I am afraid here will be no more Patch Patrols -
In July 2009, after three days of heavy rain, the sun came out in the afternoon at Muirshiel and Patch and I went down to the waterfall path - to look for Common Blue Butterflies.

Unfortunately, whilst I was trying to take photos of the butterflies, Patch had gone ahead to the pool above the waterfall. I had told him not to go swimming, and he did wait for me for quite a while - he was there when I looked up to check - and then suddenly he wasn't!
The river was in spate, and when I couldn't see him, I just knew that he had disobeyed and gone in for a swim - in the pool above a 25foot waterfall - and he had been swept over and down the river.

I went searching for him - in the hope that he had just been swept downstream - but with all the large boulders and rocks below the waterfall - I could not hold out much hope. I found him one and a half hours later, over a half mile downstream. His body was on top of a large boulder but his head was bobbing up and down under the water, so I knew even before I could get to him that he was dead.

I managed to get his body to the bank, and a couple of the other Rangers - Len and Ken, came and helped me to carry him back to the centre.

He is now buried in my back garden, and I still miss him even after six months.

The 26th of April, was a SPONSORED DOG WALK at Castle Semple, and as my human was occupied doing Face-painting [making children look like dogs?, I went along with one of the organisers to help check that the route was suitable for my four legged friends!
It had been a long day, as I had gone round the course twice myself [but with different people, and then John the Senior Ranger decided to take me along on a patrol by the river, where I had had a nice swim to cool off, however, I had lost my doggy bag holder top, so my human Elspeth, took me back along in the evening, after she finished the faces, and I had several more swims in the river - after picking up several bottles and drinks cans from the awkward places along the river bank. And we did manage to find my lost 'top' too - next to the bridge where I had gone in for a dip earlier in the day!!

Having a swim at the end of a long hard day is great fun for me- but my human said it made the car smell a bit on the journey home
- I suppose wet dog fur is an aquirred smell!!




The previous week I had been checking out all the new lambs on the way down the road from Muirshiel - They don't get nervous as long as I stay in the car and don't bark at them!!