tracking....
A few brave souls gathered early Saturday morning to face their demons on a field of green. We had 3 SchH 1 entries, one SchH2 and 5 SchH3's all looking for passing scores at the North Central Region Championships under USA Judge Frank Phillips. Tracklayers Tom Krsnich and Kurt Vandekolk had scouted fields and chose a large field of alfalfa, approximately 9 inches high with dense grass undergrowth. Having tracked in waist high grass and flowered out alfalfa with no ground cover, it appeared this would be a choice offering. Tracking articles were the commonly used Gappay selection of wood, leather and felt.
Our first SchH 1 team, Sam Leinweber with his Belgian Malinois, Pre moved through their track very rapidly, hitting both articles but Pre sat up when Sam picked up one, preparing to continue prematurely. Several head-checks and the inconsistent speed, according to the judge, left them with 83 points. Our next entry was Lisa Boerst with her malinois, Ozzie. Lisa moved confidently but quickly down the track behind Ozzie and we watched as Ozzie made a very nice, fast article indication on the second leg; it all looked very nce! However, Ozzie continued past the second corner and took Lisa beyond the leash length, and the track was ended for this fine team with only 46 points. The last SchH1 entry was Kevin and Luka, a Dutch Shepherd, Most of the points were lost on the last leg, where Luka paused to urinate and Kevin gave her an extra command, after which she finished up the leg with a high head, resulting in 74 points. A passing score, nonetheless, leaving Kevin in the hunt for SchH1.
The sole SchH2 team was Lisa Geller with her malinois, Tango. Tango worked with a deep nose on the first leg, made a small bobble on the first corner and on the last leg we gasped as we saw him hopping down the track, clearly attempting to shake free of the long line wrapped around a rear leg. Tango was focused on his task and persisted despite that, earning them a high score of 91 points.
We had a brief track-side conversation with the judge, regarding vomit as a food reward! It was ultimately decided that if a handler threw up it would be considered unauthorized praise if the dog caught it, and if it caused the judge to throw up you would lose all your points. For several handlers, this appeared to be a serious consideration.
Now it was time for the SchH3 dogs to show us what they had! It was also the time that the winds began to gust across the flat field so that these tracks truly tested a dog's ability to work at the source of the odor and track. Mike Scheiber led the pack with his German Shepherd, Jett. Jett happens to be the son of a previous SchH3 Regional Champion, Kway. Jett worked very methodically on the track. There was a slight bobble on the first corner and two head checks on the second leg and then he decided to show that if a malinois can do it, so can he, and he continued on the second leg with the line wrapped around his leg until he walked out of it! Jett showed excellent work ethic and a deep nose, despite the winds and brought home 86 hard-earned points.
Minna Nousiainen-Becher with Tiki, a Boxer, were next up. Tiki encountered some problems with the first corner, but when she committed to it, it was very clear. Tiki worked out the track to the last corner, where she continued past where Minna noticed the corner and Minna was unable to encourage her to find the turn as Tiki was convinced the odor continued straight ahead, They came away with 54 points.
Steve Miller had a similar result with his German Shepherd, Bonnie, who left their Championship dreams on the first leg with 11 points. She walked the first article and then decided she would prefer a hug and a hot cup of cocoa; Steve advised that she was about to come into heat and gets all cuddly, and he recognized her behavior as being the same as she displayed at the AWDF Championship so he understood what he was seeing. Sometimes unfortunate timing like that becomes the demon and not the field itself.
Now it was up to Joe Castellanos and Hutch. Hutch began slowly and precisely, demonstrating a deep nose and it was picture-perfect. I think Hutch gave Joe a heart attack, though, when he air scented the article and downed prematurely. Joe searched and searched for that darned article before realizing it was just up ahead, and then Hutch downed where it had been after the judge told Joe to pick it up. By this time, the wind had picked up to it's peak speed and was quite strong. Hutch demonstrated that he knew how to track despite this, and on the third leg when Joe accidentally dropped the line, Hutch ran freely to the next article and downed perfectly. Successfully negotiating the last leg gave them a strong 84 point track.
The last pair to track as Al Govednik and Armor. I was called to examine the growth of the corn crop across the road and was not available to witness the track, but saw them milling about across the field for an uncomfortable amount of time. I learned that Armor had difficulty and after locating the first article, just couldn't figure out the restart direction and finally the track was called, with 19 points. Al is the consummate sportsman, however; there would be no threats to the tracklayers to reveal the patterns, or complaints about why the club can't control the wind. And Al also added another gem of wisdom when we discussed people calling about what the tracking surface would be, when he called it like it is: "dirt... with sh@t on top."
Tracking seems to draw the lines in the sand for many dogs. In the other phases the equipment is predictable and although you do need to have a confident dog who will work on strange fields and helpers, they can feel comfortable in the routine. With tracking, there are many variables; tracking surface and even whether there is ground cover under that, height of the crop or grass, whether it is a flat field or rolling hills, the temperatures and wind speed and direction. So many things to prepare for. Judge Phillips directed the tracklayers to prepare tracks that were close to the prescribed distance in the rules but which were actually 75 paces shy of that, and instead they appeared to be miles and miles long! I have had Championship tracks where my dog wasn't even out a leash length before we had a turn or an article! Seeing this demonstrated how short most of the trial tracks are in comparison to the actual rules.
It is a measure of good sportsmanship to see those who are unsuccessful with their tracks and yet continue to the other phases without complaint or blame.
BH entries
After tracking, everyone returned to the FVPSC field where it was time to showcase the three BH entries. This was the first BH for all of them, and after taking the written test they proceeded to the obedience portion. Chris and his German Shepherd, Isaac, represented Indian Creek. The support and coaching from sideline members kept the team focused and they successfully completed the obedience. Many people looked forward to seeing Tom Smith with his German Shorthaired Pointer, Schatzie, but Schatzie surprised us by getting up from her long down, which was unheard of for her. She seemed distracted in the obedience, as well, and not doing her usual animated prance; the reason became apparent when she stopped heeling to start to sniff and circle the ground... she had to potty! The handler ended the exercise. Afterward, the judge said that he would have allowed the exercise to continue. Lessons learned: do not stop the exercise until the judge orders it, and make sure your dog has had time to go to the bathroom before you hit the field. Tom was a good sport and vowed to return to earn their BH in the future! The team of Linda and her black German Shepherd, Otto, was a joy to watch. Otto was attentive and happy and you couldn't even tell at a distance that Linda had stopped breathing! A first time handler, new to the sport, Linda did an amazing job of handling Otto.
And so it was that only two were able to continue to the traffic portion of the BH. The jogger, bicyclist and car were standard fare, with no odd twists. The tie out and neutral dog was a non-issue. Judge Phillips had two groups of people form a gauntlet of sorts, a narrow alleyway of human bodies and the dog and handler had to enter and move through the first and then around and in between the second, before he pronounced them both as having earned their BH! They both received beautiful medallions with a German Shepherd head engraved, and Linda was observed giving Otto a big hug as he proudly wore his around his neck.
Linda happens to be a community columnist with our local newspaper, the Post Crescent, and had writtten an article about her upcoming BH performance. At the time, none of us had seen it yet. I encourage you to read it, as it truly captures the heart of someone experiencing these first steps. I promise you will laugh at those things we all find true, and you will feel the tug on your heart strings as you understand the emotions of someone on the brink of this grand adventure we call schutzhund:
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109040630
regional meeting
Following the BH competition, delegates and officers met for the Regional Meeting. Although you will read about this in the minutes, I'll cover some of the highlights. We learned that Hauptstadt donated the money they earned from the Sieger Show back to the region and also volunteered to host the Regional Conformation Show in 2011!! We are certainly fortunate to have folks like the Haupstadt club involved in our Region who have the knowledge and the willingness to take this on! Jen also thanked Chris Olson for stepping up and assisting with photographs at the show, and helping out wherever she can. I also want to be sure to thank Chris, because she did the same at this event. Since I was otherwise occupied, she picked up my camera and took photos of all the obedience and protection for us. What a great help that was, and we truly appreciate the donation of her time and skill!
Clubs are encouraged to send delegates to the General Board meeting at the National Championship, as this is an election year. The 2011 Working Dog Championships are being hosted by Machtig Strom (Al Govednik's club) the weekend after Mother's Day and Al spoke about that and the AWDF event, which is held the 2nd week in April in Bowling Green, KY. Inselstadt will host our 2011 Regional Championship. There were no issues that provoked argument. Some visitors who observed the meeting were puzzled because there was no screaming and swearing!
helper try-outs
The last scheduled event of day was the Helper Try-Outs. We were very lucky to have four helpers try out this year, all from our Region. Troy Seaton, Peter Dummer, Chris Becher and Terence Williams. Since Chris's wife, Minna, was trialing a SchH3 dog, he was selected to work the SchH 1's; Terence to work the SchH2 entry; Troy on the front half of the 3's and Peter taking the back half. I wish we would have had much larger numbers of dogs for them to work, but at least all of them were able to add another Regional Championship to their helper book. Remember for next year that if you have a particular helper you want to work on, bring him with you to try out!! Of course there is no guarantee he will be selected but if you don't bring a helper you cannot complain about what the selection was. I know all of the helpers to be very giving of their time and talents and was happy to see them all selected.
I must give a special Life Saving Award thank you to Troy Seaton, however, who, upon seeing the dog to be tested running directly at the judge and Asst Regional Director (trying to become one with the grass immediately behind the judge!!) on the courage test, made attraction and was able to refocus the dog on himself! whew! For a moment I was having Alaska flashbacks on grizzly bear advice and knowing that I only had to outrun the guy in front of me, while at the same time wondering what the penalty would be for kicking a USA judge in the leg! Thankfully, it didn't come to that.
day 2, obedience
ahhhh... the suspense!! We started the final day of competition with obedience. When we called for the SchH1 dogs, there was one missing! The gentleman with the Dutch Shepherd was not present! No one had received a call and when it was half an hour past the start time and he hadn't appeared, we began, and quickly rearranged the order of dogs, filling in with a demo dog opposite one of them. (we never did hear what happened. when the secretary sent an email to advise she would mail his scorebook he simply said "thanks".)
Lisa Boerst and Ozzie were up first. Ozzie showed excellent obedience as they moved down the field in such beautiful precision. Judge Phillips commented that it was "perfect and showed super attitude and power." When Lisa's throw over the A frame landed to the left, she didn't think to ask for a re-throw and Ozzie returned around the A frame instead of over it. Ozzie had recently suffered a torn pad that left her wary of climbing the A frame, so perhaps When it came to the send-away, Ozzie was convinced there must be something ahead if she just kept going and pretended not to hear Lisa's commands to down, leaving them with 71 points.
Sam and Pre came next and again the judge's comment was "excellent attention, attitude and power". However, the barking and hopping was faulty and Pre needed to be more calm to earn full points. Points were lost with a mistake on the change of pace. By the time they moved through the group, Pre was heeling with all his feet on the ground and presenting the picture the judge wanted to see. Pre demonstrated a lot of speed and purpose on the recall and had an overall dynamic attitude, ending with a top-speed send away and fast down. The team earned 90 points.
Lacking the other SchH1, Lisa Geller moved her trial order to go opposite a demo dog. Tango sat up on the gunshots during the long down. Like Sam before them, handler several handler errors cost the team points including saying "Tango HUP" on the jumps (double command) and pausing after giving the heel command instead of moving forward directly. This one I was familiar with, as I had cost myself points in an earlier trial doing the same thing! Tango is a happy dog, and very fast and is always fun to watch. Together they came away with 78 points.
The SchH3 dogs also had to shift their order after Steve Miller had come to the judge after tracking and advised his bitch was coming into heat, and everyone agreed she should continue but go last. It was a day for flexibility! I did not observe the obedience routines of Minna with Tiki and Joe with Hutch, as I was distracted by other trial details. I know that Joe earned 74 points and Minna had 81 points. I was back and paying attention for Mike and Jett, who earned 86 points. Jett showed nice attitude and attention in his heeling, but received handler help on the finish. Mike made the same mistake as Lisa, not moving immediately after the heel command, and also lost points there. Most of the comments were small things to be addressed in training in the future, such as having more purpose in the send away and returning faster on retrieves but they earned a very respectable score.
Al Govednik with Armor were next, and made the wise decision to "make training" and have a positive experience for his dog by making sure to praise him where needed, and they earned 73 points.
Steve Miller and Bonnie were actually the last team, going opposite a demo dog (Quinn and I) after the protection for the rest of the dogs, but since I was on the field with mine I did not make notes of the judges comments or see his routine, but they earned 86 points so it must have been nice.
protection work
AND THEN IT WAS TIME FOR PROTECTION WORK!! CAN YOU FEEL THE ELECTRICITY? THE SUSPENSE?
First up, Lisa B and Ozzie. Ozzie was fast and showed control on the blind search, and the search was correct. She bumped the helper with her chin in the blind and took a quick peek as the helper came up. On the escape, Ozzie went straight to a down and must instead sit first. Ozzie is a big female who comes with lot of speed and power, but needs to be calmer after out, and was bumping again, vocal in the pressure phase. In the long bite she again came down the field with a lot of speed, needs a fuller grip and bumped again, resulting in 82 points as a score.
Sam and Pre hit the field and Pre made an excellent blind search, very direct and acknowledging the handler. Pre showed very good guarding behavior at the blind. He lost several points for pulsing on the sleeve on his way out. In the long bite the judge commented that he "brings a lot of speed and comes through the helper". He was vocal in the drive but did not move on the grip, earning 88 points.
Lisa G and Tango were next up and were the only SchH2 team. I cautioned Lisa that we had purchased a trophy and therefore she had to pass! I don't think she had any worries about that, after passing the previous two phases, and in fact, they came away with 91 points in protection. When starting the blind search, Lisa neglected to make the quarter turn toward the blind after acknowledging the judge, and so Tango ran to the wrong blind initially. At the blind he showed continuous barking, which got stronger as Lisa approached. Tango showed a full grip on the reattack but was pulsing and growling. He showed good speed and power and drove through the helper on the long bite, with a slightly shallow grip.
Joe Castellanos and Hutch started off our SchH3 slate of the day. Joe is an experienced schutzhund handler and somehow he also forgot to make that turn to the blind after checking in, so clearly it can happen to anyone. Hutch barked continuously in the blind but should show more power. After the escape, the guarding was correct. He showed a lot of speed and power on the attack out of the back transport, and on the long bite, he goes through the helper. Judge Phillips would use that phrase on several dogs, and it was clear that he wanted to see a dog who "came through" the helper with power. He also noted that he wants to see a dog not simply barking, but pushing the helper verbally and showing more power. But not so much push that there is physical bumping! He likes to see a dog who is shaking, holding himself in control. Joe and Hutch earned the High Protection score with 93 points.
Minna's boxer girl, Tiki, lost minor points for going wide around the blinds. In the blind she looked for the handler and the judge said he wanted to see more continuous barking and more focus on the helper. Tiki was a little brindle streak on the escape, showing good speed but should have a slightly fuller grip and be calmer. She was vocal in the pressure phase. The judge always mentioned the vocal dogs, but I am not sure if he just noted it or took points. On the long bite, Tiki hit the bottom of the sleeve and went underneath, but quickly recovered to a full grip. Unfortunately, she missed the reattack grip but was able to make it through with 80 points.
Mike and Jett stepped up next. Jett needed two extra commands to run the blinds and didn't think running all of them was necessary. At the blind, he left the helper to look for the handler, was sent back in but circled twice and came out on his own. I'm sure Mike was biting his nails after that! After ordering the helper out of the blind, Mike used the command "walk" as he heeled Jett to the escape position and lost points as you must use the same command throughout, according to the Judge. I'm going to have to look that up, because I say "transport" for the back transport and have done that in many trials. Jett was feeling spunky and needed three commands to keep him with the handler on the back transport. On the long bite, he hit the top of the sleeve but hung on throughout, taking a full grip on the first opportunity when the helper planted his feet. Judge Philips expressed admiration for the fact that Jett stayed with that grip and called it "impressive". Jett added two extra grips after the reattack and circled, so needs to be more intense in the guarding there. The 80 points they earned was perhaps not as high as Mike was hoping for, but his consistent work in all three phases was enough to earn the High SchH3 Championship by the end of the day.
Al Govednik and Armor also earned 80 points! On the reattack the judge would like to see a slightly fuller grip but the grip does not move and he carries it throughout the pressure phase. Outs were correct but the dog bumps during guarding.
We stripped down the field for obedience for Steve Miller's female, Bonnie and following that Steve did his protection work. I wasn't there to see his routine or to hear the critique so someone else will have to fill any comments in, but the score was 87 points. Apparently her need to cuddle at tracking did not extend to the helper!!
In this Championship, we had many breeds represented; Belgian Malinois (even a hairy one!), Boxer, Dutch Shepherd German Shepherd and even a German Shorthaired Pointer! Truly, there is something available for everyone who enjoys training their dog.
and in conclusion...
The theme for our Championship had been "BRING YOUR GAME FACE". For this we had gift bag sports themes and wore our team apparel, but at times I thought the theme should have been " Flexibility". Due to unforeseen circumstances including one entry disappearing after tracking and a bitch in heat, we had to adapt. Other times I was convinced the theme should have been, "Put on your big girl panties, and deal with it!" It all comes down to the same thing, doesn't it? This is a sport. We should show sportsmanship and encourage it in all our club members. Despite consulting the Farmer's Almanac, no club can control or guarantee the weather. You can only select from the helpers who are generous enough to volunteer to try out. And guess what? Sometimes we have to realize our training has holes in it, or it just wasn't the day for a particular dog and that means the finger points back at us, not the club/judge/field/helpers. Schutzhund can be a difficult sport to understand at times because there are RULES and then there is INTERPRETATION by the judge. Despite Judge's College and other seminars to ensure they are on the same page, you will always be subject to their personal preferences in what they want to see in a dog. The person we are competing against is ourselves and our personal best. We cannot control how the judge scores, we can only control our dog's behavior through training.
We were blessed with sunshine on the second day, and the winds that had plagued us in tracking, subsided. I would like to thank all those who came to observe and support their clubs and teams! Thank you for buying our shirts, our raffle tickets and eating our food! If someone was unable to be present and wants a shirt, we still have them available for sale. Thank you to all those who donated trophy sponsorships, to Print Source in Appleton for donating sweatshirts for our raffle, PMI entertainment in Green Bay for donating a 4 pack of Green Bay Gambler hockey tickets, and Kimberly Clark for their "go bags" and umbrellas. We appreciate, too, those who volunteered their assistance in so many ways such as (Chris) taking photos, (Raina) being part of the group.... those small gestures are what unite us as a Region and wash all the bullshit away.
Finally, I would like to thank the members of Fox Valley Police & Schutzhund Club. When I was away on vacation to Alaska for three weeks immediately preceding the trial, they answered the challenge to step up and get things done. I am very proud of their teamwork. I think this event has been quite an eye-opener to many of our newer members and I appreciate those who made this a pleasant experience for them.
See you all at Inselstadt in 2011!!
