Rescuers stretcher 35kg Turkish dog from Ben Nevis in one of five calls over 14 hours

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Maggie, a 35kg (5½ stone) Turkish Akbash dog became stranded on the summit of Ben Nevis on Saturday after hurting her paws. The three young women scaling the peak with the dog tried to carry her down the 4,400ft when she became unable to move. But with darkness fast approaching, they called for help at 8pm.

Five members of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team were flown to the top of Ben Nevis by the Inverness Coastguard helicopter, which had just transported a fallen walker from Glencoe to the Belford Hospital in Fort William. Maggie was then transferred onto a stretcher before being carried down the mountain to a waiting all-terrain vehicle (ATV).

Lochaber MRT leader Donald Paterson said the call came after multiple other rescues. He said: “As we were about to drive back to the base, we got another call for Maggie the dog which was interesting. They were high on the summit plateau, and of course at which point I thought we are just going to have to decline it. I spoke to the woman and she said it was a Turkish mountain dog. All its pads had been damaged on the rocks so its paws were all shredded. Ultimately, they were trying their hardest to get the dog down the mountain but it just kept on sitting and lying there so they were struggling to get the dog down. Low and behold, there was a call-out at Glencoe so the helicopter came in, dropped the casualty off from Glencoe in Fort William and then they uplifted five members onto the top and they walked down and met the group.”

The Lochaber-based rescue team responded to five separate call-outs on Saturday, ranging from fractures to heat related incidents. The team were on call for more than 14 hours.The first call was for a walker who suffered a serious head injury in a fall at about 11am. The casualty was located before being flown to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Their condition is known. Rescuers also helped a young woman who had suffered an ankle injury as well as two heat stroke victims.

Well done to the Rescue team but that was an unnecessary call-out for them, entirely due to stupid people climbing a mountain with a “guard-dog” … :angry:

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Turkish eh? Did he cross the channel in a rubber boat?

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Is that Australian humour … :017:

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Don’t worry, I feel your outrage at these damn foreign dogs coming into the country and taking jobs that really belong to good British Guard Dogs.

It’s Turkish for god sake, it crossed the whole of Europe to end up having to be rescued in Scotland, presumably at great cost to the British taxpayer, absolutely absurd. You are right to be angry.

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I’m still no wiser. Antipodean humour is, presumably, best left to Antipodeans … :man_shrugging:

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Poor dog the owners should be ashamed of themselves!

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You’re right, you are no wiser, I feel your pain.

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Oh the poor dog! How stupid of these idiots to go climbing in this heat. I’m glad they rescued the dog though. People like that don’t deserve dogs.

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I agree Pixie. We can get suitable shoes to walk over such grounds , but the dog can’t . If people want to go on adventures why can’t they get somebody to look after the dog whilst they are away? :roll_eyes:

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Because they don’t understand dogs and think that because they enjoy long walks and scrambling over mountain tops, the dog will too…and it’s “good exercise”. Dogs are as individual as people, and expecting them to behave as their breed type suggests, is wrong. With disastrous results. Even if they had got the dog some boots or something, it would have helped.

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Quite right … :+1:

Whoever owns the dog has not taken the trouble to understand the breed.

I’d never heard of the breed but I investigated. I wasn’t joking when I called this large, powerful animal a “guard-dog”:

Akbash Dog Breed Information and Pictures.

The Akbash Dog is a primitive guard dog breed, requiring owners who understand canine behavior.

The dogs are a combination of submissive posturing to livestock and dominance aggression—to stand up against bears and wolves. They require owners dedicated to constant socialization if kept as companions. They are naturally dog aggressive. In town with sights and sounds everywhere, barrier frustration-aggression is common. This is a serious working breed and is best placed where it can have a job to do.

They are opportunists for taking over control so they are best placed with children over eight years of age, when the child can participate in submission exercises, with an adult, on the dog. Barking and patrolling is their primary means of defense and so they will bark if out at night. Trouble usually occurs when friends come over and aren’t supervised by someone the dog knows. As a guardian/guard dog breed, the trained and socialized dog will defer to the owner when the owner is present and will be friendly and happy to visit visitors, however they consider unsupervised people as suspicious.

This is an intelligent, courageous and loyal dog, completely dedicated and devoted to its owner and any livestock in its charge. Independent with strong protective instincts. The Akbash is a natural guardian that even at a very young age will bond strongly with the livestock it is protecting. It has such strong maternal instincts that sheep will often allow this dog to sniff and clean their newborn lambs and will flock behind their guardian when threatened. Because of their strong maternal instincts, they are usually good with infants. The dog’s independent nature allows it to respond swiftly and without guidance in an emergency. There is no difference in guarding ability between the male and female.

Some of the animals the Akbash Dog has guarded include sheep, goats, cattle, horses, poultry and exotic birds, deer, alpacas and llamas. Once bonded, these dogs will not hesitate to risk their own lives to protect their charges. The Akbash Dog has even been used by American ranchers to ward off bears and coyotes. Because of its strong independent nature, it thinks twice upon receiving commands. Not recommended for first time dog owners, or people who do not wish to have a serious guard dog.

Companion dog owners should be prepared to spend a fair amount of money on good fencing and a lot of time on socialization and maintaining the humans pack leader status over the dog. The Akbash dog needs a firm, but calm, confident, consistent owner.

They are a low activity level dog, but also an extremely athletic dog requiring a long daily walk and a lot of space to run around off its lead.

Plainly, a wonderful breed but not one for mountain-climbing.

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Exactly! Some people just go for a dogs looks and the fact it’s a loyal guard dog/good with kids/doesn’t shed/ blah blah. Anything else just goes over their head. I do think some proof of breed knowledge is required before bringing a dog into your life (in my opinion).

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Oh I so agree with this! And not just proof of knowledge of the breed, but evidence that you have a suitable environment and lifestyle for the dog. Unfortunately, anyone is allowed to breed dogs and sell the pups to all comers. Only yesterday my daughter found out the truth about a little Jack Russell pup near her who, she’d been told, had been sent to live with the young boy’s grandmother. Not true. Apparently, the poor little pup had died because it had been sold and removed from its mother at four weeks old :rage:. It wouldn’t have been fully weaned by that age.

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Thats horrific, Sheba…poor little puppy. :frowning_face:

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Or an IQ test? I can’t believe someone would be so stupid as to take a dog up a mountain. I’ve also seen people walking their dogs in 30+degree heat yesterday afternoon. Why can’t they wait until evening when it’s cool enough for the poor animals.

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The owners of the dog should imo be made pay for the rescue.

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Because then they can’t do what they want to do, which is be up a mountain with a big fluffy dog, taking photos to put on Instagram! Most people don’t think sensibly I’m afraid.

I agree 100% Having said that, it’ll be a fortune in vets bills to take care of the dogs paws, so perhaps they will learn a lesson from that?

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they should be made to walk up a mountain barefoot

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I don’t see how it being a ‘Guard Dog’ is remotely relevent to it’s injuries?
Guard dogs don’t have to be on a chain worrking all their life.

What is wrong though, is the owners seem to have taken the dog there without any paw protection boots on. I would like to see how the owners bare feet would have fared in the same circumstances!

My old GSD’s were all classed as ‘Guard Dogs’ and they were all over 35 kgs too, one in particular was 44 kgs. but they would have still enjoyed being out with me all day, given the choice.

The one on the left was my big gentle giant. The other one is his Mum.

Dougie & Dot (Mum) SMALL

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You should read

Akbash Dog Breed Information and Pictures.

They are a low activity level dog, but also an extremely athletic dog requiring a long daily walk and a lot of space to run around off its lead.

How Long Will It Take Me To Climb Ben Nevis?

How long it takes to climb Ben Nevis really depends on how fit you are and how many breaks you take but a rough guide is it will take you around 3½ - 4½ hours to climb it via the Mountain Track in summer under reasonable weather conditions. The descent from the summit back to your starting point will normally take approx. 2½ - 3½ hours.

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No wonder the poor dog’s pads were shredded … :scream:

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