Pip, safe in ther arms of one of the Coniston team. Photo: Coniston MRT

Mountain rescuers used a training exercise to find a four-legged friend who had been missing in the Lake District for three days.

Coniston Mountain Rescue Team was contacted by the Dog Lost website to see if they could help find a jack russell terrier that had escaped from its owner at the weekend.

The team’s Tuesday search training session turned into a real-life hunt for the missing dog Pip, who had run off on Saturday after her owner slipped while walking on Torver Beck Common.

A team spokesperson said: “It was agreed that we should carry out a search for the dog as part of the training.

“Details were taken from the owner as to where and when it was last seen or heard, as well as Pip’s personality and useful traits.

“Squeaky toys and treats seemed high on the agenda as good searching tools.

“After the initial training on methods and techniques to be employed, the team split into two, with details of the areas to be covered.

“One team took the high route and the other followed the shore path, looking above the path itself with the aim to rendezvous at a given point.

“Line searches, where members walked in a line but at a distance apart, were carried out by the teams, but this was at times an arduous task because of the rough terrain.

“When we met up, there had been no sign of Pip, so we decided to return to the Land Rovers but to carry out one last long line search covering the open ground above the tree-line.

“And then we struck gold.

“One of the team members saw what he thought were cat’s eyes, but were in fact Pip’s eyes.

Team members with the rescued dog. Photo: Coniston MRT

“Her lead had been snagged in the bracken so although she could run around, she could not actually go very far. The relief and sheer amazement that we had actually found her was felt by everyone involved in the search.”

The spokesperson said the dog was well, but cold and hungry.

“The very excited little dog emptied her bowels on one member as a show of appreciation,” the spokesperson said, “before being carried back to the vehicles nestled in a jacket and fed the occasional cheesy bite and dog biscuit along the way.”

The dog was reunited with her grateful owners who made their way to the Coniston MRT base.

The three-hour training session and dog search involved 13 volunteer team members.