December Update

We conducted our final training weekend of the year at Penmaenmawr between the 11th and 13th of December.

Due to the time of year, we had a smaller number of trainees than usual. The weekend consisted of continuation training for our newly registered trainees and we also conducted annual assessments for both Lisa and her search dog Cora and Vinny and his search dog Scout.

We are pleased to announce that both Lisa and Vinny successfully completed their annual assessment and can continue with operational work for another year.

We are now going to take a well earned break over Christmas before we start 2025 with a very busy month.

In January we will be heading over to Ireland, Poland, Wrexham University  as well as conducting our January training weekend between the 17th to the 19th January.

All of us at UK-K9 Training for Excellence would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

We centred our training weekend activities in Penmaenmawr last weekend and welcomed over 16 handlers and their dogs.

On Friday we welcomed a group of new trainee handlers who will be starting their training in Cadaver Detection (Land) and Air Scenting (Trailing) and we also continued instruction for handlers who are well into their training as well as offering continuous training for qualified handlers.

On Saturday we were joined by members from Surrey Water Search team who were going to provide us with a demonstration of the kit they utilise for water search. Unfortunately, Storm Bert had other ideas so we were limited to what we could do due to safety reasons. We were, however, shown the equipment used such as side scan sonars and remote operative vehicles and as the weather improved later in the day we were able to conduct a few searches on the reservoir .

Despite the high winds and lashing rain we were able to continue with search scenarios for our handlers for both the cadaver and air scenting pathways and by Sunday the weather had improved and we had another day of continuous instruction with some great progress being shown all around.

We would like to thank ‘Sblash’ in Penmaenmawr for allowing us to make use of their site for Saturday’s session. 

We are now planning and preparing for our last session of 2024 between the 13th - 15th December.

As always, here is a selection of photos from last weekend’s training.

Following our summer break we went into September with a busy training weekend in Ireland.

Our instructors continued with the training of members from both Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and K9 Search & Rescue Northern Ireland.

14 dogs were in attendance over the weekend where all pathways were covered.

During the weekend Hannah Culbert successfully completed her Live Victim (Air Scenting) assessment - congratulations Hannah.

We were delighted to host members of the Danish Water Search Dogs, Mazurska Grupa S&R (Poland) and JRS OSP Skarbimierz (Poland). We spent 3 days conducting meetings, giving and attending presentations and conducting demonstrations and introductory training sessions. 

Everyone involved had a fabulous few days and we are very much looking forward to working with the teams from Denmark and Poland in the very near future.

Finally we held our October training weekend which took place in various locations in the Conwy Valley. All pathways were covered with training continuing with their training.

We also had 2 trainees, Vicky Cook and Jacob Horton, take part in the assessment and we are delighted to announce that both Vicky and her search dog Hiccup and Jacob and his search dog Chops have both qualified as Cadaver Detection teams. Congratulations to both of you as your hard work definitely was evident during the assessment. 

Here is a selection of photos from the past 2 months of work.

We headed over to Anglesey for our June training session where we welcomed over 30 dogs and handlers from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. 

These handlers represented lowland rescue, mountain rescue and private individuals covering all the NASDU pathways we deliver.

Congratulations to Clive Pickles and his search dog Duggy and to Shaun Ede and his search dog Monty for successfully completing their Cadaver (Water) assessment this weekend. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you over the past 12 months or so.

After a busy 5 days on Anglesey we had one day to sort out our kit etc. before flying off to Croatia for 8 days where we will be working with the Croatian Mountain Rescue Services (HGSS). 

Further information and photos from our Croatia visit will follow.

Here is a selection of photos from our training on Anglesey.  

We have had a particularly busy month with regards to training.

On May the 8th we travelled to Poland to deliver a 7 day course in Elk City for the Polish Fire Brigade and Search and Rescue Teams. Instruction was provided on the NASDU Level 3 pathways we deliver and we are looking forward to delivering further training in the near future.

We returned from Poland on the 15th May and on the 16th May we held our regular monthly training sessions for our trainee handlers in Penmaenmawr.

We welcomed 20+ handlers and their dogs over the 6 days of training. The trainees were able to continue with their training for their respective NASDU pathways in weather conditions ranging from very hot and calm to wet and cold conditions.

On Monday the 20th May we welcomed Amy Rattenbury from Wrexham University who delivered an excellent presentation on ‘Understanding Decomposition for Effective Cadaver Searches’. This was very well received by the trainees with lots of questions and interesting discussions ensuing as a result.

We are also very busy organising our October Conference and we have already secured speakers from Academia and Search & Rescue Teams. We will keep you updated with developments on a regular basis so keep checking our News page.

Here is a selection of photos from training delivered both in Poland and Penmaenmawr. 

April has been a very busy month for us with our lead instructor travelling around the country on various appointments.

In early April we visited an excellent facility in Huddersfield in preparation for our conference to be held in October (further details to follow very soon).

We then headed up to the Lake District to do a presentation and discussion regarding UK-K9 Training's future involvement in overseeing training programmes for search & rescue teams in the area.

This was followed by yet another busy 6 days of training last week (19th - 24th April) when we welcomed 14 dogs and their handlers for continued training on NASDU Accredited pathways.

The sessions were split into two 3 day programmes and locations throughout the Conwy Valley provided our trainees with new areas to train including woodland, river banks, lakes and mountainous terrain.

As soon as the training was completed on the 24th we were straight into our vehicle to attend the NASDU AGM where we gave a presentation on our training programmes and facilities.

Here are a selection of photos from all our April activities.

We ventured onto the island of Anglesey for our March training session where we welcomed 24 search dogs and their handlers from around the UK and Ireland. 

As usual we covered all the NASDU search and rescue pathways over a 6 day period.

We had a busy 6 days providing instruction for trainee handlers at various stages of their training from relative newcomers, handlers on the verge of going for their final assessments and qualified and experienced handlers undertaking their mandatory regular continuous training (CT).

We return to the Conwy Valley for our 2 April training sessions.

Here is a selection of photos of the handlers and their dogs on action on Anglesey.

Our February  training took place between the 16th-18th February in and around the Oswestry area.

All our pathways were covered during the weekend and we welcomed 12 dogs and their handlers for their continued NASDU accredited level 3 training.

Our Lead Instructor, David Jones, heads over to Ireland at the end of the month for continued training and instruction with members of Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and K9 Search & Rescue Northern Ireland.

In March we will be heading off to Anglesey for two 3 day sessions starting on the 15th March.

Here is a selection of photos from the training in Oswestry.

Last week we conducted two separate training sessions at our base in Penmaenmawr. Our first session took place between the 15th and 17th January and consisted of an assessment for dog handler Jacquie Wortley and her search dog Reya. We are delighted to announce that they were successful in their assessment and are now qualified for Cadaver (Land) detection work. Congratulations to you both on your achievement.

The other trainees in attendance this first session continued their work on developing and improving their skills in their given pathways. 

Our second session took place between the 19th and 21st January and we welcomed 2 new trainee handlers, one who will be working on Cadaver (Land) and the other on Live Person (Air Scenting). 

We managed 2 days of decent weather to give the new trainees a foundation in what they are expected to do for their chosen pathway but Sunday was more challenging with the imminent arrival of Storm Isha. 

Again, a very successful week was had by all involved. We head off to Ireland on the 25th January for more training with Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and K9 Search & Rescue NI. 

Here are a few photos from our training in Penmaenmawr.