Oberammergau, Germany - A Return Visit

This was the third year for Kath and Karen to be invited to return to the beautiful "Passion Play" Bavarian Village of Oberammergau where their host Inge has fabulous facilities for the many dog training courses she organisers every year.  Her hotel "Hundesporthotel Wolf" is the centre point of the town - except every ten years when the Passion Plays are performed.

There are several spacious halls where the training takes place and once again, Kath and Karen were allocated Hall B.

Inside the roomy hall with  a non slip rubberised tiled floor and windows giving natural light down one side - the hall is approximately 50m x 20m and is perfect for training HTM and Freestyle.

A return guest was Sabine from Switzerland with her adorable "Snoopy".   Sabine had purchased a beautiful lead for Snoopy when supporting the Auction raising funds for Team GBR 2014. A delightful little dog, full of character who knows when to take "time out"!

 First on the list of "needs" from those attending was heelwork.

And of course how to keep your dog motivated whilst training so intensely, which another returning attendee, Barbara demonstrated perfectly!

 Barbara and her beautiful dog Pia.

Another candidate for Heelwork - this lovely young Blue Merle is usually chasing and catching frisbees so HTM makes a big difference!

And of course with such a huge area for training - everyone can be on the floor together with plenty of room for their personal space.

 Lunch break - and what a beautiful view.

 Snoopy perfecting his roll in a towel

And to finish - Sabine wanted him to be laid flat on his side - clicker training soon sorted this move out!

Midweek through the training and Wednesday was just half a day - luckily Karen and Kath were taken sightseeing by Barbara and her husband Kurt.  A chance to see more of this picturesque country.

They arrived at a Lake where Kurt thought he could hire a motor boat to take them around the lake, however he was to be disappointed as they were only hiring out pedalos!   Kath was suffering from a bad back (again!) but Karen and Kurt took to the pedals and off they went, only to be greeted by some wild horses who lived on an island in the lake.

This handler, Katharina, was another return attendee and during the year had given birth to a lovely baby girl. She certainly wasn't going to miss any opportunity to train and the baby was very comfortable in the sarong she wore.

 A very happy Claudia with Rufus the Frisbee dog who knows his reward very well!

And the week was soon over, finishing with a gathering around the hotel pool.  The weather had been remarkably good.

Time to say "Goodbye" to friends old and new - Kath and Karen thank everyone for supporting their training week and look forward to another return trip in 2016.