A Labrador Apparently Got High on Britain’s Highest Mountain—and Needed a Rescue

Tokyo was more than three hours into the hike when something changed.

The five-year-old black Labrador had been climbing Ben Nevis with her owner, dog trainer Christina Bluhme, when she began swaying as though she were drunk.

Then her legs stopped working.

Within minutes, Tokyo had collapsed on the rocky trail and was drifting in and out of consciousness. The clear weather had turned to rain, the temperature had dropped, and the group was still high on Britain’s tallest mountain.

Bluhme had worked with dogs for 25 years. Even she had no idea what was happening.

At 55 pounds, Tokyo was too heavy to carry safely down the steep, slippery path. Bluhme’s son called for help, but police could not initially guarantee that a rescue team would be available.

Then came one extraordinary piece of luck.

Members of the all-volunteer Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team were already descending from the summit after helping with a separate helicopter rescue. They encountered Tokyo’s group on the way down, placed the unconscious Labrador onto their stretcher and began moving quickly toward the trailhead.

Bluhme later said the rescuers were practically running across the wet, rocky terrain. They carried Tokyo off the mountain in about an hour while she clung to the side of the stretcher trying to keep up.

Police had alerted Crown Vets in nearby Fort William, where a veterinarian was waiting when Tokyo arrived.

The team initially considered a spinal problem. But because she continued slipping in and out of consciousness, a senior veterinarian suspected that she may have been exposed to a neurotoxin.

After consulting a poison-control service, the veterinarians said her symptoms were consistent with cannabis intoxication. Tokyo was given activated charcoal and monitored overnight.

No one had seen her eat anything on the trail, and no discarded substance was recovered, so cannabis exposure remained the suspected explanation rather than a confirmed diagnosis.

Whatever Tokyo had encountered, it had turned a mountain hike into a medical emergency frighteningly fast.

The recovery was almost as sudden as the collapse.

By the following day, Tokyo was awake, walking and reportedly behaving as though nothing unusual had happened. Her owner, who had feared she was going to lose her on the mountain, was still processing the experience.

The veterinary bill came to around £1,000, but Bluhme said it was money well spent.

Tokyo was coming home.

Cannabis exposure can make dogs appear extremely sleepy, unsteady or disoriented, which matched several of Tokyo’s symptoms.

Because her exposure was never witnessed or independently confirmed, the diagnosis cannot be treated as certain. The broader takeaway is simpler: when a dog suddenly struggles to stand, becomes unusually drowsy or behaves noticeably differently, prompt veterinary advice is the safest next step.

Dogs can grab something from the ground in seconds, often before their humans have even seen it.

Tokyo didn’t make it to the summit that day. She did make it home.

On a hike that went spectacularly off-trail, that was the only finish line that mattered.