Are we judging the hunting ability of the dog or the expertise of the trainer.
Reason I ask, I've upland hunted with dogs that never missed a flush or a retrieve but could never pass a test. The kind of dog that was probably trained hand signals by the owners wife while vacuming the carpet. Took the easy line cause it was a heluvalot easier than the line his handler wanted him to run. Probably would stop on a diversion bird and bring two in at once. Used his nose at all times and new how to play the wind.
If you ran him on three marks a blind and a diversion would probably complete the test in less time than the highly trained test of FT dog would.
Just a hunter, I test for the comaraderie of the others,
AB
What are the judges judging? Hunt test and field trial!
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Lisalongun
Although new to the UK trial/test circuit, I have worked my dogs on shoots for a few years. It certainly seems to me that here in the UK, the judging seems to be on the dogs ability to obey commands, rather than the dogs true hunting ability.
If a trainer can get a dog hunting on command, turning to hand signals, and appearing to find a blind, of which the handler knows the location, and they can do this once every month, then the dog appears to thought of as good
However, the dogs with the real skills are the ones that are hunting week after week, and several times a week at that , throughout the shooting season.
Many of them need little more than basic steadying commands, as the dogs true skills are relied upon and tested everytime. Also almost all of these dogs have never taken part in any test or trial. Some of them are not even registered with the Kennel Club.
Gamekeepers do not need dogs that have fancy names and bits of paper.
If dog does the job then that is good enough for them. Therein lies the skill of the trainer - to train a dog so that is seems as though it needs little or no commands, as the dog knows exactly what is required - and performs accordingly.
If a trainer can get a dog hunting on command, turning to hand signals, and appearing to find a blind, of which the handler knows the location, and they can do this once every month, then the dog appears to thought of as good
However, the dogs with the real skills are the ones that are hunting week after week, and several times a week at that , throughout the shooting season.
Many of them need little more than basic steadying commands, as the dogs true skills are relied upon and tested everytime. Also almost all of these dogs have never taken part in any test or trial. Some of them are not even registered with the Kennel Club.
Gamekeepers do not need dogs that have fancy names and bits of paper.
If dog does the job then that is good enough for them. Therein lies the skill of the trainer - to train a dog so that is seems as though it needs little or no commands, as the dog knows exactly what is required - and performs accordingly.