This is a pretty busy week for us here in SW Georgia. We have a field trial competition coming up this weekend. It is a double derby/qualifying. The derby is a stake for dogs under 24 months old. In the derby stake you see the best young dogs in the country competing. The derby is typically made up of four series. The first series is a land double. The second series is also a land double. The third series we move to water and run a water double. Finally the fourth and final series, if you are good enough to make it there, you will run a land/water double, or a water double. The derby is designed to test pin point marking and natural ability of young dogs. The straightest line usually wins.
The qualifying stake is the next level up from derbys. In the qualifying stake the trial consists of four series. The first series is typically a land triple. The second series is a land blind. The third series is the water blind. And the fourth series is your water marks. Usually a triple again. Qualifying stakes are for more advanced dogs that have received more training. If you win or get second place in a qualifying stake you achieve being able to call your dog Qualified All Age or QAA. It takes a special dog to get to this level.
We head to Thomasville Georgia on Friday January 30th for the start of the trial. Since it is a double there will be two qualify stakes, and two derby stakes.
Wow, this seems very interesting, however I am not sure that I understand some of it! I have always thought that dogs are pretty amazing when it comes to how far they can jump and how fast they can run, and still how loving they can be! We have a a Springer Spaniel, but she is no champion dog, she likes to sleep and get as much attention as she can soak up. I am curious what exactly is a land double or a water double/triple? As the dog gets older does the competition just get harder, where they increase to triple and stuff or does it change all together? And when your dog is QAA what exactly does this mean for them?
ReplyDeleteOh, and good luck on Friday!
A double is a set of two birds being thrown and the dog has to pick up both birds. One is called the go bird, that is the second bird thrown and the dog retrieves that first. The first bird throw is called the memory bird. The dog has to remember where that bird was and picks it up after it returns with the go bird. Land is run on land. And water is ran (swam I guess) in the water. A triple is the same as a double except with a 3rd bird. QAA is a title the dogs gets after it wins or gets 2nd place in a trial. So for this weekend there are 36 dogs in the qualifying stake. For kirby to become QAA he needs to be the best or 2nd best dog there.
DeleteThis sounds soo cool. A question that I have, is this field training for like training your dog to hunt with you. Like pheasant hunting etc.? My uncle has two golden’s and he has sent them to training school, so he can use them hunting. I believe it is important to have your dog trained professionally especially if you use it for hunting purposes.
ReplyDeleteField Trials are big competitions. When I explain them to people that don't know what they are I like to pout it simply and say they are like a hunting scenario, times 100. The dog makes retrieves anywhere from 50 to 600 yards long and has to fight many obstacles and factors to get to the bird cleanly.
DeleteAnother explaining method I like to use is think of level of baseball/softball players. Now we relate that to terms of dogs.
A pheasant hunting dog is like a church league softball player.
A duck dog is like a high school baseball player.
A hunt test dog is like a college baseball player .
A field trial dog, which I train and compete with, is like a major league baseball player in their skill sets and abilities. They are the best of the best and have the most training and are held to very high standards.