REmember,, I am NOT COMPLAINING.. I willtrain for what I need to to pass a test,,, But,,
What on earth is the thinking from AKC officials to require a dog in testing to see a diversion bird ON ITS WAY OUT on a blind retrieve.
A SENIOR DOG! A dog that most of us have spent considerable amount of time getting them to have good blind attitude, to RUN STRAIGHT as sent, only then in testing to have a judge deliberately erode that momentum with a diversion on a dogs route TO a blind?
I just dont get this at ALL for a Senior dog.
A diversion bird on the RETURN of a mark or a Blind is FINE with me I get it,,, But why with young dogs,as the dog is going??? ON A BLIND??? The part of a dogs training we work so hard at getting them to GO,,, and then stay straight??
I mean really,, Is this the only way you can come up with to test control?
Rule book says the following.
Section 25. Diversion Birds and Shots. A diversion
shot is a shot in which no bird is thrown, and shall
only be fired in Senior and Master Tests.
Diversion birds may appear on a blind retrieve either
after the dog has been sent for, or when a dog is returning
from the blind retrieve; however, diversion birds shall
only appear on marks when the dog is returning from a
retrieve.
Diversion birds shall always be initiated in front of
the working dog. The diversion bird is not a mark but
constitutes a trainability situation. It is always retrieved
by the working dog. Diversion birds shall be shot or
thrown when the working dog is in a location that it
should be able to see the bird as it goes up into the air
and as it falls.
Section 26. Weather. Weather is an important
consideration for the hunting test event committee.
The safety of participants and animals is of utmost
importance. Extreme weather such as lightening, strong
winds, heat or cold, snow or heavy rain can create
hazardous conditions. The hunting test event committee,
in consultation with the judges, has the responsibility to
decide if an event should be halted due to weather and
at what point the event shall resume. If a weather delay
results in an entrant being unable to participate, the
refund of entry fees, in whole or in part, will be at the
discretion of the event committee. If an entire event or
part of an event is cancelled due to weather, the refund
of entry fees, in whole or in part, will be at the discretion
of the event committee.