Vika Bezus, Ukranian National Guard, Military Breeder AND FCI World Champion 2022

Vika is well known in the IGP Community. In 2022, when everyone was watching the horrible things happening in Ukraine, Vika, a Ukrainian military handler, managed to travel to the FCI World Championships in Roudnice .. and took home the World Championship title - cheered on by viewers of all nations!

Original Text:

Statements that IGP or Mondioring dogs are extremely dangerous for society affect the whole dog training community. I can’t stay aside.

I am talking not as a sportsman, but as a military person and a breeder of military working dogs:

My own dogs (Malinois and German Shepherds) are working dogs at the service of the Ukrainian National Guard. They are active in different services. Some are doing search and rescue, some are protection dogs, some search explosives. Some dogs were honored for great service since 2014, when Ukraine was invaded for the first time by Russia.

These are different dogs, their work is drastically different. The only thing that unites them is IGP and that they are living under the same roof with me and my two year old child.

Before getting a badge of military dog, all those dogs had IGP3 and qualified for world championships FCI/FMBB/WUSV.

I am not sure if dog trainers would understand this analogy without some background which I am happy to give. Everyone who is in the military definitely understands that you cannot have a broken rifle and carry it just in case. We check if our “rifle” is working at IGP championships.

I don’t know a single more complex discipline in dogsports. It engages all processes in the brain of a dog, instincts, tests nervous system. It shows the ability of the dog to work under control, at high distance. We evaluate the dog’s unquestionable willingness to work. The lives of people depend on it!

Only thanks to these dogs I am still alive and all my family members also.

Not every dog is suitable for every job. That is the reason why we have over 400 breeds. At the same time, not every dog of a working breed is able to perform all duties and function. That is why selection is crucial and selection is impossible without work.

Would people in positions of power in specialized departments be ready today without quality dogs at their side? Would they be willing to risk lives of their military men or policemen without testing because IGP tests were banned?

Are governments ready to be held responsible for the lost lives of people because they chose to trust populism and fantasies of people who don’t work in the context? Would the world really disregard professionalism in favor of those who built wealth based on populism, spreads ignorance and talk the loudest?…