adogslife wrote:This has become aggressive/competitive.
If someone is incapable of debating,don't post.
Where did you pull that silliness about running past 100s of yards of cover from
Youtube shows several videos of dogs at the break away who are passing cover that if it were a hunting situation should be searched.
Do you have a link so we can see what you are talking about?
adogslife wrote:I have yet to own, work with or meet a dog that did not naturally shorten up in heavier cover
Listen - whatever you say. I'm not going to agrue with utter nonsense. Never? Really? Never?
Yeah, that is what I said. Never. But that would only be a sampling of a few hundred dogs. Your definition of short/shorter may differ from mine.
adogslife wrote:And the clincher - FT's frown on dogs that work birds intelligently. HUH??????
Ok, so if a dog goes on point,relocates on its own,has its nose to the ground,working scent,working an area for 1-2 minutes,picking up wind before it goes on point, the judges will place this dog?
Well, I did win first place with a dog that relocated 4 times on a running bird before I got a successful flush.
adogslife wrote:WHat if the bird decided to run under the dog while this is happening -is the judge going to place a dog who works that runner and pins it or produces it for the gun and stops to the flush?
Ah, you got me there. In this game a dog with manners will never intentionally flush game. It is the end of the run/game over/lights out. But isn't trainability a trait to be selected for? I have seen the dog who stands tall and proud while the bird runs under his belly without so much as a flinch towards it. I have also seen many dogs whose training was not up to snuff and they went home at that point.
adogslife wrote: Is anyone shooting birds at FTs? Is there a gun being held by anyone? How much hunt like behavior is being displayed by the handlers?
Maybe I'm wrong.
You are wrong. No one needs to shoot a bird to find out how adept a dog is at searching for, finding and getting them pointed. Hunt like behavior in the handlers? Funny thing is when I entered my first trial I didn't consciously do anything different because it was a trial and not hunting. Didn't seem to hurt the placements any.
adogslife wrote:Go to any vdog event. Birds are worked,shot and retreived.
Go to any Hunt Test and it is the same. Then check the pedigrees of the dogs that pass the VC and the MH.
adogslife wrote:The best way to judge a hunting dog's inherent traits is to judge a dog hunting.
No, the best way is to break those traits down to the essence of their being and devise a test that will push them to the limit of their ability and beyond.
adogslife wrote:FTs are geared toward specialty work. Work that traditionally had to be completed by a retriever breed.
Yes, they are geared toward the successful searching, finding and pointing of game in an aesthetically pleasing manner over a duration of time. As for your second sentence I can fix that misunderstanding for you "Work that traditionally
was completed by a retriever breed
in some locales."
adogslife wrote:Vdogs tests are geared for a well rounded game finder.
It's the way I hunt.
I don't remember asking for your approval.
I approve fully of whatever manner it is in which you hunt - as long as you are abiding by the laws and regulations in place.