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Search and Rescue Dog Association (Wales) |
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Teal has her first litter
|
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. |
 |
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!
 |
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! |
|
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
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.
|
Get your new Sarda
Wales car sticker NOW!
Just click the link to
our Ebay Shop
a bargain at £1.50, and
no postage |
 |
 |
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'
| In the very early
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
|
At the end of the trail!

Dave's Facebook
www.360toyosemite.org.uk |
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
| 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.
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
 |
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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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
 |
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/
|
|
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!
|

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
 |
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

www.cotswoldoutdoor.com
|
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.
BBC Wales News |
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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.
|
Two Finds in Two Days
 |
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.
|

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
sian.sardawales@yahoo.co.uk
|
|
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. |
 |
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
| "Full of optimism and
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.
|
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.
|
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. |
 |
|

Richard and Celyn |
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. |

Iain and Mij |
| 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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.jpg) |
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) |
|
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 |
 |
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)"
 |
Phil and Flash have their
first find !
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.
| As ever, many thanks to all who helped with the assessment
and made the weekend pass smoothly. A big thank you goes
to the dogsbodies who "hide" in the assessment areas for the
dogs to find, as without this group of people the training and
assessment would not be possible.
Charlie and Sian for the catering, and our external assessors
Dave Lancey from SARDA South Wales , John Coombs from SARDA
England and James Coles from SARDA Southern Scotland |

James and Dave, external assessors |
|
|
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 |

Richard Beech and Celyn in the Cairngorms |
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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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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