Competing at the WUSV World Championship 2016
Never in my wildest dream would I have thought that winning the Working German Shepherd & Dogsport Clubs of Australasia (WGSDCA) IPO3 National Championship in June 2016 meant going to Meppen, Germany. WGSDCA has worked relentlessly on getting Australia represented at the WUSV World Championships. The dream came through this year based on a WUSV invite following to SV Head Judge Wilfried Tautz and WGSDCA's SV liaison over many years, SV Training Judge Uwe Stolpe, officiation at the WGSDCA IPO championship. This amazing result is the culmination of hard work from many people in Australia and overseas. The period between the invite to actually going was full of political sensitivities and personal stress due to the financial commitment that we had to make before knowing for certain whether we would actually go. I was overwhelmed by new friends who seem to appear out of the blue and who stuck their heads out to support us. I especially want to the G & L Donal and Viv McCambridge from NZGSDAC (including their Board of Executives) who dared to cross the bridge between show and IPO GSD. You have been amazing. I am humbled by the many messages received through social media from people all over the world: Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, US, Malaysia, Germany, Denmark, the list goes on - all due to a single shared passion: German shepherd dogs and the right to participate in activities recognized by SV/WUSV. Thankyou for your support - we hope we did Australasia proud.
From a personal perspective, getting a dog ready for World Championship level is hard, actually almost impossible in Australia. It is probably good that I didn't know where Kita's BH i May 2013 would lead. Competitive IPO requires great training buddies and the fact that we placed 92 at the WUV WM 2016 out of +150 dogs is a testimony to my fellow training mates at Sydney Dogsport club. We are talking a 3year process to get a dog to this stage - thankyou guys.
Jabina Nala struggled to settle in the 10 days leading up to the competition and I owe the Danish WUSV 2016 team a great deal as thy welcomed in on their training. You guys were amazing. Thankyou
A lot of people have asked what it feels like walking into a Bundes Liga soccer Stadium with +15,000 spectators. you feel very (very) small! Trialing on that level was for me an exercise in controlling fear and nerves. With that said - it was unreal. The IPO spirit over there is next to none. It felt like electric lightening took over the tent during the Opening Ceremony. Seeing all these countries walking int to crazy music was hilarious. I think for most of us Australians who were there and walked in with me had a hidden tear in their eyes when hearing the Australian Anthem. Being part of the competitor group and showing your work on that field is humbling. We had a blast despite all the nerves. The closing ceremony was like the Olympics. Packed stadium and 250 GSDs and their handlers on the field. A huge congratulation to the 2016 WUSV World Champion Vaclav Ouska with Qvido Vepede (93 98 98)
Being there, trialing, is SO different from out trials in Australia. You cannot prepare for that in Australia, as we simply don't have the IPO volumes to match it. With that said, I hope this year's event has stimulated people's curiosity asto what IPO is. It is an utility sport hat allows you to work with your dog and its natural instinct. Regardless of what level you want ot take to, the dogs love the opporutnity to use their natural instincts, be challenged and most importatnly spend time with us. What a great year, see you all in Holland 2017
