We have had a couple of busy weeks going from Earthdog to Conformation and (soon) back to Earthdog again.
I was honored to be invited to judge earthdog as part of the Dachshund Club of America's National Specialty, which was also open to all eligible earthdog breeds. I judged all four classes on Saturday, April 28 when the Central Ohio Dachshund Club hosted two earthdog tests. With dachshunds (and owners) attending from all over the country, along with the other permitted earthdog breeds, there were almost 100 entries that day and it was the largest number of earthdogs that I have judged in one day to date.
I don't like to 'run' my dogs when I am judging because I think it disrupts the schedule too much so I entered Bee and Arie on Sunday because my judging duties were over. Neither Bee or Arie has had an opportunity to practice for over a year so I had no clue how either would react to the tunnels and rats. Bee qualified in Intro to Quarry but did not when it came her turn to run in Junior. She enters the tunnel with no hesitation so we need to work on staying with the quarry and not being impatient.
Arie hasn't had a chance to practice with a tunnel in the ground and it showed when it came time for his run in Intro to Quarry. He did a good job scenting along the tunnel length (outside of the tunnel) so he was definitely using his nose which was encouraging because it will help him in the more advanced classes when we get to that stage. At one point, he did enter the tunnel and stretched as far as he could get his body to go ... leaving the tips of his back legs outside the tunnel entrance ... but that was it. So no "Q" for Arie that day, but I know with practice he will do better.
I was honored to be invited to judge earthdog as part of the Dachshund Club of America's National Specialty, which was also open to all eligible earthdog breeds. I judged all four classes on Saturday, April 28 when the Central Ohio Dachshund Club hosted two earthdog tests. With dachshunds (and owners) attending from all over the country, along with the other permitted earthdog breeds, there were almost 100 entries that day and it was the largest number of earthdogs that I have judged in one day to date.
I don't like to 'run' my dogs when I am judging because I think it disrupts the schedule too much so I entered Bee and Arie on Sunday because my judging duties were over. Neither Bee or Arie has had an opportunity to practice for over a year so I had no clue how either would react to the tunnels and rats. Bee qualified in Intro to Quarry but did not when it came her turn to run in Junior. She enters the tunnel with no hesitation so we need to work on staying with the quarry and not being impatient.
Arie hasn't had a chance to practice with a tunnel in the ground and it showed when it came time for his run in Intro to Quarry. He did a good job scenting along the tunnel length (outside of the tunnel) so he was definitely using his nose which was encouraging because it will help him in the more advanced classes when we get to that stage. At one point, he did enter the tunnel and stretched as far as he could get his body to go ... leaving the tips of his back legs outside the tunnel entrance ... but that was it. So no "Q" for Arie that day, but I know with practice he will do better.
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