December UPdate

We have just completed our final training session of 2023. Trainee handlers and their dogs were with us between Monday the 11th and Wednesday the 13th December to continue their training on their pathway of choice. During the 3 days we covered Cadaver (Land), Cadaver (Water) and Live Person (Tracking/Trailing).

Monday and Tuesday was spent on Anglesey where the trainees had to manage some wet and windy weather but all performed well in all the work they carried out.

On Wednesday we returned to Penmaenmawr where we had the trainees searching on areas above the Sychnant Pass before returning to Graiglwyd to create training graves for future search work.

We at UK-K9 would like to wish all our current & past trainees, supporters and partners a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous and Busy New Year.

Here is a selection of photos from the past few days.

During the weekend of the 24th - 26th November we were back in Penmaenmawr delivering a full programme of training, assessments and reassessments.

The Cadaver (Land) pathway group were busy with an assessment for Dog Handler Louise Woodhead and her dog Kit. Both performed very well during their assessment and we are delighted to announce that they are now qualified for operational work.

Adrian Rogulski and his dog Shadow were up for their annual re-assessment and again they performed very well and have been certificated for another 12 months.

The rest of the students carried on with their progress towards gaining the required skills and guided learning hours for their future assessments.

The Water Search group spent their training in Conwy where they worked their dogs on the boat under the watchful gaze of Conwy Castle.

The Air scenting group conducted their training in the hills and uplands around Penmaenmawr and again worked on building up their skills levels and hours for future assessment.

On Monday the 27th November a group of trainee handlers took part in a navigation training session on the uplands of Penmaenmawr. All of them enjoyed their session and learnt some much needed map reading and navigation skills for future work.

Here is a selection of photos from the weekend.

Earlier in November we conducted a 3 day training session in Cwm Darran in South Wales.

Cadaver (Land), Cadaver (Water) and Live Person (Trailing) were the pathways being taught during this weekend. We would very much like to thanks the rangers of the country park in Cwm Darran for allowing us to training in their area and also a big Thank You to SARDA South Wales for sourcing the training land for us. 

On the Saturday it was great to be able to be involved and share the day with SARDA on their training development day.

2 UK-K9 Training for Excellence instructors have just returned from a week visiting the Polish Mountain Rescue Organisation (GOPR) in various locations namely Rabka - Zdrój and Village Huba over Jezioro Czorsztyńskie.

The main aim of this visit was a follow up from previous visits that David Jones conducted a few years ago but also to discuss future training needs and arrangements and to share examples of good practice, areas for development and co-working.

7 dogs and handlers were involved in training mainly on the Cadaver (Land) , Cadaver (Water), Live Victim (Air Scenting) and Collapsed Buildings/Confined Spaces pathways. 

A big thank you to Andrzej Górowski  & Krystian Faltyn for their wonderful hospitality and generosity.

UK- K9 Training for Excellence are very much looking forward to the opportunity to continue our training with GOPR, in the new year.

Here is a selection of photographs from this very positive and successful visit.

We have been extremely busy again this month with 2 back to back training sessions hosted in North Wales. On the 16th-18th October we made our way onto Anglesey for 3 days of Water Detection (including bank search) training in the Rhosneigr, Malltraeth area. After just one day of rest and we were off again, this time up to Llyn Crafnant in the Conwy Valley. During the 3 days here (20th-22nd October) we concentrated on Cadaver (Land), Cadaver (Water) and Live Person (Tracking/Trailing). 

In total we had 25 dogs training over the 2 courses. Here is a selection of photos from both courses.

We move on to Ireland on the 25th October for a weekend training session before we head on to Poland in early November. Further details will be added to this page once we return.

We conducted our second training course of the month between Friday the 22nd and Sunday the 24th September.

We concentrated on 2 main pathways in this session namely the Cadaver Detection pathway and the Water Detection Pathway.

The water group concentrated on bank searching along a few rivers in the Penmaenmawr area whereas the cadaver group moved up to our training areas at Graiglwyd.

This weekend was purely a continuation of skills development and training with no trainees due for any assessments. All trainees under the guidance of our instructors were given time to work on specific elements of their training with the aim of extending search areas in order to give the dogs the opportunity to work on larger finds over an extended time period.

We are now planning our October training sessions which will take place on the 16th-18th October in Holyhead and 20th-22nd October in the Conwy Valley.

Below is a selection of photos from the weekend’s activities.