Matt & Morag grade at Patterdale

Matt Nightingale and his rescued Border Collie Morag finally made the grade at the Patterdale Training weekend. They searched the whole of Brown Cove in baking temperatures, finding the three dosgbodies, and working for 4 and half hours. Once they came out of the area, Matt was overjoyed to learn that the Assessors had decided that they had seen the sort of performance that merited a place on the Callout List of the Association. He and Morag returned to the hut to be welcomed by all who were training on that day, presented with Morag’s Search Dog tag, and various other essential pieces of equipment ready for their role as a graded search dog team.

Matt is a member of Penrith MRT, and is a teacher by profession. He’s also a member of the Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue Unit, though Morag’s grading doesn’t qualify her as an underground search dog ! Matt has recently become a proud father as well, so his life is somewhat full at present !