From 18.6. to 20.6.2021 DVRPS association participated in the “Real Mission - area” training in Osp. The training was attended by Andrej Indihar with Meli, Dušan Weber with Ares and Nataša Bregar with Ajka. The organizer of the training was DRP Burja.

We left Ljubljana on Friday at 2 pm. We arrived in Osp fairly quickly. In the local inn "Pri Vovku" we first refreshed ourselves and then immediately set up our base in a small camp next to the inn. Given that we were quite early, we chose a great shady spot.

By 18 hours most of the training participants had gathered. Participants came from Slovenia and Italy. Registration was followed by a group dinner and then a presentation of the work. We were first greeted by evaluators Roman Starman, Jerneja Ternovec and Alois Balog. This was followed by a short education on what are the important things of such training and what to look out for. Then, in practice, they showed how dog alert at a figurant should look like and how the dog is rewarded in that situation.

During the course, the participants had to take care of their own food and transport to the work sites. Our GPS devices were loaded with 3 sectors and one route. The basic knowledge of using GPS was a condition for work.

The following tests were performed:

- 2x search in sector (cca 60 000m2)
- Night search along the way (3km)
- Renewal of knowledge of GPS use

Our group began the first search on Saturday at 9 p.m. When we got to the location, they assigned each a sector. We had 40 minutes to search. Even though it was early it was already very hot and the work was quite strenuous for both the dog handler and the dog.
After completing the search, we dropped the dogs off in the shade and joined the next participants in the work as observers. Watching someone at work was very interesting and instructive.

We then headed back to camp where we took a short break and tried to cool down the dogs who had a really hard time withstanding the heat. In the meantime, we had a short training on the use of GPS. We were given the task to enter the coordinates of points in GPS in different formats and then find these points.
The next search was at 2.30pm. We drove again to the same location where we were assigned other sectors. The evaluators prepared such scenarios that the search was much shorter than in the first round. Temperatures rose above 30 degrees and working in such conditions was really difficult and tiring.

After returning to the camp, only the night search was waiting for us. Given that we were starting among the first groups, we were looking forward to the night work among the first. Later it turned out that only Andrej was so lucky. The night search was scheduled for 10.20pm. Dušan and I were in line at 1 in the morning. The night search was a search along the way. The start of the trail was close to the campsite. The path was about 3 km long. The evaluators walked the path with each participant, while evaluating our work and the work of the dog and, if necessary, also providing professional support.
The training was perfectly organized and very useful for both the dog handlers and their dogs.