Team USA Places 5th at WUSV
Team USA at PPL Park Stadium in Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of Diehl’s K9 Training Center.
Congratulations to Team USA for their 5th place finish at the WUSV 2013 World Championship!
The WUSV World Championship was held October 16-21st in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the PPL Park Stadium. Approximately 100 dog/handler teams from 33 different countries competed in this year’s event. After four days of intense competition, the team from Germany took home both the Team First Place and the Individual First Place, with German competitor Huber Helmet and his dog Hank vom Weinbergblick being crowned the new WUSV Champion with a score of 288 points. Robbie de Jong from the Netherlands was in a close second with his dog Glenn vom Haus Valkenplatz, with 286 points. Team Netherlands took 2nd, with Team Austria in 3rd and Team Slovakia in 4th, edging Team USA into 5th place by a mere 3 points.
Many excellent dogs and handlers were showcased at this event. Memorable performances include protection routines from Hank vom Weinbergblick (Germany), Glenn vom Haus Valkenplatz (Netherlands), Chris spod Lavoz (Slovakia), a few heartbreaker routines from Ipo van de Biezenhoeve (Belgium) and and Finn vom Metterursprung (Canada) when the dogs refused to ‘out’ or release the helper. More memorable performances include USA competitor Chris Meverden and Danger von Juliet’s 100-point tracking score, and several very nice obedience routines from Furia Drapa (this Czech female scored the only V-rated obedience routine in the whole event!), Witz Eqidius (Slovakia), Kummel von der Donnerbrucke (Belgium), and more.
USA Competitors Chris Meverden with Danger von Juliet, Sean O’Kane with Max ze Stribrneho kamene, Josh Markow with Ickky vom Teufelsgarten, and Mike Diehl with Irmus Galan Nalag placed 8th, 13th, 31st, and 47th respectively. Sadly, Tom Gillies’ dog Figo vom Fuchsgraben was injured, and they were unable to finish the event.
It takes an immense amount of hard work, dedication, and perseverance to compete at the world level. Congratulations to all the competitors at this year’s WUSV Championship! Videos of various competitors and their performances can be found below:
