Organised: Pirkanmaan Pelastuskoirat ry
On Sunday, 7 October,
I went to hear a lecture on rescue dogs. It sounded really interesting.
The "eliminations" for dogs who wanted on the basic course were held on Monday. There were 15 places, and over 30 dogs. It dribbled, but otherwise it was not very cold.
The occasion began with a test where the dog's sensitiveness for shooting was tested. They fired a few shots with a 9mm gun from a short distance. Roope reacted to the shot, but recovered immediately.
The next tested obedience. The dog was supposed to follow, but this really was not our specialty. Roope walked the entire way with his nose on the ground, sniffing.
Then we came to the test where Roope had to walk up a ramp, jump from a cable reel to another and walk on a Board, we had not practised for it, so it did not work. After all the tasks we tried again and Roope performed very well. He was all guts.
And then to business: the ruins. The concrete blocks were slippery and high. Roope was very good with this. We were very successful.
The last test tested how the dog functioned and how he let strangers approach. Roope ran to the strange man enthusiastically and was not afraid, but he did not want to play with the rag that the man had. I took my gloves from my pockets, and then he wanted to play. The other judge and I went to the "house of smoke" which was very dark. From the door I was allowed to call Roope. I had to go to the other room behind the obstacles to wait if Roope would come to me. I called him, but nothing happened. I had to go closer to the door and call him again. Then Roope came over the scary obstacle. Apparently it is normal that young dogs are afraid of that task.
We did not get to the course, but the test in itself was a good experience. And we did enjoy ourselves.