Following on from the other thread " BDS Dogs for Deer Weekend "
I thought I would share my thoughts and experience on the day
Having not read Tony's initiall posts about the weekend fully , I did not realise the sunday was actually the test day
None the less
I had booked myself in for the Sunday for 2 dogs,
My trained Lab Sika and my unrully Spaniel Snipe ,who has just a handfull of tracks under his collar which most will know about already
I turned up to an Idylic spot where every one was very friendly from the off, some I knew already
I had been running late that morning so was a little stressed as I like to be prompt, I let both dogs out of the truck for a little exercise and get them accustomed to the surroundings when I noticed my little girl Sika was now limping badly
already knowing she had a slight ear infection which made it touch and go if I had brought her in the first place
she was now Injured to the point she was struggling to walk, had she hurt it jumping out the truck or caught it on the stubble she had been running on seconds earlier
my heart had now sank and I had some thinking to do
Tony had Sausage & Bacon batches on the go, with hot refreshments to suit
with the usual meet and greet sorted and a little about the proceedings of the days lay out
Kim an experienced Danish Tracker himself , Also an international judge with his assistants Dan and Tony on the day , were now in charge
It was decided Helen went first with her young HS to try the 20hr old ...no blood track
both handler and dog were inexperienced so it was a tough track to say the least... especially as there were Fallow deer milling about on part of the track Helen was about to attempt
The dog worked well but lost it a little where the fresh deer scent was and then a bit later on a turn,
but did finish the 600 yard approx track, it was interesting to watch having never really seen one in action before
next up was myself and Sika
of which there was concern due to her lameness ,at half way around the 3hr 400yard track I pulled her up
as she was clearly struggling to work and walk ,
so back to the truck she went and Snipe was brought out to start a new track
this was his 6th ever track
The track started with a shot site inspection with blood, Snipe easily found this and began his track
at 30-40 yards in he started to self hunt off the track, was it the pheasants that were in the hedgerow where he was heading towards
not sure but a quick pull up and a moment to ourselves made him settle
we began again where he had left the track, his quartering technique gave for a few tangles but he kept on the track for the remainder and after 2 turns and 400 yards approx his prize of a fallow hoof was found
this was the first time Snipe had done a track with such little blood and the use of tracking shoes...Pleased ...you bet
It was then when we found out as we went into the wood a Roe buck exited out of the wood from where Snipe's track had been laid... possibly the reason why he left the track and not the pheasants... who knows
next up was a BMH..I was not quite sure what went wrong for them both as they were working the track well when all of a sudden the dog took a sharp turn sidewards
maybe more hot deer hoof scent or possibly the Hare that was just a few yards away, a bit unfortunate
now back on track it also missed a turn but did finish the track ready for lunch
now Lunch was a grand affair.. Home made stew with proper chunks of meat... bloody marvelous followed by a cheese board and fruit
must be something about English Dog days ... hospitality next to none
Lunch over and it was the turn for another Lab
It was an interesting looking lab full of beans and eager to go,,, took the track in his stride and made easy work of it all.. you could tell there had been some work put into this dog... job done
next up it was decided to look at Sika again
still limping but not as bad , as we had one track left and Dan was eager to try her if we thought she was upto it
Still struggling she took her time steadily working out the track... Sika also has never done a track where there was so little blood used and mainly tracking shoes created the track, so a new experience which she coped with in her stride.... Sika has never been a fast tracking dog, always taking it steady
the leg injury slowing her down even more and some points along the track you could see the pain in her movements... one thing I like about Sika is she never goes to far off a track before she realises and then turns back to find it again where she went wrong... it makes it a joy to watch her working out the track on her own
finaly finishing the track she again did something she has never done before
she picked the prize in the form of a hoof and carried it back to the car... big surprise for me as she has never showed any interest of doing this before or maybe she wanted to chew down on something because of the pain... who knows but it made my day she had done so well with all the injuries she was carrying.. not to much critism from either Kim or Dan showed me the training I had done was working in the right direction where my dogs and myself are concerned
next up was Dan , he was going to demonstrate his young Lab of just 5months old I believe
He used the same track that snipe had done but with out the use of the markers that had previously marked Snipe's track
the Lab and Handler showed an impressive track apart from a little blip
where Snipe has gone wayward, so to did Dan's dog
but still a very impressive track from such a young dog on an already disturb track that had a spaniel , 3 judges and an entorage of spectators trampling over it a few hours earlier
now late afternoon there was the end of meet speeches and Thank you's, end of day analisis and then the awards were given out
Helen with a 3rd for the 20h track which was excellent considering all the facts and now has a better direction to head in with her young dog
Kevin managed a 3rd with his BMH and from what I overheard now also has great directional advice on which to carry on his training
Jamie got a 1st with his Lab
Myself got a 2nd with Snipe and a 1st with Sika
on track with Sika
my awards
for me the day was not about a test or gaining those awards but watching other dogs and breeds of dogs work
about doing a track some one else has laid in strange surroundings with experienced dog trainers and trackers watching you,
then giving advice at the end of the track about my performance
that was what the day was about for me... finding out where i was going wrong and getting good corrective advice based on my performance
It showed that my self taught training I was practising was in the right direction and the results on the day prooved it
If there was any critism on the day , it would be for the lack of dogs and handlers that attended
where else would you get a chance to test your dog and your own training ability infront of such an accredited Judge who was on hand to help give advice
seemed well worth the 100+ miles to find out I was doing well with my dogs and their training, I could well of been doing it wrong and if so there would of been good advice to help direct me if needed
I can only round this write up off with Many Thanks to the BDS branch and especially Dorothy for running the event
to Tony for helping set it up and hosting it
to Kim & Dan for putting in the time to come over here from Denmark to help in such an event
and to all the other people that attended making it such a pleasurable day out
group picture
Many Thanks indeed to you all
best wishes
Richard
I thought I would share my thoughts and experience on the day
Having not read Tony's initiall posts about the weekend fully , I did not realise the sunday was actually the test day
None the less
I had booked myself in for the Sunday for 2 dogs,
My trained Lab Sika and my unrully Spaniel Snipe ,who has just a handfull of tracks under his collar which most will know about already
I turned up to an Idylic spot where every one was very friendly from the off, some I knew already
I had been running late that morning so was a little stressed as I like to be prompt, I let both dogs out of the truck for a little exercise and get them accustomed to the surroundings when I noticed my little girl Sika was now limping badly
already knowing she had a slight ear infection which made it touch and go if I had brought her in the first place
she was now Injured to the point she was struggling to walk, had she hurt it jumping out the truck or caught it on the stubble she had been running on seconds earlier
my heart had now sank and I had some thinking to do
Tony had Sausage & Bacon batches on the go, with hot refreshments to suit
with the usual meet and greet sorted and a little about the proceedings of the days lay out
Kim an experienced Danish Tracker himself , Also an international judge with his assistants Dan and Tony on the day , were now in charge
It was decided Helen went first with her young HS to try the 20hr old ...no blood track
both handler and dog were inexperienced so it was a tough track to say the least... especially as there were Fallow deer milling about on part of the track Helen was about to attempt
The dog worked well but lost it a little where the fresh deer scent was and then a bit later on a turn,
but did finish the 600 yard approx track, it was interesting to watch having never really seen one in action before
next up was myself and Sika
of which there was concern due to her lameness ,at half way around the 3hr 400yard track I pulled her up
as she was clearly struggling to work and walk ,
so back to the truck she went and Snipe was brought out to start a new track
this was his 6th ever track
The track started with a shot site inspection with blood, Snipe easily found this and began his track
at 30-40 yards in he started to self hunt off the track, was it the pheasants that were in the hedgerow where he was heading towards
not sure but a quick pull up and a moment to ourselves made him settle
we began again where he had left the track, his quartering technique gave for a few tangles but he kept on the track for the remainder and after 2 turns and 400 yards approx his prize of a fallow hoof was found
this was the first time Snipe had done a track with such little blood and the use of tracking shoes...Pleased ...you bet
It was then when we found out as we went into the wood a Roe buck exited out of the wood from where Snipe's track had been laid... possibly the reason why he left the track and not the pheasants... who knows
next up was a BMH..I was not quite sure what went wrong for them both as they were working the track well when all of a sudden the dog took a sharp turn sidewards
maybe more hot deer hoof scent or possibly the Hare that was just a few yards away, a bit unfortunate
now back on track it also missed a turn but did finish the track ready for lunch
now Lunch was a grand affair.. Home made stew with proper chunks of meat... bloody marvelous followed by a cheese board and fruit
must be something about English Dog days ... hospitality next to none
Lunch over and it was the turn for another Lab
It was an interesting looking lab full of beans and eager to go,,, took the track in his stride and made easy work of it all.. you could tell there had been some work put into this dog... job done
next up it was decided to look at Sika again
still limping but not as bad , as we had one track left and Dan was eager to try her if we thought she was upto it
Still struggling she took her time steadily working out the track... Sika also has never done a track where there was so little blood used and mainly tracking shoes created the track, so a new experience which she coped with in her stride.... Sika has never been a fast tracking dog, always taking it steady
the leg injury slowing her down even more and some points along the track you could see the pain in her movements... one thing I like about Sika is she never goes to far off a track before she realises and then turns back to find it again where she went wrong... it makes it a joy to watch her working out the track on her own
finaly finishing the track she again did something she has never done before
she picked the prize in the form of a hoof and carried it back to the car... big surprise for me as she has never showed any interest of doing this before or maybe she wanted to chew down on something because of the pain... who knows but it made my day she had done so well with all the injuries she was carrying.. not to much critism from either Kim or Dan showed me the training I had done was working in the right direction where my dogs and myself are concerned
next up was Dan , he was going to demonstrate his young Lab of just 5months old I believe
He used the same track that snipe had done but with out the use of the markers that had previously marked Snipe's track
the Lab and Handler showed an impressive track apart from a little blip
where Snipe has gone wayward, so to did Dan's dog
but still a very impressive track from such a young dog on an already disturb track that had a spaniel , 3 judges and an entorage of spectators trampling over it a few hours earlier
now late afternoon there was the end of meet speeches and Thank you's, end of day analisis and then the awards were given out
Helen with a 3rd for the 20h track which was excellent considering all the facts and now has a better direction to head in with her young dog
Kevin managed a 3rd with his BMH and from what I overheard now also has great directional advice on which to carry on his training
Jamie got a 1st with his Lab
Myself got a 2nd with Snipe and a 1st with Sika
on track with Sika
my awards
for me the day was not about a test or gaining those awards but watching other dogs and breeds of dogs work
about doing a track some one else has laid in strange surroundings with experienced dog trainers and trackers watching you,
then giving advice at the end of the track about my performance
that was what the day was about for me... finding out where i was going wrong and getting good corrective advice based on my performance
It showed that my self taught training I was practising was in the right direction and the results on the day prooved it
If there was any critism on the day , it would be for the lack of dogs and handlers that attended
where else would you get a chance to test your dog and your own training ability infront of such an accredited Judge who was on hand to help give advice
seemed well worth the 100+ miles to find out I was doing well with my dogs and their training, I could well of been doing it wrong and if so there would of been good advice to help direct me if needed
I can only round this write up off with Many Thanks to the BDS branch and especially Dorothy for running the event
to Tony for helping set it up and hosting it
to Kim & Dan for putting in the time to come over here from Denmark to help in such an event
and to all the other people that attended making it such a pleasurable day out
group picture
Many Thanks indeed to you all
best wishes
Richard
