# Hungary 2013



## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

I just got back from 5 weeks of dog training in Hungary and Slovakia. I earned my Training Director Certification from the MEOE and FCI, my BH with Gladiator and my IPO 1 with Ironhide!

We did 3 days of tracking in Slovakia with a trainer/competitor named Pavol. He was invited to the IPO World Championships this year, however could not attend as he had just taken the position of trainer in the K9 unit for the Slovak police. He competes in IPO with his dogs, but specializes in FH tracking.

I am so honored to have met him. He was absolutely amazing! He took all of the "mystery" out of tracking, how could I have thought it was such a hard concept?? He gave us 8 hours of theory, then he watched each dog track, and told us where we could improve and how. He then taught us his foolproof system for teaching a dog to track and I totally attribute my tracking score (IPO1) to his teachings!

Here are some photos of Gladiator doing some scent pads:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GTR4_zpsdb54e8dd.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GTR2_zpse4eb2e50.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GTR1_zpse82ad994.jpg

Gladiator was the superstar of the trip. EVERY trainer we met loved him, and said he is World Championship material. Pavol was particularly impressed, and could not say enough about how amazing this dogs abilities are.

We all got our diplomas from the FCI as Training Directors, my trainer got her Bronze Master Trainer Certification as well.

Some photos from the school:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/AzEn5_zps5cdedd52.jpg - Getting our evaluation from another student on our IPO practice performance
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/AzEn4_zps37d22fa1.jpg - Ironhide practicing her send away
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/AzEn3_zpsb52fdd71.jpg - Diploma Day!
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/AzEn2_zps86d8cc8d.jpg - Ironhide practicing her retrieve over the A-Frame
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/AzEn1_zps2be66895.jpg - Me practicing my helper skills with a Black Russian
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/obslovakia_zpsc3fcc37e.jpg - OB Practice with Ironhide


I earned my BH with Gladiator:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GBH1_zpsec0f4653.jpg - Reporting in for the OB portion
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GBH2_zps64ea9401.jpg - Part of the traffic test
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GBH4_zps69927491.jpg - resting in the shade while the others did their traffic test
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GBH3_zps62a4b686.jpg - Evaluations at the end

Ironhide and I earned our IPO 1! We got 1st Place, High in Trial. Tracking 98 points (Thank you Pavol), Obedience 86 (lost 10 points right off the bat when she tried to take out the person firing the blanks gun. Thank God she downs in motion) and Protection 90 points. So not too shabby, and I definitely know what I need to work on for my 2!:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPOHIT_zps07369c41.jpg

TRACKING
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPOTR2_zps0cbd923d.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1_zpsc96e9901.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO13_zpsfb8becb8.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO12_zps9ac6d678.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO110_zps08f86d00.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1TR_zps3fa2e0f3.jpg

OBEDIENCE
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1OB4_zpsa35948e2.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1OB5_zps278a40de.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1OB3_zps7cc28669.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1OB1_zpse5fb7017.jpg

PROTECTION
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1PR2_zpsf4aebecc.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1PR1_zps7025057f.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1PR3_zps5c3237bd.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1PR4_zpsc81b03d4.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1PR5_zps4e0ad153.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/IPO1PR6_zpse34bcbb9.jpg

Gladiators custom collar from the Miscolc Dog Show:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GCustomCollar1_zps052b4a86.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/GCustomCollar_zps28f1d95b.jpg

And just a few pictures from the World Dog Show: 

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/WDS2013_zps0362342f.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/WDS20133_zps28e42da1.jpg
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af164/NiomiSmith/WDS20132_zpsae0c8a30.jpg

I got a custom vest made with WDS 2013 and two German Shepherd logos in gems made, once it arrives I will post pictures too. 

The trip home was hectic and overwhelming, I managed to chip a bone in my ankle and tear some tendons in my leg, so I am casted for 3 weeks, so I guess I am working on tracking!!

Gladiator and Ironhide were so amazing and I can't say anything about them on this trip that was bad. They are the best working dogs a gal could ask for thats for sure.

Future plans, we have Gladiators IPO 1 and Ironhide's IPO 2 at the end of August. Both have an agility seminar this weekend, both will compete in August for Agility titles. Also in August, Gladiator will go for his Rally level 1 and Novice, Ironhide her Rally level 3 and finish her Novice. I have plans to breed them next spring, so I am trying to get as much of the titling done now.

Please feel free to ask questions, I can't remember everything we did, there was just too much, but maybe if you ask a questions I will remember and can answer


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

WOW, outstanding! A big congratulations!

I remember the story of Gladiator almost passing away from a reaction to the rabies vaccine, I think? Check him out today!

This dog lives up to his name in more ways than one!


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Sounds like an amazing trip? Where did you go through??? Sounds like something I would love to do!!! 

Congrats by the way!!!!


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Courtney said:


> WOW, outstanding! A big congratulations!
> 
> I remember the story of Gladiator almost passing away from a reaction to the rabies vaccine, I think? Check him out today!
> 
> This dog lives up to his name in more ways than one!


Yes that was him, and I seriously underestimated and appreciated this dog. I think I am so used to seeing him being a goofy boy (like running into a glass door 3 TIMES!!) to really see the amazing competition dog he can be.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

gsdsar said:


> Where did you go through???
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


It was amazing!

Do you mean who did we do the certification through?

My trainer is from Hungary, so the dog school she learned from did a certification through the FCI. It can be anywhere from 14 days-6 weeks long depending on the course. There were speakers everyday, so we started with theory for 4-6 hours followed by training on the field and directing training with both other trainers who were certifying and some of the schools students. For the "Training Director" level you have to have been directing training and teaching students a minimum of 7 years. There is then the Bronze Master, Silver Master and Gold Master trainer certifications, so it is quite intense.

We had Cynology/Ethology, Tracking, Obedience, Protection, Nutrition, Common Ailments, Dog Biology (emphasis on skeletal structure) - and how each of these things pertains to working and training sport/working dogs specifically. Each person who spoke was the best in their field in Hungary and all of the training speakers had competed at the World Championships. It was such an amazing opportunity and I am so grateful to have had the chance.

The only way to be able to get into one of these certifications is to know the host school director, or similar. In this case, my trainer got us in. There were others who applied who did not get to attend as the course was full.

Also, no one spoke English, or very little, so my trainer had to translate EVERYTHING for 14 days!


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Yeah, wow that's awesome!!! Wish we had things like that here!!! Or do we? 


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

gsdsar said:


> Yeah, wow that's awesome!!! Wish we had things like that here!!! Or do we?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Not that I know of, which is one of the reasons I went all the way there. It was crazy when everyone asked "Where are you from?", to be able to answer "The Yukon", and get the *hunh* stare, until I followed with "Beside Alaska...", then they all seemed to know where we were from LOL


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

Wow! That is really awesome! 

Congrats!


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

gsdsar said:


> Yeah, wow that's awesome!!! Wish we had things like that here!!! Or do we?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


There is nothing close for dog training here for the training and certification that is over there.

What part of Hungary? Our club there is in Budapest, about 20 minutes from the airport.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Smithie86 said:


> There is nothing close for dog training here for the training and certification that is over there.
> 
> What part of Hungary? Our club there is in Budapest, about 20 minutes from the airport.


We trained in Miscolc, that is where the school is.


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