A helpful hound has joined an elite group of canine Munro baggers.
Black Labrador Rabbie is accompanying his owner, Lynsey Fitzpatrick, on an epic adventure around Scotland.
The pair have spent the past two years climbing 209 peaks and hope to complete the final 73 Munros by November.
Despite working full-time and having no previous mountain-climbing experience, the 37-year-old has dedicated her weekends to a mammoth fundraising challenge in aid of Help for Heroes.
Lynsey was inspired to start her quest after seeing first-hand the work the charity does for injured servicemen and women.
She spent several weeks visiting the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after her husband, a serving soldier, was injured on the frontline.
To take her mind off things, Lynsey took to the hills near the couple’s Alyth home which sparked her desire to take on the country’s tallest peaks.
“I’d only climbed Ben Nevis and Schiehallion previously, but I thought if I could do those, then I could do them all,” she said.
“I decided to take Rabbie along and he’s now part of the whole fundraising challenge. I couldn’t do it without him as he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Their efforts have already raised more than £3,000 and friends, family and colleagues are digging deep to help the pair reach their £5,000 target.
Dundee car dealership, John Clark has also loaned the team a BMW X3 to help them travel around the country.
So far, they are averaging three Munros each weekend and hope to keep that up before Lynsey has to return to her job as a quantity surveyor in Aberdeen.
She added: “All my spare time is spent on planning and organising everything.
“It’s been really difficult, but everyone has been great and I’m hoping we can make that final push this year to hit our target.”
Although Rabbie won’t be the first dog to bag all 282 Munros, just a handful of canines have completed the challenge.
The nine-year-old Labrador might need a helping hand from Lynsey when they take on Sgurr Dear on Skye later this year though.
The official peak of the mountain can only be reached by climbing the Inaccessible Pinnacle but, five years ago, a brave boxer scaled the sheer rock face while strapped into a special harness.
Alternatively, the pair can still count their Munro as bagged by sticking to the hillwalking trail, which stops at 978m.
To support Lynsey and Rabbie’s Help for Heroes Munro challenge, go online to www.bmycharity.com/lynseyfitzpatrick.