Dorset Woman Found by Search Dog - 12 Dec 07

[Pete]

An elderly woman has cheated death - after laying injured in freezing cold overnight - thanks to two dogs.
Pauline Muggleton, 77, fell into the thick undergrowth on Ferndown Common in Dorset while walking her dog Goldie on Saturday afternoon.

Her husband, John, raised the alarm after she did not return after dark. She was found early Sunday morning. Charlie, a Dorset search dog, found Goldie who was keeping Mrs Muggleton warm, and led the search team to them. A couple of hours later and she would have been dead said Sally Humberstone, daughter of Pauline Muggleton.

"The helicopter couldn't find her because she was too cold to be detected by the heat seeking equipment,"

Mr Muggleton, a town councillor, said Goldie, a seven-year-old retriever-cross, was also a hero as he stayed by his wife's side for hours. "He stayed by her side and helped keep her warm. She couldn't get up but she said she felt Goldie by her side".

Matt Cooke, Charlie's owner from Dorset Search Dogs, said he was "over the moon" because it was Charlie's first find.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7141273.stm