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Search and Rescue Dog Association (Wales) |
Teal has her first litter
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Teal is now the proud mother of seven black Labrador pups. Daddy is a working Gun Dog so they come from good working parents. If anyone is interested please contact Rob direct. They were born on the 10th of Jan so should be ready mid March. |
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The assessment course this month was held in the usual weather conditions - rain, sun but no snow this time.
Congratulations to Sally and Spin for advancing to Novice Mountain Grade, Simon and Poppy along with Helen and Clunnie who graded at Novice Lowland. Gaynor and Pero also re graded with great success - well done all round !
Another new hopeful!
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Congratulations to Rob Johnson and Skye on passing their Stock & Obedience test at last week's training. We all wish you every success in your training. The hard work starts here! |
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SARDA
Wales was the chosen charity by Angela Roberts, Regional
Administrator for CAIS, a Drug and Alcohol Agency. Angela chose
SARDA Wales as her father Elfyn, is an honorary member of the
association.
Pictured are Clive Wolfendale, Chief Executive CAIS, Angela Roberts and Geraint Strello & Fly.
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Richard & Scout start their training
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Richard and Scout have passed their Stock & obedience test. This is where the hard work starts boys. Good luck with all your future training. |
And here's the clean version of Mij! Mij cooling down in the mud
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Sarda Wales on the
'One Show'
Catch it again on the BBC IPlayer or Youtube
July's Helicopter Training was filmed for the One Show. It took place in Nant Peris
with 22 Squadron from RAF Valley.
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Get your new Sarda Wales car sticker NOW! Just click the link to our Ebay Shop a bargain at £1.50, and no postage |
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Geraint & Fly's latest 'Find' On Saturday the 18th of July, Sarda Wales were called to look for a man who had gone missing. He was last seen outside Asda in Llangefni at 11am that morning. Five dog teams attended including one team from Sarda England and another from Sarda South Wales. Some teams were deployed in Llangefni and the rest were deployed in Brynsiencyn where the missing person had lived. The missing person was located in a hedge in a field close to where he had lived by Geraint and Fly. He was cold and a little confused but otherwise fine. |
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1st rung on the ladder for Ed & Guinness Congratulations to Ed Roberts and Guinness on passing their stock and obedience test. This is where the hard work begins boys! Good luck with all your training. |
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Rob & Teal's 1st 'Find'
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hours of Wednesday the 17th of June Sarda Wales were tasked to look for
a missing woman in the Pier area of Bangor. The Police, Coastguard and
Air Support Unit had been searching the area for hours and found
nothing.
Rob and Teal were tasked to search the woods between the field with the standing stones in, and the foreshore. After about 10 minutes searching Teal indicated on a bag, and the woman was found close by hanging on to a tree. The woman had fallen off the bank and had caught hold of the tree as she fell, but was unable to get back up. Well done Rob & Teal! |
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360 to Yosemite
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At the end of the trail!
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The story so far as told by Dave
on his Facebook page... Saturday June 13th 2009 – Half Dome Achieved at 11.15 this morning. An early call at 03.45 then a departure at 04.30 meant that we were able to set off for Half Dome at 05.15. We reached the top of Sub Dome at 10.04. We relaxed here until 10.27 and started up the cables. The cables were already very busy and it took us about 40 minutes to get up them. They are extremely strenuous and very dangerous. Friday June 12th. Looks like we are going tomorrow -m weather seems favourable. Not too hot. 04.00 get up and 05.00 start. What happened to sleep on this trip? Apologies for typos on last post. Photos to follow. Friday June 12th – Hallelujah we have finally arrived in Yosemite. After I sent the last message on Wednesday we have had lots of interesting things happen About 16.30 whilst we were waiting for our flight to Salt Lake City there was an almighty thunderstorm that eventually meant our 18.30 flight left at 23.15. we got to Salt Lake City at about 01.00 to be told we were going to the Radisson but we were now leaving at Wednesday June 10th - now sitting in Atlanta airport - big thunderstorm going on. Hope it doesn't delay our next flight. Good flight from UK. Going for a meal shortly. |
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In the early hours
of Easter Sunday Sarda Wales were called to search for a missing 20yr
old male who had
had too much to drink the night before, so had been put in his tent to
sleep it off. When the other lads went to bed they realised that he was
not there! He was located underneath a caravan fast asleep by Fly, and
had not been disturbed by the sea King that had been flying over for the
past two hours!
Well done Geraint & Fly. |
March Assessment 2009
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| On the last weekend
of March, Sarda Wales held their Assessment. Antony & Moss were graded
at Full Mountain Search Dog, Iain & Mij were graded at Full Trailing Dog
and Sally & Spin at Novice Search Dog. Jim from the Isle of Man was
graded as Full Search Dog.
Well done all of you! |
VAT and Mountain Rescue
This petition is aimed at ensuring the mountain rescue service is exempt from VAT on all of their equipment and spending as they provide a service that would otherwise be very costly to the Government. This service should mirror the Lifeboat service and other voluntary services.
Petition the Prime Minister to Give VAT exemptions to the Mountain Rescue Service on all of their spending. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/MRSERVICE/
Please sign it in support of Mountain Rescue and SARDA.
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Sarda Wales will be celebrating it's 40th Anniversary this year, the picture on the right was taken in 1968 and the one on the left in 2008,
both at RAF Valley.
The first ever Sarda Wales helicopter training session and the latest one.
If you have any old Sarda Wales photos please send them to me webmaster@sardawales.org.uk
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Richard & Celyn had the First Find of 2009 Saturday 10th Jan, they were deployed to search for a party of 5 men who had intended to go up Lliwedd over to Snowdon and then down via the PYG track. Unfortunately they lost the path between Lliwedd and Snowdon and decided to retrace their steps. They also lost this path and decided to camp for the night and wait for daylight. Celyn located them at around 8pm. She had a good strong strike of approx 250m as the wind was very strong. Celyn lead Richard and three members of Llanberis MRT to the disused mines below Lliwedd and above Cwm Merch on the Southern side. Not bad for an old girl! Once down the party of five booked into Bens Bunkhouse to dry off and get some sleep. And Also the Second! On Saturday 24th Jan, Richard and Celyn were deployed to search the PYG track as a party of two were lost and cragfast somewhere between the PYG & Miners Track. The weather was snow blizzards and strong winds. They were found by Celyn shortly after hearing their whistles. Both were cold but unhurt. The were lead off the hill by Llanberis MRT. |
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360 to Yosemite June 2009 will see 3 members of Mountain Rescue teams from North Wales travel on a round trip to Yosemite to raise funds for North East Wales Search & Rescue, SARDA Wales and the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. Harold Burrows, Roland Layland & Dave Fildes will be celebrating their 60 th Birthdays by raising money for the MR Teams mentioned above. If you would like to make a donation or find out more visit their web site
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On Saturday 6th December, Iain & Mij were called to look for a person who had been missing for about 25 hrs. Mij trailed him from the PLS ( point last seen) to the canal where his boat was moored, and indicated at the water near a pontoon. The under water search unit later discovered the missing person's body. |
Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team
have a new badge & website check it out for yourselves!
Meet Scout - Potential Search Dog
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Scout is the new addition to the Beech Patmore household. Richard will be training him to replace Celyn when she retires |
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Proposed changes by a Government agency could put people’s lives at risk, say mountain rescuers. Ofcom, the body which oversees radio communications, wants to tighten up the way the radio spectrum is used – a change that could cost rescuers dear. Teams fear any changes will have an effect on how they operate while out on rescue missions. The bodies which oversee mountain rescue in England, Scotland and Wales are asking their members and supporters to write to Ofcom to make sure the rescue community’s voice is heard. But there is an urgency to the problem – the Ofcom consultation ends on 30 October. The cause of the concern is Ofcom’s need to ensure the radio spectrum is used efficiently. Market forces have been applied to radio communication, with auctions set up to trade parts of the spectrum and official organisations expected to pay for the use they make of the limited frequencies available. Ofcom’s official jargon for this is Administered Incentive Pricing, and it is taking a fresh look at the whole scheme. It will come as a surprise to many to learn that when the volunteer mountain rescuers of Britain take to the hills to go to the aid of stricken walkers and climbers, they have radios which use bandwidths allocated to maritime and aircraft users. Normally, they would have to pay to use these parts of the radio spectrum but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the official Government body which looks after Britain’s coast and seas, picks up the tab. Mountain rescuers worry that if Ofcom puts the squeeze on the MCA by, for instance, increasing rates for other parts of the spectrum such as radar, the charities which run rescue teams will be forced to pay for their radio use. Even more worryingly, if frequencies are restricted, there could be more cross-channel interference from other users, endangering the lives of both rescuers and casualties. This would be a particular danger in large-scale emergencies. Now, the mountain rescue community, its members, families and supporters are being asked to write to Ofcom to support the MRTs’ case. Key concerns are the way radio communication helps teams preserve life, minimise pain and discomfort of their casualties, get injured walkers and mountaineers to hospital more quickly and ensure the safety and wellbeing of the rescuers themselves. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/MRT-RF-licences/
Radios also ensure search-and-rescue operations are run more efficiently and that lives could be put at risk if costs increase – MRTs have to fundraise to finance their current operations, and any extra costs necessary for radio frequencies may lead to sacrifices in other areas. Mountain Rescue England and Wales stresses that submissions to Ofcom should be ‘in your own words’. Cut-and-paste missives are likely to be ignored, but grough readers can add their views by sending an email or letter to Ofcom or by filling in an online form. Full details are on the Ofcom site. The online form has 14 questions, one of the key ones being: “Do you consider that we should discount fees for any particular user or type of user? Specifically, do you consider that there should be a discount for charities whose object is the safety of human life in an emergency?” Presumably, the mountain rescue community would like the discount to be 100 per cent. The sums involved are hefty: £126,000 per megahertz used. There is also a threat to start charging more for use of personal locator beacons, which some outdoor users would like to see available for general use. See grough’s feature: should we be able to use distress beacons in Britain’s hills? The case for exempting mountain rescue teams from the Ofcom squeeze is clear. A document prepared by a rescue insider says: “It is surely immoral to charge those persons who are fulfilling a humanitarian role and are already over-stretched because of increasing casualty rates, new legislation, etc.” Any changes to the system are due to take place next April. Organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution are also likely to be affected http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/MRT-RF-licences/
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Our trainee water search dog Cadi, her handler Sian, and Phil successfully completed the RYA Powerboat Level 2 course run by Conwy School of Yachting www.conwy-yachting.com in early September. Our team were sponsored by CSY who gave the course on a Buy One, Get One Free basis. They have also sold us a 2.7m inflatable boat at cost, for training and operational use, but we now need to get an engine, trailer, and other equipment to make the boat usable. We are currently looking for areas of water – small ponds and lakes, to use for training – any area of water which doesn’t supply domestic water will do. If you own or know someone who owns such a piece of water, please contact Sian on sian.sardawales@yahoo.co.uk We have successfully obtained permission from the Department of Rural Affairs (OCVO) to use our scent source in water in Wales, and have a stringent set of regulations to stick to, so we are well aware of health and safety issues, and of course, all our dogs are safe with stock – including ducks!
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 Cadi is coming along well with her training, and is currently in the process of setting up a DogBlog to keep people up to date with what she’s doing – watch this space! |
Another Trailing Dog Find!
| Hindley, Manchester, 67 year old Misper had been out 24 over hours and was diabetic and suffering from schizophrenia. Police had been searching the area since early morning Thursday with no results and called MR. No trail from house but at the road junction from her house with the A58 Mij was in the gardens of the flats but couldn’t locate anything (fine night and there must have been 20 residents out watching at the end of the road), and then moved across the road to the hedge where there was a gap. Nose went up, so I moved in 5 meters into the scrub to get away from the road edge and then Mij trailed to the misper for 20 meters (long one eh !) where she was in a patch of inaccessible brambles where Mij became stuck a couple of meters from her. My Navigator and a team member ploughed through and treated her. She was probably no more that 150m from home. |
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Kev & Roly have third find in a month
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On Saturday 6th
Sept, Sarda Wales were
called to search for a man who was missing in the Moss area of Wrexham,
since the 28th of August. There was very little information available
and it was decided that NEWSAR
would send a Search Manager to investigate and see if there was a need
for the dogs since the Police had no idea where to start looking.
NEWSAR and the police highlighted a small area of woodland close to the missing person's home, which they felt needed to be searched. Gaynor & Pero and Kev and Roly volunteered to search. Shortly after starting the search Roly indicated to Kev that he had found the missing person's body, in the wood. Well done Kev and Roly. |
Midge Hats for our 'Bodies'
 Anna, Sally & Spin, and Stuart |
Cotswold Rock Bottom, Betws y Coed
have sponsored SARDA Wales to the tune of 20 midge hats worth over £200,
to help protect their 'bodies' from those nasty midges. A large amount
of our training takes place in woods, forests and by rivers, that's also
where those nasty midges like to hang out. Thanks to Cotswold Rock
Bottom we will be ready for them now! Did you know that Cotswold Outdoor Shops are one of the retailers that support the Sarda Wales Web Shop? Click here to shop with them and we will receive a donation of 6% every time you buy
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Joint Effort earns Kev & Roly another find
| On Saturday 16th
Aug, Sarda Wales & Aberglaslyn MRT were called to search for a missing
motorcyclist who had not returned to his hotel in Beddgelert after a day
on the hill. He was last seen at 3.30pm on Thursday.
Gwen & Rolf trailed the missing person from the Hotel, and up to the Mountain wall on Moel Hebog. This trail was approx 44 hours old. They decided to stop there as there were three other dog teams deployed higher up the hill. Gaynor's dog Pero then had a long strike, from the ridge into the bowl, to a large boulder field. Unable to find the source they alerted Kevin who was working lower down. Kevin and Roly then located the missing person shortly afterwards, in the boulder field. |
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Trailing Dog finds
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37 year old female with mental health issues reported missing 14:30 Wed. Police and Social Worker were attending the home address to section her and she absconded. Police dog had been in the area and had worked a number of tracks in the wood leading to exit to road 250m south Mij deployed at 19:30. Mij knocked the trail from the front of the house, through some woodland and open fields with sheep and turning almost back on herself and trailed into to the misper who was standing in a stream covered by heavy tree foliage. Misper OK. We went to pub.
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Two Finds in Two Days
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Gaynor and Pero were tasked to do a hasty search of the PYG track during the early hours of Monday morning (4th), for an overdue Three Peaker. Pero soon located the missing person, who was a little cold, behind a rock just off the PYG track, about 700 meters above Pen y Pass Car Park. The gentleman was exhausted and had lost the path on his way down. Well done both of you. Kevin & Roly were tasked to search a wood for a despondent male Tuesday morning, and located the missing person's body. This is also Kev & Roly's first find. |
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SARDA WALES have started to train a 1 year old Springer Spaniel as a Drowned Victim Search Dog (DVSD). Cadi went to Northern Ireland recently with her owner, SARDA Trainee Sian Williams, Harold Burrows and Phil Benbow, to the first DVSD Training Course, run by Neil Powell and John Sjoberg. John, from Sweden, ex-Marine based Special Forces Officer is an acknowledged expert in drowned victim search dog work who has had numerous finds of drowned victims. Neil Powell, is a SARDA Ireland North handler who brought water search to the UK 20 years ago and has been regularly assessed by John. Neil has trained five drowned victim search dogs since the early 80s and has also had numerous finds of drowned victims. Sian said “Cadi has a strong play and hunt drive, and loves being around the water. She is enjoying the training, and seems to have a real aptitude for it.” We started by looking at the history and looking at how the dogs find the scent, the difficulties caused by the environment, and the pressures on the dog and handler. The next day we travelled to Lough Neagh, worked on teaching Cadi to bark, started working on “imprinting” the scent of decay, so that she recognises the smell that she’s looking for, and then we started on getting her to look for the scent source, in and out of the water, and buried in shallow graves. Neil demonstrated his dog Fern working on the Lough, and then the next day, we worked a search exercise, based on a recent incident that Neil and Fern were involved in.Conwy School of Yachting have offered to sponsor two people to do the RYA Powerboat Level 2 course, and have offered other sponsorship and support. Ruffwear have provided Cadi with a Life Preserver, and Surf-lines of Llanberis loaned an open canoe for Cadi to have her first outing on the water.
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Training is expected to take around 2 years, by which time Cadi and Sian will be qualified to search for drowned victims in areas of open water from the shore and from boats. Training for sea searches and fast flowing rivers takes longer. They will be an NSARDA resource, available for use UK wide.
If you wish to sponsor them, either with equipment, funding or other more practical support, please contact
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Antony & Moss' 1st "Find" Antony & Moss had their 1st "Find", less than a week after gaining their Full Search Dog status. On Thursday morning Sarda Wales were called to assist the Police to look for a despondent male who had been missing for four days. His vehicle had been located near Llanrwst. Antony was first on scene as he was working down the road. Moss located the missing person's body soon afterwards. Richard & Celyn narrowly missed finding another missing male on the same morning, at Cwm Bychan, Nantmor near Beddgelert. The two jobs ran at the same time. Richard was given a search area, 22 squad arrived and Richard was briefing them when a walker appeared out of Richard's search area having come across the missing person. Richard then went in the helicopter to assist leaving Celyn in the van. |
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Lowland Assessment |
Sarda Wales held a Lowland Assessment on the 12th & 13th of July, all four dog teams passed with flying colours.
Geraint Strello & Fly have another three year ticket having passed their re-grade.
While Rob Booth & Teal, Phil Benbow & Flash, and Antony Griffiths & Moss all passed earning them a Full Search Dog grade.
Sarda Wales would like to thank everybody for all the hard work they put in to make this Assessment the success that it was. Special thanks to the landowners, bodies and External Assessors, and of course Charlie.
From Left to Right
Rob & Teal, Antony & Moss,
Phil & Flash, Geraint & Fly
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Travelodge breakfast we set off for the mile walk into the town
centre (does that count?!) and had our photo taken by an obliging
local at the obelisk outside Baker‟s Oven, an auspicious start for
any long-distance trail….. " Want to read more on Caroline's West Highland Way walk .. .click the picture for the full story !
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Harold and Sam recently visited Ysgol Bryn Hedydd, Rhyl, to give a talk and demonstration to the pupils. Members of the school council interviewed Harold for the school Comic and are helping Sarda Wales by fundraising, i.e. wearing their PJ's to school, and collecting stamps. A cheque was presented to Harold & Sam for £236.35.
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SARDA Wales would like to thank the staff and pupils of
Fielding House at Prior Park College, Bath, and Alison Chapman for their
kind donation of over £2400 in memory of Clive Chapman who died of
altitude sickness whilst on his way Everest Base Camp, in Feb 2006.
Chairman Kevin Taylor was invited to give a talk and display to the pupils to show them what SARDA Wales is all about . the students decided they would like the money raised to go to a Charity that has something to do with mountains as Clive was a mountaineer.
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Phil and Flash have a find (29th April)
Phil and Flash were called to search for a missing elderly man in the Wrexham area, finding him at 06:00 in the morning safe and well. More details to follow ! |
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Jim runs the London Marathon in 4hrs, 49mins and 24 seconds! Jim McGregor, SARDA Isle of Man, undertook to raise funds for SARDA Wales and SARDA IoM at the London Marathon - in a dog consume !! Jim completed the course and managed to jog the whole way round without stopping and had fantastic support on the course with " who let the dogs out" sung to all round the east end. Jim Raised £250 for Sarda Wales - thanks Jim! |
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| Cadi's first boat trip ! As a trainee water search dog, it's important to be used to boats and so Sian and Cadi made their first boat trip ! Cadi's owner, Sian said "She was great - loved it, very confident, jumped out and came back in with no problems. She also wore a dog lifejacket for the first time, and was quite comfy in that. The water was very cold, so we didn't stay out long, but she wasn't seasick, and really seemed to be enjoying the experience! More interestingly, she was certainly interested in smells on the water, and was moving confidently around the boat, apparently following the smells - all good stuff!" Thanks to Surf-Lines, Llanberis for the loan of the canoe and safety equipment. |
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Double Dog Find on one day.. Friday the 11th brought the news that two of SARDA Wales dogs had made a "find" whilst on searches in England and Wales Richard and Celyn were called to search for a missing person who had become separated from their walking party on Y-Garn in Snowdonia. Shortly after being deployed by helicopter, Celyn indicated to Richard and located the person who was suffering from mild hypothermia. The casualty was air lifted to hospital by RAF helicopter. Click HERE to see the BBC news article Iain and Mij were called to search for a missing 66 year old in Garstang, Lancashire. Mij located the persons trail near to their house where they had been seen last, and followed it to the edge of a nearby canal where Mij showed more interest in the water. Iain and Mij then checked for any other trails leading away from the house and nothing was found, so the search was centred on the nearby area and canal. Andy Colau and Taz (SARDA England) had an indication further down stream in the canal later that morning. The missing person was found in the canal the next day by police underwater search unit. |
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| Fly goes on holiday ! So what does your dog think when you're off on holiday ? Going back ages now I had heard rumblings from Geraint, mumbling to himself something about ‘I don’t want to go to America blah, blah, blah’. At that time I didn’t understand why he was going on so much, but suddenly there was hustle and bustle, Olwen was ironing, suitcases were out, the boys were getting excited, Geraint was off for lots of walks with me then one day I heard Geraint say ‘what shall we do with Fly?’ read Fly's full story by clicking on her picture >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> |
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Dinners for SARDA Wales dogs... November has brought an early Christmas present for SARDA Wales with Oscar Pet Foods sponsoring SARDA Wales Search Dogs. After discussions with Richard Dancy, Sales Director and Alan Rees, North Wales Franchisee, SARDA Wales' graded dogs will benefit from being fed with Oscars dog food, and also access to the specialist nutrition, behaviour and other advisors at Oscars. (Click on the logo opposite to go to Oscars web site) |
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Congratulations to Jim MacGregor, SARDA Isle of Man, who is a regular visitor to SARDA Wales training weekends. After much hard work ( and quite a few ferry crossings !) Jim and Star achieved Novice Lowland Search Dog Grade at the assessment in November. Pictured L-R : Richard Beech (SARDA Wales Training Officer), Jim, Kev Taylor (SARDA Wales Chairman) |
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Successes were also made by Roly and Nellie (left), along with Mick and Corie (far left) who passed their obedience and stock tests as part of the registration, the first step to training a search dog. SARDA Wales dogs work amongst sheep whilst operational and during training, and all are tested to ensure that they do not chase sheep before commencing formal training |
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Once again, a big thank you goes to Charlie (pictured left) for
organising the accommodation and food over the three days of the course,
and also managing to fit in some bodying is his spare time ! Also, a group of people deserve a mention - the bodies ! These are the people who hide on the hills in all sorts of weather and allow the search dogs to train. Without them, there would be no one to find in training
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| Some of the bodies make an art from hiding in the surrounding
terrain making a challenge for dogs and handlers to find them - most
notable Mike Randall in SARDA Wales. Mike's actually the left hand rock in
the picture below, taken on the November assessment
weekend. From Mike's e-mail containing the photo...... "Attached photo of my "Body Position" - Fri 9th Nov, Nant Ffrancon - Opposite Life Foundation / Motel / Snowdon Lodge. While "bodying" on SARDA Wales Assessment's, testing both Dog and Handler, it is necessary to conceal your position, here, I'm disguised as a "Rock" amongst the bracken! MikeR (Dogsbody)"
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Phil and Flash have their first find !
| Phil and Flash had their first find today (October 25th) on a search
for a missing vulnerable male in the Ysbyty Gwynedd area. Flash
located the missing 86 year old in a hedge, suffering from being in the
cold for a while. Click here to visit Flash's "dogblog" to see his account of the search ! |
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Success at the SARDA Wales March Assessment !
| The 23rd to 25th March was the weekend for the Spring Assessment in
SARDA Wales, and was another great success with new dogs on the callout
list and one dog moving to Novice Mountain. The weather was
excellent for the weekend, and the hard work that the handlers have put
in over their training paid dividends ! Left to Right - Rob Booth and Teal graded to Novice Lowland Search Dog Antony Griffiths and Moss upgraded to Novice Mountain Search Dog Phil Benbow and Flash graded to Novice Lowland Search Dog Congratulations must also go to Matt Creer from SARDA IOM who upgraded to Full Lowland Search dog during the assessment weekend, and to Simon Worth, who passed his stock test.
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Winter Training Week in the Cairgorms
| The end of February was the week where SARDA Wales "moved north" and
spent another enjoyable week in the Caringorms . The annual Winter
Training week at Loch
Insh was a great success, with all of the dogs involved having a
good weeks training in the snow (when it was there !). A great deal of fun was had by all involved in the week, with the dogs and handlers working across the various land available from the forest areas to high mountain areas. Many thanks must go to all who helped organise the event this year |
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Success at the SARDA Wales December Assessment !
Decembers' training course is dedicated to the assessment of Search Dogs to assess their performance against the standard to be on the callout list as operational search dogs. Despite mixed weather, the assessment was a great success with the successful dog teams as below:
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| Anthony Griffiths and Moss Novice Lowland Search Dog |
Gaynor Lewis and Pero Full Mountain Search Dog |
Gwen Patmore and Rolf Advanced Trailing Dog |
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Awaiting Picture |
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| Kev Taylor and Roly Full Mountain Search Dog |
Iain Nicholson and Mij |
Roland Layland and Willow Full Search Dog |
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Congratulations also to Sally Armond and Spin, who successfully passed their stock test and obedience test, both a pre requisite prior to starting to train as a search dog. Both tests are important as it's essential to have control of a working search dog, and also know that the dog can work safely in the presence of sheep and other farm stock.
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Ceri's Sponsored Wheelchair Trip
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Ceri Elizabeth Jones is a 13 year old young lady who is wheelchair bound. She is a great supporter of SARDA Wales, and helped out at the Snowdon collection this year. On Saturday 14 October 2006 she undertook a sponsored wheelchair trip around Llyn Brenig, which is 10 miles, and raised a total of £340 for SARDA Wales. Those who walked were Judy Stapleton, who's Ceri's carer, Bob, Maria who’s a Sarda body and Sian our Secretary. They were supported by Ceri's mum, Ceri's auntie and her two cousins. They met them half way with cups of tea! Dogs on the walk were Flash (trainee & blogger); Ellie (Sian’s spaniel) Judy's dogs Beth, Pero and Tod. They had a fantastic sunny day for the whole thing, and certainly knew they’d done a walk! |
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Visit Flash's "Dog Blog"
| Flash, being an internet aware dog, now has his own "dog blogg" with owner Phil. Click Flash's picture to visit his "dog blogg" web page |
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December 31st 2004 SARDA Wales were Called Out to Killarney, Co Kerry, Southern Ireland.
Six SARDA Wales dogs and their Handlers travelled to Southern Ireland on New Year's Eve, to help out the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team search for a young man who had not returned from a two day walk and overnight camp, (there is currently a shortage of Search Dogs in Ireland).
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handlers were kindly flown by 22 squadron at RAF Valley to Dublin where
they were then flown by aircraft to Cork, got a few hours sleep and
started searching at 8am. The other two dogs and handlers caught the
Ferry from Holyhead and drove to Killarney starting their searches early
afternoon. The dogs all searched the following day too, but had to leave mid afternoon in order to catch the ferry back home. Sadly the missing man has still not been found despite over 200 searchers being out looking on any one day. All of the Irish Teams were represented, and worked very well together. The search lasted for four days and will continue on training days and some weekends until new information comes to light. Richard Beech & Celyn, Gaynor Lewis & Pero (on their 1st Call Out), and Gwen Patmore & Rolf (on their 2nd Call Out), Steve Howe & Tilly, Roland Layland & Willow, Geraint Strello & Fly, Roly's wife Sue also came along to look after us all, and a fine job she did too, even though she didn't get any Euros.
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This site and all images © SARDA Wales 2006 Registered Charity Number 506056
Cymdeithas Cwˆn Chwilio Ac Achub Mynydd (Cymru) Elusen Cofrestredig Rhif 506056
e-mail webmaster@sardawales.org.uk