[barney2007]

Woo Hoo after quite a few months since our last working test, I'm finally getting Barney out Novice Test next weekend (and see I have good company :wink: ).

I've been out training and just can't remember a few things, such as....

1. Hunting up - lets say the dog has to find three dummies in cover. If I send him in and use the hunt command, will I be docked a point for that? Or is it for excessive hunt command use per retrieve?

2. Blind on an island on water - if I send the dog into the water, then use an 'over' or whatever to get him on the Island and then a hunt command, how many points could I lose for all these commands?

3. Blind on land - if dog veers slightly off course but winds dummy and so makes a left or right turn and finds it, will I lose marks if dog hasn't run straight to the spot? Am personally bad at lining a dog up properly :roll:

4. How far forward on a walk up is a no no? If say dog shoulder is just slightly in front of your leg, is that bad?

5. if dummy is thrown other side of a fence some distance away. If I send on 'over' but dog looks wobbly near fence so I repeat the command 'over' and then 'back' (if dummy some distance the other side of the fence), again how many points would I lose?

6. How do you turn dog to face another direction if two dummies are thrown? i.e. dog sat up by Judge, Judge wants a dummy to the left. I can't remember the right way to do this! Is it to heal dog and resit? I presume nudging dog with foot to reposition is out! lol.

7. in your experience, what sort of distance could we expect re. Blinds, and also a long mark?

These are all things that *could* happen to me, or not. I suppose what I'm asking at this stage is how worth the risk is of reinforcing a good result (i.e. finding the dummy or whatever) with additional commands or not as we would be penalised.

As it's been a while since our last comp, I'm not sure 'where we are' with things at the moment. So it will be interesting to see if we need to work harder and refine things quite a bit.

Sorry for all the questions, thank you to anyone who can help.

H

 

[Diana]

helen, dashing in and out. Generally speaking, if you use a single command, and the dog obeys, you won't usually lose anything at all. If you use a command, and the dog blanks it or goes a different way, then you will lose a mark or possibly two if it was a very SERIOUS 'two fingers'. And then each time you fruitlessly blow a whistle or give a voice command which is ignored you are dropping a mark (approx) a time.

But helen, every judge is different, there ARE no set rules. Some LIKE to see commands reneforced, some don't. You keep it minimal to get the job done correctly. And the rest is down to each judge. Just reading your first question... if you put a dog in an area, then ask it to hunt on a hunt or pick up... and it does... that will almost certainly be full marks. If you put a dog in, and drone 'hunt hunt hunt' at him (in a manner of speaking - whatever your 'hunt' command is) then they may dock you for noisey or unnecessary handling. But they won't dock you for a hunt command to a dog in a hunt situation on blinds. They are not mindreaders...they need to be told an area.

Di

 

[funkymonkey]

22 ??

 

[monkeyboy]

Helen, stop worrying, relax, and go and enjoy yourself, handle Barney as you normally would.

As Di says, every judge has individual likes and dislikes, so you can't be prescriptive about what handling/commands could drop you marks.

Have fun :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

Andrew

 

[sasababe]

clearly no advice fro me :roll: but just wanted to say good luck :wink: I love following your's and Barney's progress and will be in next week to check out how you go!

 

[_Suzy_]

Yeah, no advice here either! but good luck Helen! Break a leg n all that! :wink:

 

[Diana]

Andy (14) - indeed ;-)

Good luck everyone. Its been a hell of a test to organise so you;d better all do well ;-)

Di

 

[jem_d]

Will look forward to seeing you there

 

[barney2007]

22 ??

It has taken me all night to work out what you're on about! But yes I'm number 22 in the running order :wink: Nice to see I'm in good company, you included Andy. I'll wish you all good luck on the day

Andrew is right, I WILL enjoy it. It will be FUN! Thanks for your help and support everyone. As long as the boy enjoys his day and it restores our confidence then that'll do for me.

 

[Wellsummer]

Helen
When im in a test, I tend to think of things as damage limitation! If you have to use your whistle then use it...before they get you into trouble! Avoid all bunkers! I think no zero's are more important then gaining 20's Altho I sometimes find it hard to contain the competitiveness in me!

Im sure you and Barney will be fine!

Sarah.

 

[funkymonkey]

me,,14,,, never,,,, really,, ,,,am i,,,,surely not,,,,omg,, what am i doing,, are you sure,,, lol

i think Alf is having his dissolvable stiches out that day

 

[Rivermeadow-KMH]

Helen as long as you both enjoy it, that is all that matters! As has been said, the judges all vary so much on what they expect, so I just treat it as a training exercise, like when I am in a class with a trainer I would like to impress!!! :lol: With the amount of dogs entered in the puppy test this week, I will definately be treating the day as a training day, and not aiming for anything else. :roll:

The very best of luck, and assuming you are talking about Di's test on sunday, I will see you there!

Have a safe journey (it's MILES from you!)

Katy

 

[Dunsash]

Good luck to all of you guys!
I will be there (without dogs), just to see what is involve.
Looking forward meeting you all.