Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England is a charity that’s been conserving lives for 50 years – however it couldn’t perform its valuable work without a devoted breed of unrecognized heroes. PETER BARRON joins them for a night of training…
WHY in the world am I resting on open moorland, searching for at the stars on a strangely dark winter season’s night, when I could be at home in the warm, enjoying telly?
It’s a great concern, and the response is that I’m learning what it’s like to be a ‘dogsbody’.
Beside me in the undergrowth, on the edge of Swaledale, is seasoned mountaineer, Alan Hinkes, client of Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England, and we’re waiting to be rescued by a working sheep dog, called Cassie.
Dogsbodies are generous volunteers who quit their time, in all weather conditions, to help train the dogs that are an essential part of mountain rescue services throughout the nation.
Alan, the very first Briton to climb up the world’s 14 greatest mountains, has actually been an ambassador for the charity for 10 years, and client for 3. On average, he volunteers as a dogsbody as soon as a month.
“I just love getting out into the countryside, looking up at the Milky Way, and enjoying the craic” he describes. “It can be lashing down, blowing a gale, or they might be in a blizzard, but these guys still give up their time.”
There are 5 other volunteer dogsbodies concealed someplace out on the moor tonight, and they’re being located by 2 handlers from military backgrounds – Cassie’s owner, Tim Cain, and Mike Needham, who’s with his border collie, Tarn.
“I can’t believe what a balmy night it is for February,” whispers Alan, as we hunch down versus a drystone wall that’s seen much better days. “We’ve got it easy-peasy. Not a breath of wind – I don’t even need my gloves.”
Balmy? It’s all extremely well for him to call it ‘balmy’ however this is a fella who’s made it through temperature levels of minus 40 at the top of Everest. Granted, we’re lucky the weather condition’s not a lot even worse, however it’s 8.25pm, we’ve been “missing” for almost an hour, and I’m beginning to want the rescuers would rush so we can get to the pub.
“We must be barking mad,” I recommend to my fellow dogsbody.
“Shhh – I think they’re coming,” responds Alan, like an ecstatic youth friend in the middle of a video game of conceal and look for.
Just then, the silence is broken by the remote tinkling of a bell, and a red dot – like an upset firefly in the blackness – can be seen zig-zagging towards us. It’s the light on the coats that mountain search and rescue dogs wear while on responsibility.
“Away, discover” shouts Cassie’s handler, Tim Cain, and the traffic signal dances better.
“Warmer, you’re getting warmer,” I state in my head, however then the firefly all of a sudden moves off in another instructions as Tim blurts more weeps of “Away, find” and “Show me.”
A cheer increases, followed by “Good girl, Cassie!”. She’s discovered another dogsbody in the darkness a couple of hundred lawns away, and her benefit is having actually a ball tossed for her to go after, prior to Tim gets her back to work.
The firefly hovers ever better, then circles us, prior to Cassie bursts through the yard and barks, triumphantly, at her 2nd discovery of the night. More cheers, more passionate appreciation, and Cassie gets to chase her ball once again.
Having been found, Tim asks if I desire a go at being a handler. My task is to deal with Cassie to discover Ron Allan, a city government officer, from Thornton-le-Beans. Perhaps it’s down to my professional handling, or most likely Cassie’s experience, however we discover Ron fairly rapidly, over by what Alan informs me is understood by the volunteers as ‘Scary Wood’.
“Why’s it called Scary Wood?” I ask.
“Strange happenings,” he responds. I choose not to request for information.
Despite her interest for the task, Cassie has arthritis, and, at eight-and-a-half, she reasonably just has a number of years left as a search and rescue dog. Therefore, Tim is training up another sheepdog, one-year-old Gem, to enter the breach.
It’s Gem’s rely on continue her training, so Tim go back to the parking area to offer Cassie a rest and to gather her protégé, so she can come and discover us. It’s a huge test for Gem because, 4 months into her training, this is her very first night-time search.
While we wait, I ask Ron what makes him volunteer to be a dogsbody. “I’ve seen what these dogs can do – they save lives,” he describes. “On top of that, I get to see bits of the countryside I’d never see otherwise. It gets me out of the house and it’s good for my mental health.”
Another bell tinkles, a traffic signal appears, and shouts of “Show me” are heard. Gem’s passed her test and she’s extremely happy with herself, barking anxiously and requiring that Ron tosses her ball.
Training’s over for another night, so it’s time to heat up back at the George and Dragon, in Hudswell, where the dogs take pleasure in well-earned pork scratching deals with, and I get to talk to the devoted group over a beer.
Tim, an infantry officer with the King’s Regiment for thirty years, was granted the MBE in 2004. Both he and his better half, Helen, are members of the Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team. Mike, ex RAF, is from the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Rescue Team.
The dogsbodies are presented one by one: along with Ron Allan, there’s Ian Wharton, Deb Southwell, Austen Floyd, and Sam De Belle, who’s taken a trip outermost due to the fact that she’s a zookeeper at Flamingo Land, an hour-and-a-half away at Kirby Misperton.
“The value of dogsbodies can’t be underestimated,” states Tim. “They’re every bit as important as the handlers and the dogs. Without them, we can’t operate.”
To be a dog handler, you need to have actually been a dogsbody, and Tim and Mike have both served their time concealed in the undergrowth.
“It’s a huge commitment from everyone and the volunteers put their hearts and souls into it – often missing family occasions and holidays,” includes Mike.
It can take in between 2 and 3 years to train a dog, establishing its capability to discover an individual over gradually harder pieces of ground, culminating in a tough, three-day mountainous evaluation in the Lake District or South Wales prior to they are “graded”.
“I cried when Tarn was graded,” confesses Mike. “Your emotions run wild because so much has gone into it.”
But the dedication deserves it. The charity had more than 150 call-outs to reports of missing out on susceptible or hurt individuals throughout the North-East in 2015, with dogs released in around a 3rd of the cases.
“We can’t thank the dogsbodies enough for the priceless part they play – and we’re always on the lookout for more volunteers,” includes Mike.
It’s home time, however they’ll be back for more next week – whatever the weather condition.
Dogsbody – Oxford English Dictionary: an individual who does all the uninteresting tasks that no one else wishes to do, and who is dealt with as being lesser than other individuals.
Dogsbody – Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England: an individual who does an essential task and whose generous contribution to conserving lives is profoundly valued.
