A WEK-LONG International dog seminar sponsored by the Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) was held at the Popradské pleso mountain lake in the High Tatras at the beginning of February. After a year of training, the dogs and their handlers went through several model field rescue situations.
The programme activities were focused on searching for buried persons and objects after an avalanche. At the end, final tests and grading of the dogs’ abilities took place.
“Dogs learn at home so this exercise was aimed mainly at testing and sorting out each dog's abilities; based on these results, the dogs are later deployed and used in rescue operations,” the head of dog service training for the HZS, Ladislav Gardošík, told the SITA newswire.
Participation at Popradské pleso was truly international. Dog handlers and their animals came from Slovenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Romania to take part in the exercises and training.
During the entire week, seminar participants were able to use a Mil Mi-171 helicopter owned by the Interior Ministry to train with their dogs in helicopter rescue operations
