My name is Mike Oak. I'm sort of (semi-)retired, although my wife, Judith, says I'm just a lazy so and so. (Actually she's not quite as polite as that!) I used to work for Siemens Business Services in Bracknell where I was Regional Head of Business Improvement and Quality for UK and Ireland. The Company underwent an organisational change (internationally) back in 2006 and I took the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy (after 15 years!), and early retirement. I have my own Consultancy company (EnExcel Ltd.
http://www.enexcel.com) but it's not very active at the moment, and I have lots of time on my hands to help out with Berkshire Search & Rescue Dogs!!
I joined the team back in May 2008 and am still "non-operational" but training. My dog is Bella, a 16-month old Black Labrador Retriever, who is also training at Level 1. I share the handling of Bella with Judith, my wife. who is also in the team.
I've no previous experience of Search and Rescue, but started to get interested when Bella was just a few months old and we saw the team doing a demonstration at last year's Paws in The Park show in Bracknell. This summer (2008) we have helped out at a number of the shows and Bella has performed very well (surprisingly!!) in the demos.
- Bella in Action
- Mike & Bella
