IRO Certified International Rescue Dog Examination - Day 1 Concluded

On Friday, May 8, 2026, the first day of the IRO Certified International Rescue Dog Examination was held at the Yatsugatake International Rescue Dog Training Center (Chairman of the Tournament: Akinori Eto, Member of the House of Representatives, former Minister of Defense).

In conjunction with this competition, judges arrived from Korea and the Czech Republic. Additionally, trainees who are future judges also came from Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand for this examination.

Obedience exercises were conducted with two pairs simultaneously.

From the perspective of rescue dog health checks, all participating dogs underwent a medical check by a veterinarian upon registration (Cooperation: Veterinarian Ken Kawabata).

Medical check by Veterinarian Kawabata.

The participating pairs will perform search and obedience tasks over three days.

Part of the B-level (advanced) search activities was also conducted. Following the regulations, they challenged a search to find three role-players acting as people in need of rescue. The judges explained the simulated disaster scenario, and each pair planned a search strategy based on meteorological conditions and the assumed damage, then carried out their search activities according to that plan.

After completing the search activities, the participating pairs received commentary from the judges, including feedback on their respective challenges.

Pairs receiving commentary after being explained the simulated damage by the judges.

For more details, please contact the NPO Japan Rescue Dog Association.

https://rdta.or.jp/