Drahthaar News 25.08.2009
Hello all.
What you see below in italics and underlined is what is on the GNA website relative to changes in the VZPO. It does not reflect the newest revision. I will attempt to fill you in with regard to what the new 2007 2nd edition of the VZPO says relative to manner of retrieve at the HZP. First, let me quote the 1stedition of the VZPO. This is the one we have been using since 2006.
&37 {2} {f}“The dog must independently retrieve every noticed or independently caught duck {game animal}[without any influence or correction of the dog’s mistakes by the handler] Praising the dog or trying to get the dog’s attention while the dog is retrieving correctly shall not be deemed prohibited influence by the handler” &40 {3} defines the proper manner of retrieve. “The correct delivery is demonstrated if the dog comes with the found game happily and willingly to the handler, sits down next to him without or with one-not loud-command, and keeps the game calmly in his mouth until the handler has grasped it without haste and takes it from the dog with the appropriate command.”
The 2nd edition 2007 VZPO reads this way: &37 {2} {f} “The dog must independently retrieve every noticed or independently caught duck {game animal} [without any command from the handler when the dog behaves incorrectly]. Praising the dog or trying to get the dog’s attention while the dog is retrieving correctly shall not be deemed prohibited influence by the handler”.{Shaded Parenthetical statements are mine} &40 [3] defines the proper manner of retrieve. “The correct delivery is demonstrated if the dog comes with the found game happily and willingly to the handler, sits down next to him without or with one –not loud- command, and keeps the game calmly in his mouth until the handler has grasped it without haste and takes it from the dog with the appropriate command.”
There is no one in the Great Lakes Chapter who is authorized to restate or rephrase the JGHG rule book. My use of parenthetical statements above is a way to indicate that the same phrase is used to refer to all retrieves of game at the HZP. All of us who are judges are responsible for the implementation of the rules as written and that is what we intend to do during this fall testing season. All of us who are handlers need to know that the new statement relative to the manner of retrieve is significantly different from the old one. It is a judge’s job to determine what constitutes a “command” and what constitutes a “dog behaving incorrectly” We will do our best to be reasonable and fair.
Waidmannsheil,
Marty Ryan
Revisions/Corrections to the 2006 Edition of the VZPO
From emails of 9/27/06 and 10/03/06 to all judges:
As you might expect, the majority of the judges' seminar at this year's Armbruster was spent discussing the new VZPO. The seminar was conducted by
Wolf Schmidt-Körby, with substantial contributions from Ulrich Augstein, Obmann für den Prüfungswesen of the JGHV, who attended the seminar and
judged in Water Group 1 at the Armbruster. I would ask each of you to note the following changes to your test regulations. (We now have new
regulations - the yellow book. )
Revisions/corrections:
?On page 21, §36(1)(b) should be revised by striking the phrase "influence or" in the parenthetical beginning on line 4. With the revision, the
sentence should now read "The dog must retrieve the duck independently (without correction of the dog's mistakes by the handler)."
?On page 22, §36(2)(c) should be revised by striking the phrase "influence or" in the parenthetical beginning n line 5. With the revision, the
sentence should now read "The dog is supposed to start from this spot, search for the duck independently, he must find it and must retrieve this
duck independently (without any correction of the dog's mistakes by the handler)."
?§36(2)(f) on this page should also be revised by deleting the phrase "influence or" in the parenthetical beginning in line 2. With the revision, the
sentence should read "A dog cannot pass the test if it does not retrieve the duck independently (without any correction of the dog's mistakes by
the handler) and immediately upon finding it."
?Also on page 22, the reference to §36 in paragraph (g) should be changed to §37.
?On page 23, §37(1)(f) should be revised by replacing the word "shall" in line 5 with the word "must" and by deleting the phrase "influence or" in
the parenthetical (last line of paragraph). As revised, this paragraph now reads as follows: "(f) The judges should terminate the dog's work as
soon as they have arrived at a conclusive judgment. This applies also to situations in which the duck was not shot before the dog or the judges
concluded that the dog does not satisfy the requirements. In the first case, a dead duck must be thrown within sight of the dog into the water
some 30 meters in front of the dog, which the dog must retrieve independently (without any correction of the dog's mistakes by the handler)."
?Note: if a duck is to be thrown, it is to be thrown while the dog is working. If you have asked the handler to call his dog in, the duck can be
thrown to the dog as it is swimming in. If the dog is working the cover along the shore, it can be thrown at that time - into the water. The
regulations require that the duck be seen by the dog, so be sure to get its attention prior to tossing the duck.
?Also on page 23, §37(1)(g) should be revised by deleting the phrase "influence or" in the parenthetical beginning on line 3. As revised, the
sentence reads "A dog that fails to independently retrieve a duck which was shot in front of it, or which it caught independently or which was
thrown within sight of the dog (without any correction of the dog's mistakes by the handler) cannot pass the test."
?On page 25, §38(2)(b)(6) should be revised by deleting the phrase "influence or" in the parenthetical beginning on line 4. As revised the sentence
reads "The dog must independently retrieve the found game (without any correction of the dog's mistakes by the handler)."
?On page 26, §38(2)(c)(13) should be revised by deleting the phrase "influence or" in the parenthetical beginning on line 3. As revised the
sentence reads "He must independently retrieve the game (without any correction of the dog's mistakes by the handler)."
Other lessons to be applied:
I had the benefit of judging both days with Herr Augstein and during that time tried to clear up as many uncertainties as I was aware of. Here are
several things I took away from the experience:
1. Handlers don't need to (and shouldn't ) stand like statues while waiting for their dog to deliver game. A handler may move to his dog and may
softly praise his dog as it is nearing the end of a retrieve. He can command the dog to sit and to deliver. As Herr Augstein said, "Geoff, we are
hunting. We are not in a circus." Let's be real about moving to the dog, however. Clearly, it must be within reason. You can't go halfway around
the pond. As judges, you should decide prior to the test what will be considered within reason and communicate it to the handlers.
2. A stone throw in either the blind retrieve or the search behind the duck automatically lowers the score a predicate.
3. The work in the fox over the obstacle results in a single score for that event. The manner of retrieve for the fox over the obstacle is factored
into the overall fox over the obstacle score. The fox drag and manner of retrieve on the fox drag are scored separately. The dog must complete
either the fox drag or the fox over the obstacle to pass the test. If he fails the fox drag, he also fails the manner of retrieve, so he must achieve
a minimum of 2 in the fox over the obstacle to pass the test.
From email of 3/3/07 to all judges:
The sentence reading "Each individual retrieve subject must be scored with at least a "deficient" (1 point)." should be deleted from Section 40,
subsection 5. Also, each individual duck retrieve must be scored 3 or higher for the dog to receive a passing score. I confirmed this with Uli Augstein
this morning. So, to sum it up, a dog must receive a score of 3 or better on all 5 retrieves (hare, duck (3) and feathered game) in order to pass.
Geoff Mathews
VDD/GNA Director of Testing