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American Gundog Club Field Trials
1. Good manners in a high distraction environment - In a field trial the dog may have to sit quietly while 15 or 20 ducks are shot passing over. He may have to continue to sit quietly while 3 or 4 other dogs retrieve prior to his turn. 2. Find the bird wherever it lands. 3. Handle quickly and efficiently away from close obvious dead birds and go after the long unseen (by the dog) fall of a crippled bird and track it down. The two types of shooting seen in these trials are pass shooting and flushed bird shooting. For pass shooting pigeons, pheasants, chukars or ducks are lofted in a high flight path over stationary shooters. Just as in hunting, the flight path and landing of the shot bird determine the nature of the test presented each dog. The bird may land in light cover and be an easy retrieve, or it may land way back in the heavy brush and require an arduous and skillful hunt for the successful dog. Normally up to 12 dogs may be sitting on line as the birds are flying over and being shot. This is a demanding test of manners and steadiness and is comparable to the steadiness required from a dog when a flight of 50 or 100 ducks is worked, lit in the decoys and 5 or 6 ducks are shot as they are climbing out. The second scenario is flushing of birds from the ground. Here birds are put out prior to the test and flushed for shooting. Dogs, guns, and a group of beaters line up and walk a field to flush the birds. As the line moves along birds are flushed and shot. When several birds are down, or when a bird is crippled, the line stops and the dogs are called on to retrieve. In the order of the dogs numbers, the judges instruct each handler on which bird the dog is to retrieve. Cripples are always collected first. The lucky dog whose number comes up to retrieve a cripple will get a chance to excel. When the dog is sent, he is expected to focus on the cripple to the exclusion of any other birds that he happens to flush. Chasing fresh game in those circumstances is an eliminating fault. If the dog is tenacious on the track and retrieves the bird, he will get extra points. If he fails, the next dog up will get a chance to try. If the second dog succeeds, he will get extra credit, and the previous dog will be eliminated. The successful second dog is said to have wiped the eye of the failing first dog. Thus the dogs are tested with circumstances remarkably close to the real hunting situation. These hunting dog retriever trials are also easy to put on, and fun to watch. They are small and mobile, and move to where the birds are to be found and shot. The gallery of spectators moves with the trial, so every one gets plenty of exercise. Drawn from the entries two weeks prior to the date of the trial, a one-day trial will have 12 dogs running, while a two-day trial will have 24 dogs. With the small number of competing dogs, the judges have plenty of time to properly and carefully judge the behaviors expected o f an excellent gundog. The small number of competing dogs also makes the logistics of providing birds very easy. A one-day trial for example will need only 70 to 80 birds to provide each dog with 6 to 7 retrieves, so that each dog's hunting ability and manners are fully evaluated. Additionally, since the dogs are tested only on live birds, it is easy to recruit shooters for the trial. The focus on the hunter is further maintained by the rule that a maximum of 2 dogs can be run by one handler in a given field trial. Although there is no differentiation between professional trainer and amateur in these trials, one can expect that the small number of competing dogs and the 2-dog-per-handler limit will make the trials unattractive to a professional trainer with a truck full of dogs
These judging criteria are all important behaviors for a gundog. Any dog that excels in these behaviors will be a pleasant and valuable hunting companion. More importantly, that dog will be a valuable conservation agent, by collecting many crippled birds that might otherwise be lost.
British Kennel Club Field Trial Regulations
1. Introduction
b. Stakes may be run for any of the four sub-groups of Gundogs recognised by the Kennel Club under the Regulations for each sub-group. c. The four sub-groups are as follows:
d. The following are definitions of certain Stakes:
(2) All-Aged. A Stake which is open to all dogs of a specified breed or breeds without restriction as to their age, but which may be restricted by any other conditions which may be determined by the society subject to the approval of the General Committee of the Kennel Club. (3) Novice. Retrievers, Spaniels and Breeds which Hunt, Point and Retrieve: A Stake which is confined to dogs which have not gained a place which would qualify them for first preference in the draw for Open Stakes. Pointers and Setters: A Stake which is confined to dogs which have not gained a First, Second or Third in Open Stakes or First or two Seconds in All Aged, Novice or Puppy Stakes prior to the close of entries.
(5) Other Stakes may, with Kennel Club approval, be promoted by societies, but all Stakes must be clearly defined in the schedule. Places gained in Stakes confined to Any Variety Spaniel [except Spaniel (English Springer) and Spaniel (Cocker)] will not qualify the dog for the purposes of Regulation J7.h. Numbers of Runners
a. Retrievers
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There is a new retriever field trial game on the scene. It is aimed at the 1.2 million gundogs employed in the US to retrieve the waterfowl and upland gamebirds downed by their hunter/owners. This field trial is conducted entirely on actual shooting of flying birds in two basic scenarios where each dog's test is different and is determined by where the bird falls. These trials realistically test and evaluate the three essential behaviors of gundogs:
Stakes
(4) Puppy. A Stake which is confined to dogs under the age of two years at the scheduled date of the Stake.