A RESCUE team has bid a sad farewell to one of its search dogs.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (KMRT) published a tribute to search dog Meg who passed away aged thirteen.

The tri-colour collie started her training in 2008, before grading three years later in the Howgills and working with KMRT for eight years.

She attended 84 callouts before eventually retiring in 2019 due to arthritis.

Meg’s handler, Elly Whiteford, said: “It is with much sadness that I lost my beautiful Search Dog Meg in early October 2020, she was nearly 13 ½ years old.

“Many of the callouts I remember were in the dark, wet, raining, windy, poor visibility searching for lost walkers, runners or despondent and vulnerable people.

“Training and working a dog in conditions like these build a bond and understanding that cannot be explained.”

Meg even made it on the small screen when she was involved in a short film for Children in Need, where she had to find Pudsey the bear who had got lost on Catbells.

According to Ms Whiteford she was “quite taken with Pudsey’s feet which resembled very large fluffy toys in her eyes and tried several times to get hold and run off with them!”

“She was such a character, she was loving, fun, playful and cheeky and also stubborn, awkward and analysing-a real thinker who pushed my patience to its limit at times,” said Ms Whiteford.

“But she made me laugh and I adored her.

“I am heartbroken to lose her and miss her enormously, she was always there, and life is very quiet. “Time will heal and I have many good memories of all the good places we went and the things we did together, and she will always be with me.”