Award for Henley vets dispenser for training search and rescue dog

A WOMAN who works at a Henley vets has been recognised for her work training her search and rescue dog.
Sarah Allwood is a volunteer with Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs and has worked as a dispenser at the Henley Veterinary Centre, in Reading Road, for nearly five years.
She received the Skye Award, which is awarded annually, to recognise both her and her dog’s tenacity.
The award was donated to the rescue team by a previous handler, who’s dog, Skye, was “the most tenacious dog ever”. Skye’s ashes are kept in the glass of the award.

Mrs Allwood and her two-year-old Border Collie, Pasha, received the award at the rescue team’s Christmas dinner held last month.
She said: “Pasha can be quite challenging at times. She has her own mind, she’s a very full-on working dog and she’s very eager.”
Mrs Allwood has had Pasha since she was a nine-week-old-puppy even though she never intended to have a search and rescue dog.
She said: “When I joined, I was a hydrotherapist and I used to swim with some of the dogs in the team. I then volunteered hiding as, what I like to call, a dog’s body, or pretending to be a missing person.
“You go and lay out in the woods in all weathers, often in the dark, and you wait for the dogs to find you. It’s a really nice volunteer role. Then I trained as a search technician, and I qualified in 2022.”
Pasha is currently a trainee search dog and is expected to qualify as part of the dog team later this year.
Until then, she and Mrs Allwood support both foot and dog teams that are part of the rescue service. Mrs Allwood said: “When I received this award, I was delighted. It’s quite an honour.
“I’m part of a lovely team, and because of the nature of what we do, they’re very supportive, kind people and it’s nice to be recognised. It’s not easy training a dog, and it’s nice to have that support. It was amazing to receive this award, and for Pasha, that her hard work is recognised as well.”
Mrs Allwood told of her husband, Paul, who passed away about four years ago. She said: “Pasha is called Pasha because it’s Russian for Paul, and he always told me, no Border Collies and no female dogs. So, I got a female Border Collie and named her after him!”
Lou Holmes, who chairs the Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs, said: “Both Sarah and Pasha work very hard to improve their training and be part of the operational team.
“They’ve overcome injuries, stuck at it, and they are definitely going in the right direction.”