Mist

Still in the UK…4

According to original plans, we should by now all be in the Czech Republic supporting Jon at the World Orienteering Championships. Thomas, Mist and I are, however, still in the UK after we decided that 5days’ travel through Europe, and a week on my own with the 2- and 4-legged dependents on a Czech campsite, might be less fun than staying longer in Keswick and having another week with my parents in Wensleydale. Jon flew to Czech and will fly back here before we set off back to Norway, and the long drive north to Tromsø.

We had 12 days in the Lake District, staying at Jon’s dad’s house and enjoying all that Keswick has to offer. It was really great to be able to do so much without using the car….. running, dog-walking, Thomas-walking/pushing, shopping, family-visiting…. all from the door. It’s certainly a fantastic place to live, and it was the first time really since we went to Norway, that I really noticed things I miss about Britain. Probably most noticeable was how so many people are willing to make conversation, or at least say hello - total strangers you pass on the way into town make eye contact, smile and say hello or thank you for stepping aside on the narrow footpath to let them pass, an old lady calling out from her garden asking whether we thought it would rain or whether she should go and visit a friend in town, people who saw Mist and wondered where she was from (given her strange colouring), and all the people Thomas beamed at, who then stopped and chatted for a while .
We spent lots of time with Jon’s sister and family - at home, at the park, days out….

On the Lal Rattie steam train
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Walking by Derwentwater (from the house )
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New friend, Flo
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I tried to fit in some training - a bit of tracking and search squares in Castle Head (the woods just over the road from Jon’s dad’s house), but most exciting of course was joining the SARDA crew for Tuesday evening training, twice. Both times was at Winlatter, on open fell behind the forest. There were sheep, but they moved out of the area once they heard all the dogs barking . I wasn’t sure how Mist would behave if sheep ran away as she searched, so was quite relieved that they left before we got out there! I’ve tried to do as much training as possible with sheep in relatively controlled situations (more about that later ), but didn’t want to risk it in such a large open area, and especially in front of the SARDA guys of course .

There were about 6-8 dog handlers (?), plus 5or6 ‘bodies’, and one person (Mike) running the session. Les, Benny and Kaz, who came to Norway to run a course for us (NRH) in May were all there the first week, and it was really nice to see them all again, meet their dogs (especially Benny’s lurcher ) and see them ‘at work’.

The format was a ‘circuit’ of the area, with 5 or 6 bodies located in various places, and dog/handlers setting off at intervals. The bodies were sent out first and it was noticeable how unconcerned the dogs were - they’re used to seeing the bodies set off, whereas Mist set off in an attempt to ‘find’ them almost immediately . Thankfully she did come back after a bit of whistling. The following week, I kept her in the van while the bodies walked out to their positions.

The first Tuesday we searched for/found 4 bodies, and I should have stopped after #3 as I saw Mist’s concentration was dwindling (ah, the joy of hindsight ). I’d asked the bodies to induce barking if necessary, and I think all did need to ‘help’ her to get started, although they did say she wasn’t difficult to get barking, despite having to remember a silly command (Hats! - thought it was easier to remember than the Norwegian command I use… Hals!). It was no problem to get Mist to return to me and bark at me, but she still didn’t bark spontaneously back at the body. However, given that we’ve been moving from place to place, the location, other dogs/handlers, bodies etc were all new… I think she did ok .

The second Tuesday we searched for/found 3 bodies, and had a second circuit finding the first 2 again. It was fun working at the same time as other dog/handler teams - we don’t often train ‘back home’ with other dogs out at the same time, and Mist was quite obviously affected by it, especially the second Tuesday when there were up to 3 dog/handler teams visible at once. Mist seemed quite concerned by all the barking going on (not really any surprise, bearing in mind there are very few other dogs in our NRH district that use bark indication), and seemed unsure whether Mick G was a ‘body’ or not…. and tore off after his dogs anyway :roll:. As a result, Mist didn’t indicate for body #3 (Geoff) at all, and I ended up ‘finding’ him myself!

Thanks to all the SARDA Lakes folk for letting us join in, and for sharing fundraising ideas which I will take back to Norway with me (and no doubt pick brains further in future). Hope to be back again sometime (maybe with a qualified search dog) .

Here’s a pic of the area we were searching in - the first week, by the time I remembered I wanted to take some pics, the weather was pretty awful and it was getting a bit dark, and the second time Mist and I were out almost all the time available. Anyway, there wouldn’t be much to see…. a pinprick figure of a handler, and possibly a dot of fluorescent yellow for the dog….

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I also spent some time continuing my ’sheep-proofing’ training. All was going well until we went for a walk with a friend and her BC and passed through a field of sheep. Mist was about 20m in front of me when a lone scraggy-looking sheep suddenly appeared from a hedgerow and ran off. Mist first stood still, woofing uncertainly, when the sheep began to run away and, to my horror, Mist followed. Aaaargh I’d taken note of the sheep up the field from us, and another group downhill (both groups more than 50m away), and decided Mist was unlikely to be bothered by them, since they were far enough away to stay put. But I missed the single sheep ahead of us. Oops. I don’t know exactly what happened, because Mist ignored my whistles, and disappeared down the hill into a dip, out of sight. I saw the lower group of sheep take flight and my heart sank, expecting to see my dog in hot pursuit. But, no…. she re-appeared up the hill and came back to me .

I was pretty gutted that this had happened, after all the hours gradually building up Mist’s exposure to sheep in relatively controlled situations. But, it seems that it hasn’t had such a big impact after all…. Back in Wensleydale, we have continued to walk in fields of sheep and Mist doesn’t seem any more interested than previously. Individual sheep have run away in front of us, and Mist hasn’t reacted. When out running (on-lead) on Tuesday, we followed a loose lamb up a lane and when it finally darted off into a field to the side, Mist just continued along the lane without even much of a glance. I’ve had her off-lead in fields with sheep and, keeping her close, have walked towards the sheep to get them to move, and she hasn’t bothered about them and just waited for her tennis ball to be thrown. So, fingers crossed it was just an unfortunate blip in her ’sheep training’ and I will still reach the goal of her being indifferent to them.

Back at Redmire…. good old English country lanes
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Swimming at Redmire falls
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Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, Airscenting / Overvær