Anna Vddchenkoโs operating athlete in the official triathlon IGP and her tail friend – the German shepherd Knox became unusual guests in the Central Children’s Library No. 5. Anna told the children how to understand dogs, how to safely communicate with them and what to do if she met an aggressive dog on the street.
The story of Anna and Knox began very simply – with a dream.
โI wanted to have a dog for a very long time,โ Anna smiles. – When this finally happened, I contacted those people who plunged me into the sport of the Troeoborye, then the first classes began.
Sport IGP is a serious test for endurance, intelligence and coherence of the work of man and his pet. There are three disciplines in the official triathlon: trace work (search by smell), obedience (impeccable performance of commands at a distance) and protection (controlled work with the defendant). All of them require serious preparation. Anna emphasizes that there are no universal recipes.
โEach dog needs its own approach,โ she says. – We train at the base and look at the dog itself that โcomes inโ. Thus, she herself can show us what she likes and suits the most.
For two and a half years of joint participation in the competition, Anna, with her faithful tail girlfriend Knox, occupied more than one prize. They took first place in qualification competitions in St. Petersburg, participate in Murmansk tournaments and exhibitions, at one of which they received the title of young champion.
Not everything in IGP depends on dogs. Such a sport requires careful training from a person, both physical and moral. At the recent Clean Cup, the couple was faced with difficulties.
โUnfortunately, we didnโt succeed there a little, we did not give up theโ trace, โAnna laments. – And here was my fault, it turned out that I stole points at the Knox. This is not only dog โโsport. Here you work with the dog paired, and your mistakes are also taken into account.
However, Anna and the Knox passed the obedience and protection to a high score, confirming the level of skill. In addition to good physical data, Knox also has acting talent. She recently starred in the short film โRun, Riverโ (12+), where the shepherd plays the favorite of the main character and her father. The premiere, according to Anna, is expected in the fall. It was after the filming of Anna and the Knox that they began to invite more often to children – to schools, and now in the libraries.
โChildren are afraid of mongrels, afraid of ordinary dogs, so I try to explain to the guys how to communicate with dogs, how to understand the dog,โ Anna says about the purpose of these meetings. In the library, the Knox turned into a patient and friendly “Textbook”. Children in practice learned to properly iron the dog: along the neck and to the chest. Anna explained in detail how to behave with unfamiliar dogs, why it is impossible to tease them or frighten them, how to recognize the signs of aggression and, most importantly, what to do if the dog is hostile to – not screaming and not waving his arms, not to run, do not provoke, do everything calmly and try to pay less attention to the dog.
The no less valuable advice that Anna gave is the secret of successful upbringing, rather, of any animal, not only a dog: โThis is a member of the family, this is a child who must be raised from childhood. The more you put her in her brain in childhood, in her education, the more convenient and better you and the dog will live. โ
Danil Terekhov
Photo by Igor Eremenko