA site for more training information).
The Kelpie breed is renowned for its highly strung
nature so all of the above requirements needed an
immense amount of time, patience, heartache and
general hard work, both locally and at national
training courses held on the first Fri, Sat, &
Sunday of every month, ranging from Northumberland,
The Lake & Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Brecon
Beacons and Dartmoor. Fortunately the penny seemed
to drop this weekend, exactly 12 months to the day
since she attended her first course at Hebden Bridge
in March 2010, and she performed to the required
standards so bring on the next part of the adventure
of knowledge and learning for dog and handler alike
!
But what exactly is an Australian Kelpie?
Click here to find
out
Jan
2011: Toohey has started her
training
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