Post by marjolein on Mar 19, 2007 13:00:02 GMT 1
Last Saturday was the big day. Billy was entered in the VJP. A VJP is a German natural ability test. Dogs born from October 1st 2005 till September 30th could enter. It means Verbands-jugendprüfung and is always held in the spring.
This test is to see what the natural ability is in these young dogs and has not much to do with training.
I was in a group of 5 dogs and 3 judges. Only one other LH unfortunately.
I was 4th.
When it was my turn, we had to work a hedge with the wind in our back. I let Billy go and immediately he found the hare track from the dog before me. What they want to see is that a dog is capable of working a fresh hare track for about 200 mtr's. You go in the field, a hare goes off and you make sure the dog can't see that. You bring him to the beginning of the track and let him go and keep your fingers crossed.
Since this track was already worked on by the dog in front of me, he only followed it for a short distance, but the judges already liked what they saw. Then he came near the hedge and smelled the scent of a pheasie that was pushed out of the hedge by dog number three. You couldn't really call it pointing, but again the judges where impressed by his nose. It had been a while since the pheasant took off and Billy pointed the scent.
Unfortunately no fresh game for me this time.
We went to other fields where I got another chance.
When I was still talking to the judges, I saw a hare taking off and pointed it out to the judges. And off we went to the warm spot. Billy hadn't seen it leave and when he found the warm spot, he pointed it beautifully and then took off to track. He did it perfectly. That part was done for me.
Then I had to show the judges how his fieldwork abilities are. I decided to take him to the end of the field so I could use the wind properly. Billy started covering the grounds very well, it was one of his better days.
Suddenly he threw himself around and was on point. An excellent point I have to say coz he was steady as a rock (he usually is btw). I claimed the point and together we flushed the hen. And that was it then. The test was over for me and I had done very well according to the judges.
Because the other 4 dogs weren't done yet, we went back to the cars for a proper drink (Jägermeister) and waited for the rest to finish. This took almost 2 hours :shock: .
Once they were back, all that was left was the shooting test. You let the dog run freely and twice a gunshot is fired and the dog has to be "gunsteady" as they call it. It can't show any sign of fear otherwise you'll fail. Billy has been on several hunts so this wasn't an issue at all.
They then checked his dentition, all ok and his testicles, both hanging there :roll: and his microchipnumber was ok as well.
Then the results. It turned out Billy did extremely well. The other competitors had 64, 64, 66 and 69 points. Billy had 73 :shock: :shock: :shock: !!!!!!!!!
They gave him a 10 for cooperation with the handler, a 10 for searching and a 10 for the hare track (multiplied by 2). They gave him an 11 for his nose (multiplied by 2) and last but definitely not least, a 12 for pointing, something they'd never given before. Unfortunately at the end of the day, they had to take that back because the new rules say that a 12 can't be given any longer for pointing. Nevertheless I was very proud of his results and from the 26 competitors he was placed 6th.
He's not good enough for the dutch field trials, but his German skills are very good!!!!
This test is to see what the natural ability is in these young dogs and has not much to do with training.
I was in a group of 5 dogs and 3 judges. Only one other LH unfortunately.
I was 4th.
When it was my turn, we had to work a hedge with the wind in our back. I let Billy go and immediately he found the hare track from the dog before me. What they want to see is that a dog is capable of working a fresh hare track for about 200 mtr's. You go in the field, a hare goes off and you make sure the dog can't see that. You bring him to the beginning of the track and let him go and keep your fingers crossed.
Since this track was already worked on by the dog in front of me, he only followed it for a short distance, but the judges already liked what they saw. Then he came near the hedge and smelled the scent of a pheasie that was pushed out of the hedge by dog number three. You couldn't really call it pointing, but again the judges where impressed by his nose. It had been a while since the pheasant took off and Billy pointed the scent.
Unfortunately no fresh game for me this time.
We went to other fields where I got another chance.
When I was still talking to the judges, I saw a hare taking off and pointed it out to the judges. And off we went to the warm spot. Billy hadn't seen it leave and when he found the warm spot, he pointed it beautifully and then took off to track. He did it perfectly. That part was done for me.
Then I had to show the judges how his fieldwork abilities are. I decided to take him to the end of the field so I could use the wind properly. Billy started covering the grounds very well, it was one of his better days.
Suddenly he threw himself around and was on point. An excellent point I have to say coz he was steady as a rock (he usually is btw). I claimed the point and together we flushed the hen. And that was it then. The test was over for me and I had done very well according to the judges.
Because the other 4 dogs weren't done yet, we went back to the cars for a proper drink (Jägermeister) and waited for the rest to finish. This took almost 2 hours :shock: .
Once they were back, all that was left was the shooting test. You let the dog run freely and twice a gunshot is fired and the dog has to be "gunsteady" as they call it. It can't show any sign of fear otherwise you'll fail. Billy has been on several hunts so this wasn't an issue at all.
They then checked his dentition, all ok and his testicles, both hanging there :roll: and his microchipnumber was ok as well.
Then the results. It turned out Billy did extremely well. The other competitors had 64, 64, 66 and 69 points. Billy had 73 :shock: :shock: :shock: !!!!!!!!!
They gave him a 10 for cooperation with the handler, a 10 for searching and a 10 for the hare track (multiplied by 2). They gave him an 11 for his nose (multiplied by 2) and last but definitely not least, a 12 for pointing, something they'd never given before. Unfortunately at the end of the day, they had to take that back because the new rules say that a 12 can't be given any longer for pointing. Nevertheless I was very proud of his results and from the 26 competitors he was placed 6th.
He's not good enough for the dutch field trials, but his German skills are very good!!!!
