Peak District: Dog sniffs out missing Labrador who fell down hole

A missing dog who fell down a hole while walking in the Peak District was found after being sniffed out by another dog.

Gracie, an eight-year-old black Labrador, disappeared in Edale during bad weather on Monday.

The following day Lottie led her owner, who was part of the search party, to the hole where Gracie had fallen.

Gracie's owner Guy Beggs said if it was not for Lottie, she probably would have never been found.

Mr Beggs, from Warrington, Cheshire, said Gracie went missing during a routine walk.

They had taken a quieter route and when they rejoined the main footpath, it started snowing.

Visibility had become poor and Gracie, who had been playing with her owner's friend's dog, vanished.

After a few hours of searching, Mr Beggs posted about Gracie's disappearance on Facebook.

He said: "The response I got was overwhelming.

"I didn't ask for anyone to come and help but people turned up - it was amazing."

Mr Beggs, now with a team of volunteers, spent the rest of the day and the next morning searching.

Susan Jones said she was proud of Lottie for finding Gracie

Susan Jones, from Derby, joined in with her friend and Lottie, a border collie-spaniel cross.

She said: "My friend and I decided to take a route up one way and then walk across the ridge to the location where the dog went missing. The weather was horrendous.

"We stopped quickly behind a rock for some water and as we walked off, my dog started prowling towards a bush.

"She was standing with her head in a bush and I was calling her but she didn't come.

"I walked over to see what she was doing - when I arrived there was a huge hole.

"My friend said, 'there's something in there moving', so I laid on the ground and put my head in the hole and there were two little eyes looking up at me."

They called Mr Beggs to let him know they had found Gracie.

Gracie had been in the hole for nearly 24 hours when she was pulled to safety

When he arrived, Mr Beggs climbed into the hole using a makeshift rope ladder from dog leads.

He hooked the lead on to Gracie's harness and volunteers helped pull her up.

Mr Beggs said: "If it wasn't for little Lottie the dog, we probably would never have found her."

Mr Beggs has praised Lottie for her role in rescuing his dog

He is now warning other dog walkers about holes in the area.

"Not for one second did I think there was anything like that, especially that close to a footpath," he said.

Mr Beggs has since joined a volunteer group dedicated to finding missing dogs.

He has also proposed filling in or marking some of the deepest holes near Peak District paths.