Search And Rescue Dog Association

Assessment Success !

Congratulations to :-
Ellie Sherwin with Pepper, Alan Hill with Sonny and John O'Doherty with Nutt
for passing their Assessments held in the Lake district on 17-19th January.

They will now join the call out list to help save lives.

October 2007

October Assessment Success !

A great boost to the SARDA England dog call out list was made on the weekend of the 19th October with four SARDA England dogs making the grade at the South Wales assessment. Two handlers, Dave Humphrey and Alex Lyons now have two dogs on the call out list !


Ian Burley (Kinder MRT) and Anya	Pete Thompson (Northumberland MRT) and Hamish	Alex Lyons (Tavistock MRT) and Max	Dave Humphrey (Exmoor SRT) and Rusty

June 2007

Sunday the 17th saw SARDA attending the Buxton Emergency Fun Day. During the day, Leigh Ashton made a presentation to Alex Muller. Leigh had seen a picture of search dog Holly taken by Simon Mycroft of Sheffield. She was so impressed with the work carried out by SARDA and Holly that she had drawn a picture of Holly from the picture and had it framed with the SARDA and Buxton team badges and presented it to Alex at the event

SARDA England has been awarded a grant of £4998 from AWARDS FOR ALL to fund a laptop projector and equipment for bodies:

- Waterproof bivvy bags
- Fleece bags
- Karrimats
- Rucksack covers

The grant is very welcome since the last purchase of body equipment was about five years ago and is now ready for replacement.

April 2007
Long Service Award for Alex Lyons presented at the Dartmoor Course

The Search and Rescue Dog Association, England, is pleased to recognise the Outstanding Achievement of an uninterrupted 20 years on the call-out list as a dog handler, by Alex Lyons, with his dogs Scruff, Mac and Aiken. During this period, Alex has also served the Association in various capacities, most notably as Training Officer

January 2007
Successful Grading in the Lake District

Congratulations to Catherine Clarke and Jilly, Rich Hey and Molly and Paul Renwick and Skye in making the grade during the three days of very poor weather in the Lake District. All of the dog teams worked hard in conditions that included hail, rain and snow .Many thanks must go to our hosts, SARDA Lakes, and also all who helped with the weekend


Catherine Clarke and Jilly	Paul Renwick and Skye	Rich Hey and Molly

October 2006
Successful Grading in South Wales

Congratulations to Nicki Lyons and Cavos, who attained Initial Grade and Ian Bunting and Tyke who attained Full Grade during a joint assessment between SARDA South Wales and SARDA England in the Brecon Beacons on the weekend of 6th to 8th October. Both dog teams worked hard during the weekend, and met the assessment requirements with great success. Many thanks must go to our hosts, SARDA South Wales, and also all who helped with the weekend

August 2006

National Training course on Dartmoor

Augusts' training course was at Dartmoor with the course being based at the Bundu Caravan Site at Sourton, on the North moor. Once again Fran and Malc made all welcome and the weather managed to stay good too ! A good time was had by all and Saturdays BBQ was once again attended well. Many thanks to the people involved in organising and supporting the event.

Lynne Cycles around Dartmoor for SARDA

Many thanks must go to Lynne Geake, one of the SARDA Bodies, for undertaking yet another fundraising event in cycling around Dartmoor to raise funds for the organisation. More information and a picture (hopefully) to follow shortly !

Hulux UK Continues SARDA Support

August brought continued sponsorship from GPS Supplier Holux UK with the offer to part fun the upgrade of the Holux GR230 units supplied previously with the new GR236 model . A number of handlers have taken up the offer and the units are making their way into service.

July 2006

Donation from Alton and District Dog Training Society

A generous donation of £500 was received this month from Mrs. Mary Fairley of Alton and District Dog Training Society, who held their Companion Dog Show in June. Many thanks to Mrs Fairley and all at Alton and District Dog Training Society for the donation

Royal Garden Party 18th July 2006.

Nicki & Alex Lyons by invitation of Her Majesty The Queen, had the privilege of attending a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace for the work they have undertaken with Search and Rescue dogs. They were presented to HRH The Duchess Of Gloucester, who was very interested in the dogs and how they are trained for mountain rescue. “We had a wonderful day, a great honour to know that our work is appreciated”

March 2006

New Dogs on the Callout List

After a gruelling 3 days of assessment in Snowdonia with a variety of wet weather, David Warden with Nell, and Kev Stead with Gyp successfully passed their assessment on the 26th March, brining two new dogs on to the callout list. Both David and Kev currently have search dogs, so a great achievement in grading their second dogs !

David Warden with Sam (L) and Nell (R)

Many thanks must go to all of the bodies and assessors on the course, and a big thank you to SARDA Wales members and bodies for running the assessment

Dave Humphries and Storm save another life !

6th March - Successful dog team Dave Humphries and Storm were called at 22:00hrs to assist in the search for an elderly, vulnerable missing man. Storm located the person on a cliff top, and the casualty was taken to hospital immediately suffering from hypothermia.

SARDA England at Crufts

SARDA England Search Dogs and their handlers were present once again this year at Crufts 2006, supprting our sponsor Purina on the Purina Pro Plan stand as part of the Purina Pro Plan Protection Team . Click one of the links below to see the SARDA England Crufts Pages

February 2006

Bill Batson and Fern get their first find three weeks after grading !

Sunday 12th February - Bill Batson and Fern were called at 19:00 hrs to search for a husband and wife who had become lost descending Inglebrough in very poor visibility and called in their predicament on their mobile. Bill, Fern a member of the CRO located them cold but otherwise well, above steep ground at the head of Crummackdale. They were escorted a waiting CRO land rover and taken back to their car at Horton in Ribblesdale. All this and it was Bills birthday today too!!!

Ruffwear Sponsor SARDA England Dogs

We are pleased to announce a new partnership between SARDA England and Ruffwear, with each graded dog being issued with a collapsible bowl, lead, collar and one of the new Lab Coat 2 jackets.

January 2006

Annual Assessment Success !

SARDA England hold their main assessment every year in the Lake District - a gruelling three days of assessment of search dog and handler in mountain terrain and varying weather conditions. This year's assessment was a great success - with five new Search Dog Teams on the call out list and two search dogs teams attaining the " "Search Dog" upgrade standard.

Search Dog Initial Grade
I
L-R Des Toward (Misty), Paul Fell (Holly),                                         Bill Batson and Fern
Lee Ferry (Bracken), Anita Hebert (Merlot)

Search Dog Full Grade

Andy Colau and Tara Steve Ward and Bryn (RH Dog)

November 2005

November brought sad news to the organisation with the passing away of long time "dogsbody" and Honorary Life Member Bernie Probert.

Bernie had bodied for SARDA England for many years, and was a long serving member of Dartmoor Rescue Group, and St. Johns Ambulance.

October2005

23rd October
John Coombs and Biscuit passed their Upgrade in South Wales in varied weather conditions !. More news to follow.

L-R : John, Biscuit and his old search dog Bonnie

September 2005

September started with and excellent training course based in the Brecon Beacons. The weather was excellent, and enjoyed by all. Many thanks to our hosts for the course, SARDA South Wales.

A dog find with a difference for John Coombs and Biscuit!

On Tuesday 6^th September, Mr and Mrs Smith, local dairy and sheep farmers lost Ruby, their red setter whilst out walking in the Bleaklow area of the Peak District. In an aim to find Ruby, Mr Smith, Peak Park rangers and the local gamekeeper all searched the area several times to search without success. Trevor Lawton, Edale Mountain Rescue Team Leader, and also part time Peak Park Ranger, asked for Mountain Rescue Search dogs (SARDA) to assist in trying to find Ruby as by this time her owners were getting very concerned over her wellbeing after being lost for so long. At dawn on Sunday, 4 SARDA dog handlers from Peak District Mountain Rescue Teams started a search of the Grinah stones area – one of the most remote parts of Bleaklow. As the search continued, handler John Coombs with his search dog Biscuit were searching the Grinah Grain area of Bleaklow SK134961 when Biscuit located Ruby lying in the heather and brought her handler John to the rescue ! Handler John Coombs commented “Ruby was in good condition despite having been on the fell for five nights, but eagerly ate the food that I had taken along in case Biscuit and myself found her. Ruby was certainly pleased to see us both “ After a short time John was able to walk Ruby to where they were all picked up by the Edale Mountain Rescue Team Land Landover, and after a short drive, Ruby was quickly reunited with her owners in the Woodbine Café, in Hope Village.

John and Biscuit (Left) with Mrs Smith and Ruby

Another find for Dave Humphries and Storm

Wednesday 28th September 16:00hrs
Dave Humphries and Storm were tasked to search farmland and a large wooded area for a missing person. Whilst searching the wood, Storm went into dense woodland about 20m off the track. After barking from the casualty he returned to Dave and indicated indicated a fine, then led Dave to about 5 feet from the casualty, who was wrapped in black bin liners and almost fully hidden. The casualty was hypothermic and had taken an overdose. DRG extracted the casualty, and after evacuation to the nearest road was and handed over to the Ambulance Service

August 2005

August's training course was held at Sourton in Dartmoor, with SARDA England camping at the Bundu Camp Site. Many thanks to Fran, Malc Lynne and Rob for their hospitality over the three days the course ran.

Fortunately for the campers, the weather held for the duration of the course, and conditions for training were very good

There were a couple of presentations at the festivities during the Saturday evening BBQ.

(Front - Adrian, Helen, Di)
(Back - Alex, Pete, Cameron, Dave, Ed, Alex)

Rod is SARDA's land clearance and accommodation officer, and spends a great deal of his time organising SARDA courses, and travelling around the continent in his camper with wife Caz, who also bodies for the dogs. Both are keen 'letterboxers' and so are in there element in Dartmoor !

Bernie, a member of DRG Plymouth team, has bodied locally for the Dartmoor SARDA dogs for a great number of years, as well as coming on National courses.

Stuart bodies for SARDA England and many sister associations. He's a keen bird watcher, and is renowned for his log book of search dogs that have found him whist he's been bodying over the years.

In recognition of their many years of service in support of SARDA England, Long Service awards were presented to (l to r) Rod Kelly, Bernie Probert and Stuart Saddington by SARDA England Chairman David Warden (right).

A surprise donation came from Lynne, one of the Dartmoor dogsbodies who had run a marathon in aid of SARDA England as her nominated Charity. Lynne managed to far exceed her target of £250, and presented David with a cheque for £700.

and finally, after many years of service, two of SARDA England dogs SAM and Holly retired.

Pictured right are SAM with handler David Warden, and Holly with handler Alex Muller.

David is training another search dog Nell (right, below)
,

... and Holly has decided to retire her handler, Alex, at the same time as herself, but both will be playing an active role in the training of other search dogs within the organisation. We wish all well in their retirement.

June 2005

Congratulations to Rod Kelly and Caz Whittingham on their marriage at Gretna Green on the 29th June.

18th June - Rural Search
Four SARDA England dogs were on hand to help with a large search of ground in and around an old mental hospital on the edge of the Forest of Bowland. More details can be found on the Latest Search and Find Page.

3rd to 5th - National Training Course
June's training was an excellent event held in Snowdonia as guests of SARDA Wales. With mixed weather over the weekend, and a variety of ground to work handlers had excellent opportunities to work in the Mountains of Wales.

April 2005
Devon And Cornwall Police Constabulary Chief Superintendent’s Award Ceremony Powderham Castle

" During the afternoon of Wednesday 30th June 2004 Police received a telephone call reporting an elderly woman missing whilst on a trip to a fishing lake near Holsworthy, North Devon. Local officers attended the scene and established the lady was particularly vulnerable due to memory loss and arthritis. Both the Exmoor Search And Rescue Team and the Search And Rescue Dog Association of England were requested and responded quickly to the rendezvous point. All staff involved carried out a through search over a large area, which was both methodical and meticulous. After six hours searching, the lady was found sat in mud and brambles, dazed and in a badly confused state. But for the efforts of the Exmoor Search And Rescue Team and the Search And Rescue Dog Association of England this incident could have ended in tragedy. The lady has since made a full recovery. For their professionalism and public-spirited actions Chief Superintendent Terry has pleasure in awarding them his Commendation "

L-R - Unknown, Nikki Lyons, Chief Superintendent Terry, Alex Lyons and Matt Robertson

March 2005

The Easter weekend brought a flurry of activity with SARDA England Search Dogs being called into the Lake District to help with a multi day search for a vulnerable missing person on Friday and also searching in the Yorkshire Dales for a missing person. More details can be found at the link below :

SARDA England Search Dogs and their handlers were present at this years Crufts on the Purina Pro Plan stand as part of the Purina Pro Plan Protection Team .

Click one of the links below to see the SARDA England Crufts Pages

January 2005

SARDA England started 2005 started with an excellent Annual Assessment in the Lake District, with the following successfully grading Search Dogs

Search Dog Initial Grade
Ian Bunting and Tyke (Edale MRT)

Search Dog Full Grade
Ian Thompson and Beth (North of Tyne SRT)
Dave Humphrey and Storm (Exmoor MRT)
Dave Herbert and Thor (Rossendale Pendle MRT)
Brian Allport and Gem (Northumbria National Park MRT)
Simon Adams and Pip (Calder Valley MRT)

The terrain was as arduous as ever, testing the dog teams to their full capability in the assessment conditions in the Lake District The picture opposite of Dave Humphrey and Storm at the end of one of their assessment areas shows this quite well !

As expected in the Lake District, the weather was as variable as ever and the handlers negotiated the hillsides through rain, sleet, snow and occasionally sunshine over the weekend in the quest to find the volunteer 'dogsbodies' hiding in the assessment areas.

Thanks must go to all who attended and helped over the four days of the assessment, and especially the dogsbodies and organisers.