At a base level there are still no guarantees in life, I am willing to concede however that using a testing system to promote certain traits within a breeding programme will increase your chances of producing pups exhibiting those traits.
The point I guess I was making rather badly is, 'what should those traits be?'
Whilst the 'German Testing System' certainly appears to work for Germany it may not neccesarily be ideally suited to general use in the UK. There are other countries within Europe where dogs are tested for all aspects of their 'versatility' but with perhaps a greater emphasis on their 'bird work', these models may prove better suited to our situation or better still something unique to the UK. (Hold on a minute is that not what we have already got?)
Current testing via Field Trials where the game is shot in a 'real time' situation is undoubtedly a stiff challenge for dog and handler though may be better suited to dogs at the 'birdier' end of the spectrum. There is also ample opportunty to show off a dog's ground treatment, pointing and retrieving prowess via SPTs and WTs respectively.
Where we do fail is in providing testing relevant to tracking, and blood tracking in particular. This is a pity as it would at the very least give an indication as to which particular lines people should pursue if they were after a dog whose primary fuction was to follow up wounded deer.
As for that other aspect of the German system 'Control over Breeding' that is where the wheel would really come off over here. For better or worse a lot of people in the UK fancy themselves as dog breeders, with their own ideas (or lack of them) motivating their breeding. This is one aspect of dog ownership over here that is unlikely to change any time soon. _________________ Kennel Trudvang Home of the Vikings.
you would have to divide the tests and competion trials in two before you could really get a grip on the value of the testing system.
one is dog sport and like showing can influence the breeds departure from it's intended use.
i like the german testing and breeding methods and also the navhda type tests conducted in the states, they show the european breeds true allround abilities not just the wirehairs.
the uk is not the only place with the best dogs being bred for half as much as those papered showdogs
Field Trials in the UK are certainly a bit removed from the pure 'dog sport' trialling of certain areas of continental europe. One dog is ran at a time and the format of the day is an attempt to approximate as near as possible the actual work that a dog would be intended to do on a normal 'rough' shooting day.
In this way dogs are judged on a variety of terrain ranging from huge expanses of open moorland to agricultural fields, small woodlands, cover strips and areas of bog.
Game varies enormously from Snipe to Canada Goose, as does the quantity present, a dog that consistently does well in a variety of locations surely demonstrates a degree of competence for its primary function i.e. 'rough shooting of fur and feathered game'.
What a dog looks like has no part in such trials.
Judging is normally strict and fair in my observation though there will obviuosly be points of contention. However the judges decision is final.
There is a water test at the end which is rather easy for novice class and varying in difficuty in Open/All-Aged Stakes.
I still feel that the only place we really let ourelves down is in the provision of a system of blood tracking tests to demonstrate a dogs particular level of competence in this discipline. _________________ Kennel Trudvang Home of the Vikings.
I am sure there are people on here far better qualified than myself to describe the intricacies of trialing Pointers and Setters but for what its worth here are the main differences as I see it.
Normally Pointer and Setter Trials are held either on grouse moors or on spring cropping/stubbles for partridge.
They are normally held just prior to or in the early part of the relevant shooting season and again after the shooting season before the breeding season. There are no game birds shot at such trials as the dogs are not expected to retrieve, there is only a shot fired at the flush to test for steadiness/gunshyness.
Dogs are run in pairs and are expected to 'back' the other dog if it should make a point.
Pointer/Setter Trials are more an expression of the dogs natural speed,grace and pure hunting ability as opposed to the utilitarian form of the HPR Trials where work before and after the shot are tested in situations as variable and unpredictable as the real thing throughout the legal shooting season. _________________ Kennel Trudvang Home of the Vikings.
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