Five participants from four nations had come to Austria to train with their dogs in front of the beautiful scenery of the cas­tle "Schloss Ort" in Gmunden.

Under the guidance of the experienced IRO Trainer Digna Schoonenboom from the Netherlands, the teams, con­sis­ting of dog handlers and dogs of different breeds and skill levels, worked for three days un­der changing weather conditions. The wa­ter work is great fun, but also demands a lot from the dogs. Swimming over a longer dis­tance is exhausting, and in addition the dog must also follow the instructions of its han­dler and retrieve objects, jump from the boat into the water or rescue drowning per­sons and pull them ashore. The course par­tici­pants received valuable input and coach­ing tailored to their dog's individual needs. Each team made good progress in training with the exercises offered.

We thank everyone involved for the exciting training weekend.
A special thanks goes to SVÖ Gmunden-Regau for the cooperation, the Austrian Water Rescue Federation - Gmunden for the provision of the boathouse including boats and training equipment as well as WakeandSki Traunsee for the active sup­port.