The foreword by Frans Jansen (President of the FCI Working Dog - Commission)
to the 18th FCI IPO World Championship of the tracking dogs

The International Tracking Dog sports is held every year at the FCI World Championship his absolute peak. All working breeds can participate and jointly nominate the year's best.
This year's event takes place in Velten, Germany. Velten, the green city north of Berlin, is known for a impressive oven and ceramic museum. First mention Veltens be found from the year 1355, the first furnace factory was built in 1835 and Velten at that time had about 50 inhabitants. In its heyday around 1905, there were 38 oven factories and 7.500 inhabitants, today are the so about 11.000 inhabitants. Velten is with his oven and ceramic museum, the starting point of the 'Deutschen Tonstraße' (German Clay Route) and other historic buildings worth visiting.
The permanent, sports-oriented education of our tracking dogs, ranging from the lowest to the highest level, a world championship, provides information for a responsible and service-oriented breeder, on the other hand, is the demonstration of nerve strength and responsiveness in the public, the order of the day. All dog handlers, above all the here participating dog handlers must forward, to prove how important it is to deal with the dogs and the work that prepares the dog a lot of fun and joy.
To carry out a world championship, it requires a long preparation time, a lot of volunteer work and great efforts. The hosts, out of Karlheinz Wolfram and Helene Zeidler and employee, in advance, many thanks!
All participants, who have qualified in hard skills, as the best of their country, I wish you much luck and success in the competition. Likewise, the judges, who need a lot of great experience and objectivity in carrying out their important work, so that we can experience a fair and equitable athletic competition.
May all participants, guests and friends of the Tracking Dog Sports have beautiful days and enjoy the proverbial hospitality experience in Velten. The event, I wish overall success and a balanced, successful outcome.