SARDA Ireland training weekend

We are actually on sabbatical, but Christian and I met the most important man on the island , Stuart Kenny, the Chairman of NSARDA in GB, who passed on his contacts for Ireland to us.

The result was first training in Cork with Irish Rescue Dogs Cork and now a whole training weekend with SARDA Ireland.

The weekend was GIGANTIC! I can hardly think of any superlatives, because it was hard to beat the great activities for the dogs and dog handlers. Almost all the teams from the Republic of Ireland met here, we were based at the Killary Adventure Center, from there Christian and I went to a training area on Mweelrea, one of the highest hills (mountains) in the area.

SARDA Ireland's dogs are all redirectors, they no longer bark at the victim, but come to the handler and give him the command "Show me!" to the injured person. It's great how confidently the dogs can do this and how happy they are to work for a reward! Gerry Tobin and his daughter Ally showed us how we could also turn our dogs into returners. I'm not averse to that, let's see!

The squadrons all work similarly, a distinction is made between Mountain Rescue and Lowlands, but as the teams are deployed throughout Ireland, the teams are usually tested in both areas. The squadron is currently training the first mantrailers, which will certainly make just as much of an impression as the dogs we saw in action as “bodies” or “buddies”.

Sean then let our dogs run, where it became clear that our approach wasn't really any different, we were able to learn from each other and always found common ground.

My highlight was the dinner we had together, the openness of the dogs and the fun we had together. The dog handlers were very open, they gave us tips, Audrey even gave us a small itinerary for County Mayo. ANY TIME! It was just amazing, a superlative of what I expected.

AND YES, a porta potty in the shower tent would be an idea for us too!

It was just AMAZING, AWESOME, FUN and lots of LAUGHTER! Pure Ireland for me, that makes it all worth it!