As the World Championship of rescue dogs is the contest with the widest variety of breeds participating it has conquered the first rank among working dog contests from a cynological point of view.
Without any doubt rescue dog work is the most demanding field of work with regard to physical fitness, directability and character traits. Hence it is generally of great importance that the World Championship of rescue dogs gained so much popularity among dog handlers and organisations during the last couple of years. The top performances that are aimed at during the championship should always be seen as important step towards the goal of training - mission readiness. This applies for every single special discipline. Also this year here in Samobor the three main working fields for rescue dogs are offered: area search, rubble search and tracking search. The executive organisation Croatian Rescue Dog Association (CRDA) has been working hard to prepare sites for nose work that meet the standards of World Championships. I wish further success to Tomislav Marević and his team for the preparation of the 14th World Championship which will be held in Croatia for the first time. I would like to send my best wishes for constructive training to those dog handlers that are already training for this event with their dogs.

Dr. Wolfgang Zörner
IRO President