Page 10 - 2018 WT Almanac

It would seem that there is a growing body score with other players to see how good you
of opinion that changing the sport to en- are. So there you are, the biggest part of tri-
courage people to give it a try is the way als is the nosework, and this game is within
forward, and perhaps there is some merit in the capabilities of most dogs and handlers,
that idea, but unless we are going to change so with the right help and the right attitude,
it from bottom to top, the highest level will it might be the first thing to try to see if it is
still seem unattainable to those that have something you and your dog would enjoy.
dabbled at the new lower stake, which gives Of course trials isn’t all about nosework,
no indication of the sport as it really is. and this is perhaps where the so called prob-
So I’m to be a good dinosaur, wind in my lems arise, as the degree of control required
long neck, smooth out my hump back and is quite high, and many people are put off
try to stop stamping down the vegetation, by all the things that are required of the tri-
and instead take time to try to explain to als dog, and the level at which it starts. Per-
those that might be interested what is good haps there is room for an easier stake where
about our sport. newcomers could start at a lower level, but
Perhaps the first thing to say is that working I’m not convinced that aiming for less, and
trials are as near as we civilians get to work- being satisfied with a lower standard neces-
ing a dog for real, and the sense of sheer sarily leads to better things. We only have
wonderment and awe that we experience to look at the Pre-Beginner Class at Obedi-
when watching our dogs sort out a difficult ence and see how many people come in at
track, or find unseen articles in a square, is that level and go no further. This is a class in
something that is hard to match in any other which 75% of those that enter are content to
activity. That said, the sense of helplessness work in for ever, and if this is what we want
and confusion most of us have also felt when for trials it will certainly swell the entries,
we don’t understand what our dogs are do- but I don’t think it will bring many through
ing can be off-putting, and those that have to the other stakes.
never got beyond the initial stages of track- So let us look at the control we have at the
ing will not have experienced that magical moment at CD level, and ask ourselves if
moment, when the light comes on, and we this is so difficult to achieve. We are not obe-
are given an insight into the nosework abil- dience and we do not need precision heel-
ity of our canine companions. work, as for a working dog this is neither
Working trials nosework is like a puzzle, desirable nor practical. A working dog that
or for the younger ones, a computer game, is glued to the handlers leg with eyes fixed
where you start with your dog at a post on on their face would not take in its surround-
an empty field, and the challenge is to try ing and be ready to react, let alone cope with
to figure out where the missing person has uneven ground, long grass or stubble, and so
walked, and find the things they’ve lost on we are happy to see a dog working with its
the way. If we take away the competitive handler and not for them. This also applies
side of the sport that is what we are doing, to things like recall and retrieves, where the
we are solving a puzzle or playing a com- dog needs to be smart and tidy, but is not
puter game for real, working with our dogs down marked for slight positioning errors.
to try to reach the end goal and collect the Sendaways, at least in training, are reward
“game chips” along the way. Each find em- based and the clever handler keeps this in-
powers us with 10 points or “credits” and centive going so that the dog works hap-
completion of the challenge results in mas- pily in anticipation of its end reward, and
sive rewards, where you can compare your the same goes for the other exercises. All of
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