52nd SFS competes at International K-9 Competition Published July 16, 2013 By Airman 1st Class Gustavo Castillo 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany - -- Four Military Working Dog teams from the 52nd Security Forces Squadron competed in a Luxembourg International K-9 Competition July 8, 2013. The Luxembourg police and military hosted the event, which takes place annually at a military base in Diekirch, Luxembourg. This was the second year Spangdahlem participated in the event. Thirty-five dog handler teams from five countries competed in multiple skills categories this year. The skills tested during the competition included an obstacle course, off-leash obedience, search and attack on aggressors, handler memory and marksmanship exercise, and the handler and military working dog performing a tactical zip line egress out of a four-story building all taking place over a 1.5 mile-long timed course. "It was very different," said Staff Sgt. Christel Gill, 52nd SFS patrolman. "It was a lot more advanced than what we're used to. So we got a lot of insight on how we can improve our teams and we brought back more ideas for the kennels and the trainers from this experience." Among the four teams from Spangdahlem, Staff Sgt. Bryan Robinson and his working dog Sonna placed third out of thirty-five. Robinson is a new handler, and has only been teamed up with Sonna for about three months. Overall the teams Spangdahlem sent represented the 52nd SFS well, but plan on doing even better next year. "Next year, we are going to rock it," said Staff Sgt. Roberto Matos, 52nd SFS military working dog trainer. "Now that we've seen all the obstacles, we're going to get ready for those types of scenarios. And next year, we want to take first, second and third place. We want to take it all."