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2010-02-02 Wiltshire Wet Leos (Water Rescue Leonbergers - 2)

Water rescue work with dogs needs special training. For this purpose special training groups for dogs and their owners are usually organized. Sometimes they are all breed groups and sometimes single breed groups. There are 4 specialized Leonberger Water Rescue Groups in Great Britain. And now we are glad to tell you about a wonderful person – Becki Belcher – a founder of the Wiltshire Leonberger Water Rescue Group.

Becki is the owner of Leonius Leonbergers kennel and also a member of the Leonberger Club of Great Britain's Working Sub Committee. As there was no training groups nearby, Becki decided to organize one in the place she lives. And thus a Water Rescue Training Group in Swindon, Wiltshire was started. And here is Becki’s story:


	Becki Belcher – a member of the Working Sub Committee of LCGB and a founder of the Wiltshire Leonberger Water Rescue Group	John Tyler - a member of the Main Committee of LCGB and the primary organizer of the Hinchingbrook Wet Leos Water Rescue Training Group

“With the support of our breed Club, the Leonberger Club of GB and John Tyler, a member of the Main Committee of LCGB, I started a group, called the Wiltshire Wet Leo's, in April 2008. John is also a seasoned Water Rescue Trainer and the primary organizer of the Hinchingbrook Wet Leo’s Water Rescue Training Group. John’s help guided me through the setting up of a group for the West of England and with the help of John and many other experienced Water Rescue Work enthusiasts, we finally have our group. This group now meets every two weeks from April to October. We all don our wet suits and fling ourselves into freezing cold water for the dogs to jump in and rescue us. We've never had so much fun in our lives!


*Lake 9, part of the Cotswold Water Park*	*Wiltshire Wet Leo's set up*	**Mr Peter Workman with Ti (Becki's leo and the only one in the group who has a "B" Certificate)**	*Demonstration day*	*Wet Leo's set up from the other bank*

Now based at the Cotswold Sailing Club (on Lake 9, part of the Cotswold Water Park) who's Commodore, Vice Commodore and Committee have kindly agreed to take us on board as a permanent fixture at their Club and let us use their wonderful lake and facilities as our new home, we train our dogs on and in their lake, we meet regularly to learn the valuable art of Water Rescue Work. Mr Peter Workman played the largest part in making it possible for our Wet Leos group to use the C.S. Club's lake and facilities; we have a lot to thank him!


*Everyone waiting their turn in the sun*	*Three happy handlers and three wet Leos*	*Elsa now tries the boat retrieve*	*Bonnie and Oakly taking it easy*	*Here comes Gigi for a swim to mum*

*Gigi Shakes off the water ready for another go!*	*Carole's girls - Mum Lyric with daughter Meadow*	*Frazzle says hello to a little Lab pup*	*Elsa is retrieving her favorite toy*	*Frazzle's so keen, he's nearly off before everyone is ready*

*Emma takes five with Elsa and Kai*	*Emma and Elsa after a god dip*	*Digby takes a time out with Gigi and with Yaz watching over them both*	*Carole gets ready to do her boat launch with Meadow*	*Charlotte* *taking a leo-ride*

Digby has ideas other than rescuing Yaz and decides to chase after dad, Sean, who is driving the boat!!	*Becki and Ti having a well earned rest on the bank*	*Gigi, the youngest member of the group, takes to the water with tentative steps, with lots of encouragement*	*Bonnie takes Brinkley in but he has his own idea for an exercise*	*Getting an ear full of water and only half way back, Ti decided to shake the rest of the way, “Yuk, you got me boy!”*

Once we threw open the opportunity of Water Rescue Training to any Leo owners near enough to attend, the requests to join our new group came flooding in. Our group of like minded enthusiasts which consists of 35 human members (6 of whom are junior members under 16 years) and 18 dogs from puppies to fully matured adult Leos. We now have our own website dedicated to our group and now meet regularly from April to October to train together and have loads of fun and laughs along the way.”


*Leo on guard*	*Holly and Penny are demonstrating a perfect retrieve*	*The youngest member, Gigi, takes five while waiting her turn in the water*	*Penny sends Holly in from the shore*	*Morgan and Meadow keep some visitors’ company*

*Ready to be sent in any moment!!!*	*Racquel and Fogerty do a swim*	*Oakely goes in for this first dip of the day*	*How many people can a Leo rescue?*	*Synchronized swimming*

*Willow’s part of rescue work is over for today, but she is still on guard*	*Morgan gives Carole a Leo Kiss*	*Ноw many Leos do one need to be rescued?*		*Mum Fiona pops in and Gigi follows with no encouragement needed*

*Ti with his blanket to keep him warm after his dip. All the dogs get dried off first, and then come humans! Hypothermia is a real risk!*	*Ti pulling back 3 people and the boat with Becki holding his harness to enable him to pull efficiently in the water*	“This water work larks hard work Mum, I need a rest” - Morgan takes a break on Carol’s legs	*Zeus gets a go in the boat, he just loves it!*	*Becki’s Leo - Ti (Leonius Titan) is proud of having “B” Certificate*

Our special thanks to Becki Belcher and all leo-fans from Wiltshire Wet Leos Training Group for exceptionally interesting information about Water Rescue Work and wonderful photos, that helped us to make our story more vivid. We are sure, that this information will be of great help to other leo owners who may want to start their own training groups.

We welcome everybody to send us information on Water Rescue Leos and we’ll be glad to input it!

The beginning see HERE