Welcome to dog school
THREE WAYS YOU CAN HELP
1 BECOME A DOGSBODY ANYONE FIT ENOUGH CAN BECOME A DOGSBODY (DOG OWNER OR NOT). YOU WILL ATTEND THE SAME MONTHLY TRAINING AS THE DOGS AND THEIR HANDLERS SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE SEARCH AND RESCUE PROCESS.
2 VOLUNTEER AS A HANDLER PROSPECTIVE SEARCH DOG HANDLERS MUST BE SKILLED MOUNTAINEERS AND BE A CURRENT FULL MEMBER OF ONE OF THE TEN MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS IN THE LAKE DISTRICT. EACH MONTH, YOU AND YOUR DOG WILL ATTEND TRAINING SESSIONS IN SEARCH AND RESCUE TECHNIQUES RUN BY THE LAKE DISTRICT MOUNTAIN RESCUE SEARCH DOGS ASSOCIATION (LDMRSDA). TRAINING CAN TAKE UP TO THREE YEARS, WITH CANINE RECRUITS ALSO LEARNING HOW TO WORK SAFELY AROUND LIVESTOCK AND BE COMFORTABLE FLYING IN A HELICOPTER. THE SESSIONS TAKE PLACE ACROSS THE LAKE DISTRICT, ALLOWING YOU BOTH TO EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT TERRAINS. BECOMING A HANDLER AND A SEARCH DOG ARE VOLUNTARY BUT HIGHLY VALUED ROLES.
3 MAKE A DONATION IT COSTS THE LDMRSDA £35,000 A YEAR TO TRAIN THE DOGS AND KEEP AFLOAT. WANT TO HELP BUT CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE HILLS? DONATE AT LAKES-SEARCHDOGS.ORG.