Competition Team

Head of the Competition

Päivi Felixson

We Finns have been regular visitors to hovawart events in Europe for years. For once, it's wonderful that we get to organize an event where other hovawart enthusiasts come as our guests. To our delight, 5 IHF countries sent a representatives. That means a good competition. It is a luxury for us Finns to see the world's top hovawarts tracking. I hope that many domestic spectators will find their way to the edge of the field to watch.

We’ve secured two highly respected judges for the trial, both with years of experience judging at major competitions. Welcome, Outi Hermiö and Aivo Oblikas! Our track supervisor, Mika Lindberg, has helped to organize many prestigious events, so we can be confident that the tracks are well and professionally designed.

The rest of our organizing committee consists of hovawart enthusiasts with long-standing experience in trial organization. Some of our team were involved in organizing the FCI IPO World Championship in 2010, which hosted around a hundred dogs in Finland.

We’ve done our best to find competition grounds with as consistent quality as possible, and we’re hoping for good weather.

Wishing all competitors the best of luck in the trial!

Päivi Felixson has owned hovawarts since 1988. She has been breeding hovawarts for 26 years under the kennel name Stelmo's. He has competed with his own dogs in many different dog sports. She also organizes and arranges competitions in various dog sports.

Trial Secretary
Piia Saalasti

I’m a 52-year-old Hovawart and working dog enthusiast from Central Finland. In my everyday life I work as a specialist dentist in prosthetics and occlusal physiology.

I’ve been lucky to share my life with Hovawarts for about 20 years, and right now I have two males: Hofmacher Xavier (6 years) and Hofmacher Dante (2 years). With Xavier I compete in IFH-3 and in the highest level of our national forest tracking trials, and we’ve also tried our hand at obedience competitions. Dante is still young and hasn’t started his competition career yet, but the plan is to enter him in IFH trials in the future.

Both dogs also enjoy the show ring, so we keep busy with a nice mix of sports and dogshows. Looking forward to seeing all of you here!

Head of Sports & Tracking:
Mika Lindberg

My role in this event is to organize the entire sports section. Together with my team, we bring extensive experience in organizing national and world championship-level dog sport events. This allows all competitors and judges to focus fully on their own performances.

Here is a brief overview of my dog sport background:

  • I Started my dog sport career in 1997

  • I've competed as a handler (IGP + IFH) at Finnish Nationals, Breed Championships, Scandinavian Championships, and World Championship level with several different dogs

  • Currently I own two Tervuerens: one at IFH3 level and another one in puppy training

  • I've served multiple times as Finnish Team Leader at various World Championships (FCI IGP, ISPU, FCI IGP-FH, FMBB) and Scandinavian Championships

  • I’ve provided tracking seminars and workshops in many countries

  • I have organized events in various roles over the past 25 years, including club trials (across multiple sports), Finnish Championships, National Breed Championships, WUSV and FCI IGP-FH World Championships

Warm welcome to Finland to everyone!