Role: Secretary, Dog Handler

Ross has been a member of SARDA for 10 years, for the first 3 years as a dogs body before deciding to train Evie as a search dog. Ross is a member of Ochils Mountain Rescue team and is also the SARDA Southern Scotland Secretary and one of our callout coordinators.

Role: Treasurer, Dog Handler

Hello, my name is Joanna, I have been a member of SARDA Southern Scotland since the late 1990’s.

Initially, I started out as a cook for the association when they needed a hand on one of their assessment weekends to provide catering – this quickly escalated to me becoming a ‘body’ on the hill for the trainee and trained dogs to come and find me.

As a lover of the outdoors and dogs this has provided me with great enjoyment and satisfaction in seeing the dogs progress to their advanced level and call out status. Additionally, I have met a great group of people from all walks of life and seen some magnificent scenery in Scotland.

In 2016, I became the treasurer for the association which is still ongoing now and in addition to this I decided to train my own search dog Tam in 2017 as a water search dog looking for people that have drowned and have been submerged in water.

Role: Call-out Coordinator, Dog Handler

Coming soon.

Role: Training Coordinator, Aspiring Dog Handler

Coming soon.

Role: Equipment Officer, Body

John is a SARDA Southern Scotland Dogs Body. A Self-employed Health and Safety Consultant, with 23 years military service as an electrical engineer in the RAF.

Followed by 26 years in Scottish Mountain Rescue, 15 years with Killin MRT and 11 years “Bodying” with SARDA. A self-confessed “Cat Person”, he loves hiding from the Dog Handlers.

Role: Training Advisor

As a call-out member of Mountain Rescue since 2000, I have always been in awe of the capacity of search dog teams in clearing massive amounts of ground in a fraction of the time it would have taken human team members. So, after acting as a Casualty for dogs in training with SARDA Southern Scotland, I went on to train Search dog Troy and worked with him for several years. We lost him too soon to cancer. Training a second dog was more of a challenge with COVID and lockdowns making it difficult to work with real live people as casualties at a critical time in her development. Deer were much more exciting and animated than training articles and I lost confidence in the focus of my dog. However, she is lovely and now a total pet.

I have always enjoyed watching all the dogs work and learn, which made it very easy to say ‘yes’ when I was asked to continue my involvement by observing and supporting developing dog teams of handler and hound. Post COVID we look forward to bringing new teams onto the call-out list. It also shows how incredibly important our interactive volunteer casualties are in creating the drive and focus that we need in search dogs. Thank you to our wonderful ‘bodies’.

Role: Training Advisor, Assessor

My association with SARDA Southern Scotland goes back almost 30 years, when I started training my black Labrador Sam. Under the guidance of the then Training Officer, Tom Middlemas, we achieved call-out status in October 1996, when Sam was 18 months old. After ten years of service and over 100 call-outs, we retired in October 2006. I was the second Chair of the fledgling National SARDA from 2000 to 2004, and as a long-standing ‘External Assessor’ I’ve assessed many dogs all over the UK, Ireland, Finland and Iceland. My time in Mountain Rescue started with the Moffat team, then a change of job saw me transfer to the Border team for the next 22 years. As the current Training Officer of the Association, my goal is to maintain our good standards and prepare new handlers to be an effective and reliable search resource for those in need.

In my day job I manage a charity working with young people in Berwick upon Tweed, and lead youth expeditions to exotic parts of the world most summers. I’m also a keen motorcyclist.

Role: Training Advisor

Coming soon.

Role: Dog Handler, Training Advisor

Coming soon.

Role: Dog Handler, Assessor

I have been a member of Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team for almost 15 years, I joined to put something back into the hills as I have had so much pleasure from our local hill ranges and the Highlands.

When I retired I decided to train a search dog so I Joined SARDA Southern Scotland and have had a great experience working as a dog team within Mountain Rescue.

Being part of an MR team is a great experience of being with like minded people, who put there all into whatever the particular incident that we are called to is.

Role: Dog Handler

I joined my local MRT, Killin Mountain Rescue, in 2012. I'm currently a Deputy Team Leader and have attended over 250 incidents.

I joined after toying with the idea for many years, I finally applied with encouragement from team members at the time. I've worked in the hills and outdoors since I left school, so it was probably inevitable that I would join eventually.

Another large sector of my life was sheep farming, part of this involved training sheep dogs. So having worked in the hills with dogs on a daily basis it meant l was quite at home searching in some of Scotlands toughest hills.

Role: Dog Handler

I first got involved with Mountain Rescue in 2000 when I joined Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team. This is when I came into contact with Rupert Bonham, who was a trainee handler with Search Dog Ben . As soon us I saw Ben working I wanted to get involved with search dogs. Rupert invited me to SARDA southerns training weekends where I bodied for a while, I finally took the plunge into becoming a handler when I accepted a great dog named Kyle, he was a black and white Springer, my wife Caroline bought me him for a Christmas present in 2002. He was bred by the Training Officer back then who was Tom Middlemass, he also spent a great deal of time training me and Kyle. We qualified in Oct 2004. We went onto have 3 finds. Kyle had problems with his cruciate ligaments . He had operations to sort his rear legs and carried on working. I later took on a re-homed dog called Coco he was a 1 year old chocolate Cocker, sadly Coco was too preoccupied with wildlife. I did get him ready for an assessment, in the first area he fell of a crag and took a 30 meter fall, thankfully he was only grazed and a little stiff. After this I lost all faith in coco and gave up his search dog training. When Kyle retired 2012 , I retired from SARDA and Tweed Valley. Move onto 2021. I was accepted into the Border Search and Rescue Unit, I bought another Springer and was accepted back into SARDA Southern Scotland.

Role: Aspiring Dog Handler

I have been a member of SARDA SS since 2018, I originally started as one of the bodies that the dogs train. It was such a rewarding experience to see the progress of each dog and how much fun they have while searching.

I loved learning how the handler and dogs worked together to find missing people and decided I wanted to be more involved so began the journey of training my border collie Caoimhe. This has been a huge learning experience but I have loved every moment. The bond that it creates between handler and dog is a pleasure to be part of. Where ever I go Caoimhe follows often lying on my feet to keep me company at home. The experience on the team has greatly shaped our progress and developed our searching ability.

I have been involved in Search and Rescue since 2017, originally volunteering as a member of the Coastguard when living in Fort William and the Isle of Arran. I am now a trainee with the Ochil Mountain Rescue due to qualify in June 2024.

I work for the Scottish Ambulance Service and spend my free time training dogs, running, walking up the hills and generally having fun outdoors.

Role: Aspiring Dog Handler

Coming soon.

Role: Aspiring Dog Handler

I’ve been a member of the Borders Search and Rescue unit based in Kelso, Scottish Borders for around 5 years, joining to give something back to the outdoor community I’ve been part of for a long time.

Im one of the Remote rescue medical technicians in the team

I generally enjoy the off-road outdoor pursuits like trail running, mountain biking and hiking, usually with Cairn.

Role: Aspiring Dog Handler

Coming soon.

Role: Aspiring Dog Handler

I began bodying for SARDA in 2020, when my Dad began training his dog Alfie. I had always loved watching Alfie work and hoped that once I was old enough that I could become a dogs body for SARDA. I've grown up with dogs all of my life and I enjoy working with them.

As soon as lockdown was over, I was able to attend a few trainings where I learnt from qualified handlers as well as learning alongside trainee's. I have even been lucky enough in training scenarios to search with other handlers dogs which has really kick started my desire to become a handler. Being part of SARDA has been like a family, I have met so many people that have inspired, encouraged and welcomed me.

I particularly enjoy working with the younger dogs and have recently been promoted to 'Head of Puppy School'. It is very interesting watching the different journeys the dogs take in their progression. At one point, I had a pet sheep called Michael who was used as part of SARDA's stock tests, he was incredibly sassy and was renowned for headbutting dogs!

On my 16th birthday, I filled out an application for Killin Mountain Rescue and I was successful in achieving a place as a trainee. It is in my aspirations to become the youngest qualified dog handler in Scotland!

Role: Body

I joined SARDA Southern Scotland as a body after leaving South Wales and my old mountain rescue team Longtown for a new life in Scotland.
While in South Wales I was also a member of SARDA SW initially training a Springer named Ellie ( who found rabbits more entertaining than people!) and latterly my Collie, Flynn, but the move north brought all this to an end.

”Bodying” for SARDA allows me to carry on helping to train these amazing animals. Search dogs only work because it’s fun, regardless of the weather, terrain, wet or cold day or night, they are “up for it”.
They can find people in circumstances where other SAR resources may not be suitable or may just take too long, as often time can make the difference to a happy ending.
So to have another opportunity to be a part of achieving something as great as that is rather special.

PS The people in SARDA Southern Scotland are also pretty nice to know as well!

Role: Body

Coming soon.

Role: Body

I am Gary, I am now retired, although I do have a number of little jobs. I completed over 30 years service in the Police and during my service I was fortunate to be a dog handler for a while.

I enjoy the mountains, I have walked most of the Munro’s and wanted to give time to help mountain rescue, sadly, due to injuries, it was never realistic for me to become a member of a Mountain Rescue Team. I saw that SARDA needed “Dogs Bodies” and I volunteered. I have now been a member of SARDA Southern Scotland, since 2018 as a body.

If you’re thinking of becoming involved, please do, it’s a great opportunity to witness what the dogs teams can do and help with their development. You will always remember the first time you hear the jingle of the wee bell which is on the dogs jackets and you then hear “show me then” you know, you have been found…Not all hero’s wear a cape…some come with wet noses, wagging tails and demand to play…oh and a chauffeur.

Role: Body

I joined SARDA in 2017, having no idea what I was getting myself into. I’d climbed about 2 hills prior to that and had no idea what I was doing, but it was an opportunity to play with some dogs, which sounded like fun.

Volunteering as a body has been a privilege. Having the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than myself has been rewarding and knowing that the work we do helps vulnerable people means a lot to me.

Role: Body

I joined SARDA Southern Scotland in 2022, shortly after taking up a volunteer role as the Supplier Liaison Officer for the Scottish Mountain Rescue.

As a Munro-bagging enthusiast, volunteering as a 'body' sounded like another ideal opportunity to get out more and explore Scotland's great outdoors.

It's a truly rewarding experience. Helping the dogs, and their handlers, to hone their skills feels like we're doing our bit to help people get found safely when they encounter difficulty on the hills.

We train in some stunning locations, but there is no better sight than seeing a wagging tail bounding towards you!

These dogs are incredible at picking-up a scent and finding missing persons, in all weathers and terrain.

We're always looking for more bodying volunteers, so if you like the outdoors, dogs, and fancy yourself as a hide and seek champion - get in touch!

Role: Body

A Munroist, Marilyn-bagger and pandemic puppy owner, Craig was looking for new things to do post-Covid so volunteered to body. He enjoys a day out on the hills hiding from the amazing SARDA dogs and their handlers. It's surprisingly relaxing, despite - or maybe its because of - the occasional face licks when he's found.