HANNA SCHULTZ-GUSTAFSSON

THE IFH1 WORLD CHAMPION IN 2023

My name is Hanna, I'm 42 years old and live south of Stockholm. I work as a teacher of Swedish language for adult immigrants. Right now I have only one dog, Team Extreme Gripa, a five and a half year old female.

I got my first dog and first Rottweiler in 2003. Together we trained and competed in obedience and also tried some tracking in “Nordic style”. With the next two dogs, also Rottweilers, I have mainly competed in obedience, one of my dogs became the Swedish obedience champion. When I got Gripa, I was interested in trying IFH tracking as I thought that these tracks seemed interesting and challenging because of the meticulous, detailed and precise execution.

Hanna, you are the IFR World Champion in the IFH1 category in 2023. What does this achievement mean to you? How did you celebrate it and did anything change in your life as a result? 

Winning the IFH1 last year means a lot to me, Gripa is as I said the first dog that I have trained FH tracking with, so it feels great to win such a title. Before the IFR World Championships, I had only participated in local trials in Sweden, so this was our first major competition and our first competition outside of Sweden. Since it was our first World Championship, I hoped that we could make a good track and gain a lot of experience for the future, but I did not expect that we would be able to win. We had time to celebrate a little but then it was time for the IGP trials the next day. Where among other’s Gripa’s litter brother Gambler, and half-sister Extra, were going to participate. 

Your female Team Extreme Gripa achieved wonderful 95 points at the WC IFR 2023 – could you describe your performance a bit for us? What were you satisfied with and if anything, what do you wish to change?  

All in all, I am very happy with Gripa's track at the WC IFR, she tracked as she usually does in training. We very rarely have access to track on soil, we are tracking almost always on grass at home, so I think she did the track well even though she is not used to the surface. I know we had a few mistakes, for example, she touched one of the articles a little with her paw and she checked one of the corners a bit. But I feel that we made a good effort and Gripa did her best all the way so I can't really be dissatisfied with anything. 

Gripa was five years in January – she is a young female for tracking. Handlers usually start their IGP career in all three phases at the competitions and later some of them decide to continue tracking in IFH categories to “amuse” their dogs when dogs get older. Do you consider tracking as your primary discipline, or how is it? 

Yes, unlike many who may do FH tracking with their dogs after an IGP career, we have invested in the tracking right away. Both I and Gripa think it's a lot of fun, so it suits us well. We train some obedience as well but no bite work. In Sweden, we have trials with only the A and B part, so we have participated and passed BSL1, 2, 3. But tracking is our primary sport. 

What is Gripa’s character, what is she like? Did you see her tracking abilities when she was a puppy? 

Gripa is a soft and quite sensitive individual who likes routines. She works and does her best when she is confident in her task and recognizes herself in what we do. We started tracking when she was about 6 months old. In the beginning, we didn't track that often but when she was about 1.5 years old, we have started tracking regularly. Since I was also new to this sport, it probably took longer for us than for others who have more experience.  I've had to try things out and see what works best for us. 

How often do you go tracking and what is your usual training routine? 

I try to divide the training. We sometimes focus on corners, sometimes on endurance, starts, indication of articles and so on. We vary the length and difficulty and surface of the tracks according to the available terrains so that it is not predictable or boring for Gripa. I have noticed that Gripa works the best when she gets to track a lot, so we try to train 3–5 times a week. I also think that things can change with age and experience, but for now, she has worked the best on that set-up.  

Do you go tracking with some other handlers and do you have a trainer? Do you need a permit to enter the fields, meadow or any terrain in Sweden? 

We don't have a trainer that we train with on a regular basis, but I have received very good help with the tracking from Gripa's breeders Soffie and Ossian Modin and also from Oliver Neubrand when he was in Sweden and had seminars at kennel Team Extreme. I also try to get inspiration and ideas for our own training when I talk to or see other talented handlers and their dogs. We usually train ourselves or with a friend and if there is an opportunity, we go to training weekends with others, but we don’t have a group that we train with regularly. Here in Sweden, you must have permission from the landowner to be allowed to track in fields and other cultivated land, so unfortunately you can't just go out and track where you want to. 

Will you be at IFR WCH 2024 competing again in the IFH1 category, or would you like to get to IFH2? Have you ever been to Slovakia? 

Our last year's IFH1 debut at the World Championships in the Czech Republic feels hard to beat, so this year, we will participate in the IFH2 category and I am looking forward to coming to Slovakia in October very much. It will be my first visit in this country. 

Thank you for the interview. :-) 

Draha Mašková