Earlier this month, a nine-year-old Kerry blue terrier became the first dog to scale all of Scotland’s hundreds of mountains and hills, plus some of the highest peaks in England, Ireland and Wales.
Since 2021, Betty, who lives in Kinloss, Moray, with her human Shona Marshall, has scaled 282 Munros, 227 Munro Tops, 222 Corbetts, 231 Grahams and 140 Donalds, plus 22 Furths (Munro height; there are a further 12 that don’t allow dogs).
The latest climb was 2,818ft-tall Morrone, a Corbett above Braemar, atop which she paused her paws to take in 360-degree views of the Cairngorms and perhaps reflected on her great achievement.
Fewer than 100 people have ever completed this ‘full house’ of Scottish summits; climbing all 282 Munros alone takes most an average of 15 years to do, but Betty and Marshall did all the Munros in one year, averaging about four hills a week to complete the rest of the list.
‘The initial aim was to complete by June, by Betty’s 10th birthday, because you just don’t know how long you’re going to have your dog around and how long they’re going to be capable of walking up hills,’ explains Marshall, who adds that Betty ate more than 800 hard-boiled eggs and 415 tins of sardines when scaling the 1,124 peaks.
Visit Kerry Blue Rescue online for more information on the breed
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