Conditions were quite wet on Saturday. It had been raining throughout the night so I took lots of gear for wet weather and extra clothing to change into. The entry was small - only 6 Junior braces on Saturday and 5 on Sunday and I was in 3 of them so I did a lot of walking. Although I had some type of water resitant pants to cover my jeans, they weren't resistant enough against the moisture and not only were my jeans soaked by the end of the morning, everything wicked down into my boots and my feet, socks and boots were also soaking wet. From past experienc, I have learned to take a lot of extra clothing, boots, and shoes to outdoor field/hunt tests and agility trials and in some cases, weather for all 4 seasons!
Miska was out of shape because of her maternity leave this summer and an awful winter. As well, she hadn't had any recent practice or exposure to birds. So she didn't run as well as as fast and hard as her brother and mother who had run in tests in June. But Miska still did well enough with most scores ranging from 8 - 10 in each category to pass. (In her first two tests, she scored 9's across the board). On Saturday, I thought she should have score higher than 8 for hunting from the way she ran. The judges gave her a 10 for trainability and I couldn't understand that because she didn't always come when I whistled to her. But she got 2 passes so I shouldn't argue but sometimes one wonders how the judges judge your dogs! On Sunday, Miska was the first brace up and it was sunny, hot and there was little wind so she only found 1 bird which gave her a lower score of 7 / 10 for bird finding. But all she needed was 1 bird to pass but it would have been better to found more birds. On Saturday, it was very wet and the birds were hiding in deep cover and not flying . But she scored 8's and 9's in the other categories.
Vadasz worked very well for me considering his owner, Gary, just dropped him off the night before. On Saturday, Vadasz had good scores: 9 (hunting), 8 (bird finding agility), 9 (pointing) and 9 on trainability for a Q. By the time his brace ran on Sunday, conditions had improved from the first four braces. It had become overcast, it had cooled and there was a little bit of wind. He found a lot of birds and scored 9 on hunting, 10 on bird finding, 9.5 on pointing and 9 on trainability. Fantastic!
Most judges are very nice I find. And most also try hard to get your dog to pass. They took the time to give me some feedback on my handling. I learned to move in in front of my dog when she's on point, rather than from behind where she can't see me. This makes for a steadier dog on point. Second lesson - always fire the pistol, even if you think the dog is on the same bird that was just flushed. I was told to let the judges decide/figure out whether it's the same bird or not because they don't always know. One judge gave Nova credit for a bird even though I hadn't fired the pistol because I was sure she was simply pointing the same bird that she'd chased. It's always good to accept feedback and improve for the next time.
All in all, I was very pleased and thrilled as these 3 JH titles are the first one I've ever personally earned on my dogs. It was rewarding to handle them myself.
Hey Sylvia-Three new JH titles...Fantastic!! I love the junior hunt tests. The judges do tend to be very supportive. There is a book called "Qualify". It is a terrible guide to help the handler understand their roles at each level of the hunt test. I read it at least once a year.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations from the Red Dawn Clan.
Congratulations to Nova, Miska and Vadasz! They look so proud with those ribbons!... :)
ReplyDeleteYou must be very pleased of them, Sylvia.
I meant a Terrific guide not terrible. :-)
ReplyDeletePam, I knew you meant terrific not terrible. I do have a copy of Qualify & I should have reviewed it before the tests. Was just too darn busy with the puppies!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your congratulations! It's so thriling to see these dogs do what they were originally bred to do - HUNT!
ReplyDeleteI was so amazed at the rosettes! In Canada, all we get for qualifying scores in field tests are flat ribbons so it was so nice to get these beautiful orange rosettes. I was thinking the dogs sort of looked like Hallowe'en characters with all that orange after I took their photos. :-)
Sylvia: I noticed that you were taking advantage of the new Blogger 'Follower' feature and were following the adventures at The Regal Vizsla.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the three JH titles! (And those are some very fancy ribbons, indeed!) And I'm glad that you had some good judges. As a JH judge now myself, especially if a dog isn't going to qualify, I try to comment on at least one positive part of the dog's performance as a way to talk about what else they might want or need to work on.
Sorry you've also seen some lousy handlers/owners.
Thanks for following our adventures. Best of luck in yours.
Andrew