Page 8 - 2018 WT Almanac

understand that historically Schutzhund ditches, low obstacles etc whilst pursuing
tests dogs of all breeds for the traits neces- the criminal.
sary for police-type work. Schutzhund train- Scale: The dog may need to safely scale
ing, like the sport itself, has evolved over the solid fences and walls whilst pursuing the
years. The definitive description of Schutz- criminal.
hund training in the first 50 years of the Sendaway & Redirect: The dog’s handler
sport is Col. Konrad Most’s Dog Training may need to get the dog out to a distant area
A Manual, 1910. To further clarify the link quickly and wait there, (possibly to cut off
to police-type work it may be worth quot- any escape route for example?)
ing part of Konrad Most’s biography from Speak: On finding the criminal the dog
his book Training Dogs A Manual “ Kon- needs to alert the handler.
rad Most started training Service dogs in Down/Sit Stay: Dog may need to ‘guard’
1906 while serving as Police Commissioner the criminal whilst the handler searches him
at the Royal Prussian Police Headquarters, and immediate area.
Saarbrucken. For the next 8 years he gave Steadiness to Gunshot: The dog should not
instruction to the Constabulary on train- be intimidated by the fleeing criminal firing
ing and management of police dogs for all a gun.
purposes by methods evolved by himself”. Heel Work at different paces: Demonstrates
As the above dates tie in quite closely with control and obedience of the dog whilst un-
the start of Schutzhund and Konrad Most’s der stressful conditions.
training ideas it seems to be fairly safe to as-
sume that our Working Trials exercises were I am not experienced in the PD Stake exer-
evolved from this and derived from police cises to comment on them but perhaps some
dog work. Indeed,the A.S.P.A.D.S. History one with this knowledge may do so in a fol-
of Working Trials quotes a newspaper head- low on article.
line from 1924 following the first competi-
tion as “ FIRST POLICE-DOG TRIALS IN Ok, I may not have got the above absolutely
ENGLAND …….”. correct but it serves to demonstrate the abili-
ties a Working Trials dog will need to com-
Here is my general take on them :-) pete in Trials. The dog will need an element
of courage and an ability to work on its own
Tracking: Following the trail of a fleeing initiative at times. This is why dogs also
criminal who may inadvertently drop arti- love Working Trials. It is also obvious that
cles in their haste to escape. Knowing that Working Trials is challenging for both dog
they could be followed they may well not and handler. The dog must be suitable in size
run in a straight line. and build and must be fit & sound. It is this
Search Square: Finding articles that may challenging aspect of Trials that makes Tri-
have inadvertently been dropped whilst als appealing to most handlers in the sport.
the criminal was resting/hiding or perhaps It was stated in 1953 that A.S.P.A.D.S. had
stashed. over 500 members but only about 20% were
Retrieve: Bringing an object back to the interested in Working Trials. Breed & Obe-
handler that may have been dropped by the dience and training for the pet market were
criminal. having the most interest. It was stated that
Clear Jump: The dog may need to clear low only the ‘elite’ had an interest in Working
fences or walls whilst pursuing the criminal. Trials. I think this also very true of 2017.
Long Jump: The dog may need to jump People shy away from the term ‘elitist’ but
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