Lake District rescuer praises dogs for raising alarm

A mountain rescue worker said he had never seen dogs raise the alarm like a pair of pooches did when their owner collapsed while walking.

One ran after a hiker barking while the other stayed by the 71-year-old man when he lost consciousness near Keswick.

Rob Grange of Keswick Mountain Rescue said the team spent years training dogs to act like that.

But, he said, he had never seen them do it "off their own back".

The man was walking on Braithwaite How when he collapsed on Saturday.

Rescuers said a black Labrador "incredibly" ran after another walker they had recently passed, barking and "trying to get her to return".

The woman turned around and found a golden retriever lying beside the man and called for help, with the man taken to hospital for further checks.

Mr Grange told BBC Radio Cumbria: "It's wonderful to see dogs doing it off their own backs and completely instinctively.

"We get the dogs to do exactly the same thing but we spend years training those natural traits to make sure they do it completely reliably.

"It's not an unusual thing for a dog to do, but it's just the fact a completely untrained dog decided to do this that is absolutely wonderful.

"I've not come across it in 10 years of mountain rescue."

Volunteers from Keswick Mountain Rescue Team turned out as well as a crew from the North West Ambulance Service.

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