A handler has paid tribute to her search dog, who gave eight years of dedicated service to Keswick mountain rescue team before dying recently at the age of 13.
Ellie Whiteford said Meg had attended 84 call-outs with her, sometimes working as a team with her search dog partner Bracken.
“Many of the call-outs I remember were in the dark, wet, raining, windy, poor visibility searching for lost walkers, runners or despondent and vulnerable people,” said Ellie, who described Meg as being a “beautiful” dog.
“Training and working a dog in conditions like these build a bond and understanding that cannot be explained.”
Ellie said Meg was a real character and recalled that in late 2015 she was tasked, along with search dog Ginny, to find Pudsey Bear who had got lost on Catbells for a short film for Children in Need.
“She was quite taken with Pudsey’s feet, which resembled very large fluffy toys in her eyes, and tried several times to get hold and run off with them,” said Ellie.
“She was such a character. She was loving, fun, playful and cheeky and also stubborn, awkward and analysing — a real thinker who pushed my patience to its limit at times, but she made me laugh and I adored her.”
Meg graded in April, 2011, in the Howgills, near Sedbergh, and went on to work as a search dog and member of the Keswick team for eight years before developing arthritis and retiring in March, 2019.
A great lover of water, Meg would be down at the edge of any lake or river waiting for a toy to be thrown in and would often swim alongside Ellie.
“She taught me so much as a search team partner and as a friend and companion and life is so much emptier without her,” said Ellie. “I am heartbroken to lose her and miss her enormously. She was always there, and life is very quiet.
“Time will heal and I have many good memories of all the good places we went and the things we did together, and she will always be with me.”
