Just thought I'd let you know after days of frantic searching I finally found Dorain yesterday afternoon (after 5 days in the mountains). He is very thin, rather lame and a bit bemused and bruised but otherwise OK. I am sooo lucky. :D And SOOO happy!!! When we got lost on the mountain and I had to let the dogs off lead, I thought I was going to die, it was dark, snowing and windy, I had forgotten to take a survival bag :rolleyes: and there was no mobile reception to dial 999. All I could think about was getting off - Duibh was a star, he stuck by my side the whole way, including when I kept lying down in boggy clumps of grass and bracken because I couldn't move any more. Once I'd got rid of the hypothermia I just kept going back out walking and looking and calling and whistling. It's the middle of nowhere there, there are so many directions he could have gone, and I am SO lucky to have found him and just so delighted!

Oh my goodness, sounds like you've had an adventure.

Glad it all ended well.

I am so pleased for you.  Dorain is a very lucky dog. :)

We were all thinking about you and wow how lucky you have all been ;)

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/99922.html

Bet you wont go out again without a survival bag ;)

Give him a big hug from me and the girls

Lucy
xx

So glad that both you and Dorain are safe and well and home!

It's a bit of a wake-up call for all of us really, reminding us that winter is just around the corner :( - and we really ought to be prepared when we go out on long walks with the dogs .....whistles and phones and bad weather gear .....

Margot

So glad to hear the good news - sounds as though you were lucky too.   Snow - goodness it seems so early.  Take care
Christine

Yes so true ;)

If you are out there on your own how many people are likely to be passing :(

We heard a Ambulance siren at 8am on Sunday morning and have just found out what it was for :( A chap we know Andy who is a Agricultural Contractor ,stupid as he was drove home after drinking and ended up in a ditch he was found by a jogger at about 8am in his car stuck in a ditch. He is in intensive care and not sure if he will survive ;( he had been in the ditch for about 8 hours , hopefully the temperature was low so helped the shock etc .

I have absolutely no sympathy and he deserves all he has got but still hope he wakes up and MAYBE he can rebuild hs life maybe in some way making what he has done and realising how wrong he has been.

My Ex lost three of his cousins through a drink driver and Mike lost his best friend through a drink driver

I have zero tolerence :)

Brilliant news so pleased for you all, and glad you are safe too, hadn't realised what an adventure you had all experienced!
Maria x

How wonderful!!!!

So glad you are all safe and well :) Such a relief for you, I would be in a panic if I lost one of mine in that area, the weather can change so quickly its frightening.

Wow! So happy for the 3 of you Can't imagine what it must have been like when you spotted him for the first time in 5 days! Did he come hurtling round a corner like in the movies? :D

I'm so glad you are safe and that Dorain is found now and back with you - sounds as if you did your absolute utmost to find him and I'm sure that was a big factor in getting him back :) Did you find him near to where you'd last seen him or was it further away?

It must be terrifying to think you are going to die I was lost in a familiar area once when the mist came down, it was unbelievable as it changes everything, even sounds are so different. I was only lost for about 20 minutes and that was in the New Forest, a very safe area really. I wasn't frightened, but was a bit scared and disorientated.

Just very glad you are OK and safe, and that the dogs are safe with you.

{{{{{hugs}}}}}

Lindsay
xxx

Sooo pleased that he is back with you. You have really had a time of it haven't you.

A very scary experience with a happy ending. I'm so glad Dorain is back home and safe. :-D Sounds like you were all very lucky.

Blimey Terry, that sounds like an adventure and a half! So glad Dorain is home safely, well glad you're all home safely of course

Is it time yet for a lecture on being properly prepared in the mountains? :D

Wonderful, wonderful news :-D

Yes, I know.... :o I've climbed over 40 Munros, and somehow I had with me what I needed every single time except for the time I actually needed it. :rolleyes: NEVER NEVER NEVER eat your emergency chocolate supply the night before the mountains, no matter how tempting it looks.... Do NOT forget your survival bag (I now have 2 as I bought another one prior to my trips looking for Dorain), and if you are not 100% happy with your compass get another one (next time I plan on taking three). And ALWAYS tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back (don't think there's no-one to tell and you can't bother the hotel staff with things like that, and anyway you'll be fine because you always are :rolleyes:). I was EXTREMELY lucky to get off there alive (the hotel staff informed me the next day that last year someone died in the snow up on the mountains near there and wasn't found for 3 days - she was unfortunately not as lucky as me, I wish she had been :( ), let alone finding my beloved dog alive after five days....   I'll give you a brief resume of what happened, and everyone can NOT make my mistakes. ;)

I set off up Beinn Achaladair about 10.30am  - according to my book the walk's meant to take 6-8hrs, but I have not factored into this the fact I'm not as fit as I was. :rolleyes: The mist was on the top of Beinn a'Chreachain, by the time I reached the top of Beinn Achaladair it had come down. Went down the other side, got to a 6 foot ledge type thing, had to get Dorain to jump down, scramble down somehow myself then lift Duibh down over my head as it was too far for him to jump with his leg. I knew at that point I ouldn't get back the way I came. Went over the next top then up Beinn a Chreachain to the cairn. That was the point I went the wrong way and wasn't convinced by the compass (it pointed S instead of N a couple of days earlier which i put down to some magnetic field round the car as it was fine away from the car - but I wondered if it was due to the mobile....) The compass was in fact telling the truth, as I realised part way down the wrong side of the mountain which was so steep I had to edge down on my bum using the walking pole for balance. The mist cleared for a second & I saw the end of Loch Lyon. It had also started snowing by this point and Dorain was Not Happy (don't blame him) and I was getting stressed as it was going to get dark soon, which wasn't helping... The dogs had been on lead up to this point but I knew in order to have any chance of getting back up the mountain I had to let them off. It took me 20 mins to climb the bit they ran up in 2 seconds flat & looked down at me from, & by the time I got there Dorain had disappeared in the mist.  I headed back to the top calling all the way, then down the right side, but couldn't find the path. Kept hearing a jangling collar but it was always Duibh, bless him. Then it got dark. Realised I was in big trouble, sat down, looked in rucksack & realised I'd forgotten my survival bag, tried to call 999 but no mobile reception, tried to flash SOS with the torch but no-one was going to see it in the mist, and I hadn't met anyone all day. Still snowing, still windy, and I was freezing despite thermals, trousers, polo shirt, jumper, fleece, waterproofs, hat & gloves. I attribute the saving of my life to the torch, Duibh and Joe Simpson. Made my way down step by step, including down & up a steep stream gully till I found the path. I was exhausted by then, kept lying down then getting up & moving for a bit because i was so cold. Further down we had 4 or 5 deer fences to navigate which took forever, and I kept lying down in the bracken because it looked warm and inviting and restful, and fell asleep in the middle of a boggy field, I only woke up with the cold. Got back to the car at 7am the following morning. Waited half an hr but no Dorain, was definitely hypothermic by this point and couldn't get warm so just had to head back to the hotel.

Rang my mother to ask her to ring people about Dorain as I didn't have the strength & didn't know what i was doing, went to bed, was got up by hotel manager, as I'd written a do not disturb sign & put it on the door, to say the cleaners had to clean the room. She then came back later as she thought I didn't look right & she wondered why I still had my hat on. The managers were absoluteyl lovely, she brought me a tray with soup on it. Duibh was a star - she had to put it on the floor as there was nowhere else to put it, he hadn't eaten for as long as me, but he didn't try to get it, just lay down next to me with his head on my leg. Don't remember a lot about that day, but the hotel staff got together the numbers for the police, dog warden etc for me to phone, and made up posters from a photo on my digicam and put them up (there was one on the hotel door and I couldn't bear to look at it. I remember the first time I'd just lain down in a heap half way down the mountain, I thought I heard barking from the top but didn't have the energy to call or do anything, and that haunted me for 5 days). That day I drove back as far as the car park and stood there calling and whistling. Didn't have the energy to do anything else. The day after I went halfway up Coire Achaladair and back calling & whistling, then about halfway along the track from Auch to Beinn Mhanach & got a lift back with the deerstalker, so had time to go back to the car park and walk up as far as the bridge at the railway line again (the way we went up there were gates at the bridge Dorain wouldn't be able to get through, the way I came back there were the deer fences, and down the back there were more deer fences with cattle grids...). Day after that I went back the way I'd come down and never wanted to go again, which was a lot quicker when warm and non hypothermic, got about 2\3 way up Beinn a' Chreachain & back. Day after that walked to the top of Coire Achaladair and back. I was sure Dorain must be dead, short coated, not used to living out, snowing when I lost him and we'd had a night of frost since... Noone I'd asked had seen anything of him, and there'd been no news. The day after that I walked south from Bridge of Orchy down the West Highland Way then back along the track to Beinn Mhanach. I remembered from climbing Beinn Mhanach 4 yrs ago there was a little shed that looked like it was used for lambing\ shearing, Ais-an t-Sidhean, and decided to go along as far as there in case he was sheltering there. Before I got there I saw something brown moving in the grass - wrong colour for a sheep, too small for a deer, called and whistled - it seemed to stop then carry on. Got to the shed & there were loads of bits of sheep fleece left from shearing but no dog. Decided to walk on a bit further then sit down with my tea & keep calling & whistling. I saw some people coming towards me, & they seemed to turn back\stop and look at something. Got round the bend in the track and THERE WAS DORAIN! I called his name, but he just stood there and looked bewildered, so I spread my arms, which is my usual recall signal, and he realised it was me and trotted towards me (judging by the speed he went the rest of the way back, as fast as he could go). I pulled all the bits of cooked breakfast I didn't feel like eating & saved in case I found him out of the top of my rucksack and he just wolfed them down.

After that I had to walk him back 7 miles to the car... Poor dog had a hole in his knee, his wrists were all swollen and shaking, and he was as thin as anything (he'd lost 5kg). I was almosta s crippled as him by then, but I stopped once and he lay down, so I just had to keep moving slowly in case he lay down and wouldn't get up as there was no way I could have carried him. He hobbled behind all the way till we got back to the car park and he saw the car and pulled me towards it.

His knee's getting better, he's been on antibiotics and painkillers and rest and food and also some tablets for his liver as there was a slight problem with that on a blood test. He was a bit quiet for a couple of days, but now he's back to normal, and it was his birthday last Thursday - he's 7 now. :D And I am SO lucky, and so is he. :)

From a Very Happy Terry (who is also a wiser- learnt-from- her- mistakes Terry ;) ).

Wow what a tale and so glad you are both safe and sound

Amazing! What a horrible thing to have happened though - I can't imagine what it must have felt like (I go out of my mind if my dog disappears for more than 20 seconds!). I wonder if he layed in the sheep fleece to try to keep warm. Glad you are both ok. Happy Birthday Dorain :D

From the way he smelt I think he'd been sleeping among the fleeces - he had that oily, woolly smell (have I just admitted to smelling my dog? :D ).

#What an amazing story you will have for your grandchildren though ;)   so glad you found him.. and you are all okay

Wow, what a story.
You and Dorain have been so lucky.
Lea.

Oh my goodness That is an amazing story and shows just how easy it is for anyone to get caught out. Luck must have been on your side for the two of you to be here to tell the tale. So pleased Dorain is on the mend now. I hope your experience hasn't put you off climbing some of the other Munros  and you get to enjoy another climb under different circumstances.

Blimey what a story.

You have all been so lucky.

Oh Terry!!
I cant tell you how glad I am your all okay, a difficult cautionary tale for you to tell Im sure.... Thanks sharing such a difficult experience.
((((((((((((( colossal HUGS for you and the Boys )))))))))))))))))
I was 'fair greetin' by the time I got to the bit about you opening your rucksac and giving Dorian breakfast ;) :D
(Now would you just stand still a minute while Lori and I get to work on your feet with the nail gun ;) :P)