Recap USA Sanctioned Schutzhund Trial-Seminar September 4,5,6 2009

9 Entries - 9 New Titles for Hundesport!

Randall Hoadley arrived in Alaska 1:00 am eager to get a bite to eat and settle in for a good night sleep- He was able to get a good breakfast and enjoy morning conversation around the breakfast table @ the B&B.   We picked him up @ 10:00 am and began our adventure of seeing Alaskan animals- after spending a day sight seeing and seeing Bear, Moose, Caribou, Musk ox, & the high light of the day a pod of Beluga Whales. We had lunch and returned him to the B&B to prepare for the BH trial.

I arrived @ the Hundeplatz @ 5:00 and was pleased to see my trialing partner Kurt & Lena out burning up excess energy. I quickly unloaded the car so fellow club members could set up the group chairs, flags- etc. Then got the dogs out on the field to play ball, and practice the out of motion exercises. Then it was time to relax around the picnic table and help "Josh" our trial secretary with paperwork. Josh was perfectly on time! With the blue box.... As I started going through what Randall would need for the night and the following day I quickly realized that everything we needed was there, but the paperwork had not yet been filled out. Quickly the team & Josh filled out the paper work and organized what needed to be filled out for the schutzhund competitors.

As soon as Paul & Randall arrived @ 6:00, Randall was ready to get started- Kurt set away with taking the written exam, then we proceeded with preliminary temperament test and the 1st team of dogs were ready to take the field (Kathy-Barend & Kurt-Lena).

Kathy-Barend took the field first, lost a little focus in the group then regained focus for the off leash and out of motion exercises.  Lena was a little restless but remained in the platz position - Kurt & Lena took the field-Lena showed sufficent drive and obedience executing the out of motion exercises with a little help- Kurt inspite of the stress of being under the eye of a judge for the 1st time did very well. Both dogs had sufficent points to move to the traffic portion.

We quickly packed up and went to dinner - Josh decided to head directly home to get the paperwork filled out & in order. After dinner we all parted to get some sleep before getting up early for tracking...... Randall's phone woke him @ 4:30  am it was his club members wanting to inform him about their training agenda- All's well as we had to leave Anchorage @ 5:30 am. Upon arriving at the tracking destination Josh again was right on time although not quite awake as he had been up very late with the paperwork and had it in perfect order.. However the Blue Box was where??? Oh yeah! AT HOME LOL.. The field had just been cut- so Shaun quickly arranged alternative tracking fields that were perfect!!!

Shaun & Paul laid the SchH II & III tracks while Brigitte & Kathy laid their first set of SchH I tracks. Brigitte & Drift were first- Drift shot off down the track with intensity & speed over shot the first corner but then retraced his steps and found the corner. He quickly indicated the first article and showed a much more correct second corner then down the last leg and indicated the last article with a 83 score.   Kathy-Barend - Barend took in the scent pad and methodicaly tracked down the 1st leg, slightly wide on the first corner then cut back in and down the second leg( -1 pt) indication was correct- Barend sat while Kathy showed the article (-2 pts) Barend took the track down the remaining leg over shot corner slightly (-1 pt) and then regained the track- did a slight s curve leaving the track (-1 pt) straight down the remainder of the last leg and indicated the article- 94 score. Next team: Paul - Bri SchH II the work that Paul had put on Bri during retrieves and blind search had greatly improved, however it began just a week ago to show in the tracking- Paul was able to be patient and strongly encourage Bri to complete her Sch H II track- and she finished with a 73 score sufficent points to earn the title. 

Our next team: Shaun-Refeer Sch H III- Refeer was enjoying the day and it was beautiful- cool- grass was wet- no breeze- the sun was warm and the morning was quiet and the view spectacular. She took the scent pad and very calmly proceeded down the track ocassionally looking back to see if Shaun was still with her as she very patiently worked her way around the tracking- correctly indicating her articles and finishing with a very good score 92. Photo bleow.

 Brigitte- Othello Sch H I-  Othello worked very correct and methodicaly around the track and indicating both his articles with a very good score !!! 95 points.  Hmm! That could possibly be high in tracking.....

Photo above Othello 95pts. High Tracking

Kathy-Tala last team to track needed a 96 I knew that was possible I expected Tala's tracking to be very comparable to Barends. Tala took the scent pad and intently tracked the 1st leg w/ slight s curve just after taking the 1st corner (-1 pt) indication was fast-straight-correct she too sat when the article was shown to the judge (-2 pt) straight down the second leg- slight over shot 2nd corner (-1) now all she has to do is track down the 3rd leg and indicate (piece of cake 96 pts)  no wait! 15 paces from the end she catches scent and goes wide left off the track and pulled hard. Tala stopped and looked back as if to say come on! She had caught scent of Kathy & Barend's track. After waiting and giving a command to track Tala wouldn't cut back right to regain her track & kathy walked up and picked up the article. Ended with a score 83 points and TR1.  All dogs entered had just passed tracking- Celebrate! and off to a restaurant for breakfast. Josh went to retrieve the blue box and Britt joined the team for breakfast. I always encourage all new members to spend as much time with the judge as possible especially if you're not handling a dog. It's the perfect time to learn from their stories and knowledge, also a good time to ask questions.

First Schutzhund Obedience team Brigitte-Drift: Drift took to the field at attention and didn't lose that attention throughout the exercise!  He pranced down the field with his handler like a stallion with slight bumping, about turns could be slightly tighter. Both out of motion exercises were quick & correct. Recall fast and correct- finish slightly crooked. Retrieved on the flat- he kicked the dumbell with his foot ( I think that was his first fault?) he bumped the jump going out( darn!) - return was clean- a little chewing- (Drift getting amped for the send out)  over the wall & back in excellent form- Build up for the send out correct- fast straight- slow to down (bummer) .  long down without fault. Very good score 91! Our next OBD team Paul-Bri Sch H II-  Bri just completed the down under distraction & pick up without fault.  Bri takes to the field in correct form with good healing , out of motion exercises executed correctly, locked up perfectly in the stand!- could be faster- good recall & finish. Retrieves- on the flat good , wall slight bump, wall out and back good, finish good (could be faster) it was a very good exercise. Send out- build up correct dog went out straight 2 commands to down- Bri recieved a high good score 87. Hurray!  

The next team: Brigitte-Othello Sch H I- Othello took the field at attention and remained focused in the fuss position, change of pace excellent- slight lagging in the group- extra command to regain his focus- out of motion exercises executed correctly could be faster- however harmonously with the dogs natural pace. Recall-correct in the front-excellent finish, Dumbells retieves dogs drive declines slightly (should be faster) jumps clean- grip excellent- wall over & back high good. Send out build up correct- straight out- could be faster- 2 commands to down ( this is becoming the trend of the day). Long down without fault.  Very good score 91   

Final team: Shaun-Reefer Sch H III- long down without fault:  Good in the basic position, slight lag and changing of pace through the healing. Out of motions correct (could be faster) Stand was executed perfectly with a fast recall- slight crooked in the front & finish. Retrieved flat, jump, wall correct- correct front- calm grip (could be faster on the return. Build up to the send out correct- straight out and down. Very good score 90.

All dogs competing did the out of motion exercises correctly- all schutzhund dogs completed all three of their retrieves correctly!!! The downs under distraction in the schutzhund routines were without fault! Very good showing by all!