Border Collie - Aussie cross wins Britain's Top Hero award for SAR work
Here is an interesting story from the news about a Border Collie - Aussie cross who was awarded Britain's top canine hero at Crufts for his SAR work:
Berkshire search and rescue dog Brock has picked up a prize at dog-show Crufts. Brock, a collie-cross Australian shepherd dog, came first in the 'Friends for Life' contest, in which the public votes for Britain's top canine hero.
Brock beat off stiff competition in the form of an assistance dog to a former army soldier, a police dog who saved his handler's life and a hearing dog who lived with a very young girl.
See Brock in action >
Trained to detect where a missing person was last located, through air scenting and trailing work, Brock was responsible for finding the body of government scientist Dr David Kelly and helped, in these tragic circumstances to provide closure for his family.
Brock has also helped to bring home many Alzheimer’s sufferers and others, who are despondent and go missing in the lowlands.
Lou Holmes, Brock's owner said: “Brock is my pet dog. He lives at home with me as one of the family and he loves his work.
"However, Brock is special because he is not only my friend for life but also a friend to all those who may be in need of him when their loved ones go missing.
"One particular search was for a lady affected with this whose carer had left her house door unlocked and she wandered out. Brock was able to track her from her house through the streets some hours after she had gone missing.
"Luckily she was found and brought home safely. Without Brock, the police would have been searching for hours possibly days until someone found her."
Brock is the only non-police dog to have ever received a Chief Constable's Commendation in the Thames Valley area.
Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs is a volunteer search dog group on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to assist the Police and other emergency services in locating lost or missing persons.
All team members have full time occupations and Berkshire SAR Dogs relies on donations to stay running.
Berkshire SAR Dogs have had more that 130 callouts since their formation in 2002 and were called out 43 times in 2008.
Find out more about search and rescue dogs >
Top of the pups
Emma Midgley
Emma Midgley
Berkshire search and rescue dog Brock has picked up a prize at dog-show Crufts. Brock, a collie-cross Australian shepherd dog, came first in the 'Friends for Life' contest, in which the public votes for Britain's top canine hero.
Brock beat off stiff competition in the form of an assistance dog to a former army soldier, a police dog who saved his handler's life and a hearing dog who lived with a very young girl.
See Brock in action >
Trained to detect where a missing person was last located, through air scenting and trailing work, Brock was responsible for finding the body of government scientist Dr David Kelly and helped, in these tragic circumstances to provide closure for his family.
Brock has also helped to bring home many Alzheimer’s sufferers and others, who are despondent and go missing in the lowlands.
Lou Holmes, Brock's owner said: “Brock is my pet dog. He lives at home with me as one of the family and he loves his work.
"However, Brock is special because he is not only my friend for life but also a friend to all those who may be in need of him when their loved ones go missing.
"One particular search was for a lady affected with this whose carer had left her house door unlocked and she wandered out. Brock was able to track her from her house through the streets some hours after she had gone missing.
"Luckily she was found and brought home safely. Without Brock, the police would have been searching for hours possibly days until someone found her."
Brock is the only non-police dog to have ever received a Chief Constable's Commendation in the Thames Valley area.
Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs is a volunteer search dog group on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to assist the Police and other emergency services in locating lost or missing persons.
All team members have full time occupations and Berkshire SAR Dogs relies on donations to stay running.
Berkshire SAR Dogs have had more that 130 callouts since their formation in 2002 and were called out 43 times in 2008.
Find out more about search and rescue dogs >
