Puppy Trial

springer man

Just enquiring about puppy trials for labs.
What age do they have to be?
What are they required to do?
When are they on?
Where are they on?
Has anybody any experience of pup trials?

k31

Hi, I believe what you are enquiring about are referred to as Retriever working tests. These are divided into 3 categories namely preliminary, novice and advanced. As I suspect your dog is quite young we will focus on the prelim and novice tests. While I am not aware of any minimum age for entry to these tests your dog would have to be up to a reasonable standard to have any hope of success. These tests are conducted using canvas dummies for the retrieves. In both the prelim and novice tests you dog would be expected to walk at heel in a line of dogs (3 or 4 ) for a short distance and then sit. A dummy would then be thrown and the first dog sent to retrieve it. The other dogs cannot move while the first dog is completing its retrieve. This continues until all the dogs have got their retrieves. If any of the dogs move or run in during this exercise they will be marked down accordingly. The second retrieve in generally a marked retrieve into cover , and the third a marked retrieve into water. As before you cannot send your dog until instructed by the judge. In the novice tests you would have similar retrieves to the prelim with the possible addition of a double marked retrieve or even for the top dogs a short blind retrieve. These tests start from about March on and generally run on through the summer . If you ring the kennel club they should be able to give you a list of the dates for these tests along with the contact details for the club secretaries. Also some clubs might run training classes or point you in the right direction. Best of luck.

springer man

k31 wrote: »

Hi, I believe what you are enquiring about are referred to as Retriever working tests. These are divided into 3 categories namely preliminary, novice and advanced. As I suspect your dog is quite young we will focus on the prelim and novice tests. While I am not aware of any minimum age for entry to these tests your dog would have to be up to a reasonable standard to have any hope of success. These tests are conducted using canvas dummies for the retrieves. In both the prelim and novice tests you dog would be expected to walk at heel in a line of dogs (3 or 4 ) for a short distance and then sit. A dummy would then be thrown and the first dog sent to retrieve it. The other dogs cannot move while the first dog is completing its retrieve. This continues until all the dogs have got their retrieves. If any of the dogs move or run in during this exercise they will be marked down accordingly. The second retrieve in generally a marked retrieve into cover , and the third a marked retrieve into water. As before you cannot send your dog until instructed by the judge. In the novice tests you would have similar retrieves to the prelim with the possible addition of a double marked retrieve or even for the top dogs a short blind retrieve. These tests start from about March on and generally run on through the summer . If you ring the kennel club they should be able to give you a list of the dates for these tests along with the contact details for the club secretaries. Also some clubs might run training classes or point you in the right direction. Best of luck.

Thanks lad that is exactly what I was looking for. that gives me a great insight to what is involved. Going to give the prelim stages a go in summer please god.