Myself and Mabel are back in Austria continuing our training to become the UK's first qualified Professional Pettrailer team. See our facebook page for updates on what we're up to :) PetTrailer UK training sessions will resume from the 11th November - see you there!
Home furnishings + Storage units + Hot dogs + Pettrailers = Ikea Trail! A fantastic evening spent trailing at Ikea in Graz, Austria. Hiding places ranging from shower cubicles, between flat pack furniture boxes, on sofas and inside an Ikea shopping bag! The evening finished off the only way it could be....with a hot-dog challenge for our furry companions :)
Leash handling and crossing work is a difficult undertaking for beginners, from learning how to handle the leash to learning how to correctly read your trainee search dog. This was successfully communicated to the participants on our latest line handling course. The day comprised of a morning of entertaining theory followed by a practical session - which was lots of fun for everybody involved. Video recordings of the practical session made it possible to see where there was still room for improvement. In the end everybody understood - that only practice makes perfect :-) Â
The LAMA Trail...the anticipation of today's trail was huge for all teams and a first for PetTrailer UK trainer Becky. When we stood in the stable in the morning together with 6 lamas weighing 150-180kg, some participants wondered if this would be too much for our dogs. Carina's detailed and competent explanation of her sociable animals restored faith and confidence. Subsequently, a lama was hidden in a steep section of woodland - hair was used as a scent article. In part, our pettrailers already had some respect for the big animal that was hidden in the woods :) All were visibly [...]
Done! The first complete animal search in Austria (probably Europe, if not worldwide :) ) 16 of our Austrian Pettrailer collegues participated in demanding trails ranging from 200m to 1.4km, depending on their starter class. It was great that in addition to Basic 1 and Basic 2 participants, 3 more professional PETTRAILERS joined the ranks!
