For the betterment of the breed?

There has been an issue in Switzerland that has been really irking me lately in regards to dackels. This happens to be the change that took place at the General assembly last March regarding dogs in working class. In Switzerland (as in many countries) up until this year a dog could pass a 1000m Blood track (of any known PO) or Sp+ BhFK/St/Vp/Was in order to obtain a working class certificate. This certificate makes the dog eligible for the working class in exhibition, but, to me, it also proves that the dog has qualities that are desirable and are more than just a pretty face. Furthermore, to obtain beauty titles from many countries, working results are required because why have a pretty dog that isn't at least somewhat functional.

This past April there was a vote to change the rules for working class, to add a working title, AND to also effectively make the International Beauty certificate unattainable to Swiss dogs owned by non-hunters. Basically the new rules read like this:
GHK (Working dog class):
The dog should have the following tests-Sp, BhFK/95,SchwhK/St/Vp

OK, this I was ok with. It is harder to obtain since there was 1 more test required for the certificate, but still doable. These are all tests that I would always train my dogs on anyhow as the dogs should be able to work above and below ground.

A new title was added, or rather resurrected, the VollGebrauchsHund (Full working dog), which entails that a dog complete BhFK/95 and Vp. Fine, great! We now have a title similar to a German Gebrauchssieger. The GS title is much more elite, though, as you must have a natural Bauprüfung as well as 1st or 2nd prize in a Vp.

 What absolutely irritates me is that for the international beauty certificate (which is sanctioned by the FCI) is now linked in Switzerland to the dog being a VGH. Again, why does this matter? Well, in order to participate in tests other than Sp, WaT and BhFK/95, in many countries requires a hunting permit. This means that only the people who have the money and time to obtain a hunting certificate (which can take 2 years and over 2000 CHF) could obtain this title.


So why am I annoyed? Why am I angry and getting opinionated about this? Let me tell you...

Traditional Jagdhornbläser. Simon has now picked up this hobby.

1.) The new rules were never formally announced before the meeting and, thus, should not have been voted on. Furthermore, there was a misprint in the official GV minutes, indicating that this was only a topic for discussion. The attitude over this mistake has been "the members should have policed the board," but most members do not know all the fine details of the statues. Also, very few people were in attendance (less than 60 of the 650 SDC members) because no one knew an issue like this would be voted on. Sketchy to say the least... The vote did pass (though just as many people chose not to vote as said "yes"). Either way, I find it horrible that this could have been presented online or in the SDC bulletin that came out 1 month before the meeting and neither was done.

2.) The hunters are beginning to think of themselves as the elite. At a recent trial there was bitching over the fact that non-hunters were "taking spots" in blood tracking practices. One of the judges pointed out that this was a crap statement and it was first come first serve for those that want to work with their dogs! This is an attitude that I appreciate and admire. All of these tests which are listed above are artificial. There will be no injured deer or boar at the end of a track, no rabbits will be shot during Sp, no foxes injured in BhFK/95, so why need the license to take these tests? Technically according to the DTK, it is at the judges discretion if they allow a non-hunter to participate. It can happen and we know a few judges that would likely allow it, but you have to have an in. Simon asked our hunting test organizer last spring what the chance was that we could take a hunting test without the hunting license if there were open spots. His answer "Slim to none." Why? Our money is just as good as anyone else's! It is really a bit of an elitist attitude. For example, only 1 dog participated in the SDC blood tracking exam (1000m) this year. Freddie would have been qualified and I would have been happy to lay track, but we did not even apply since we were told earlier this year that we absolutely needed the license. This brings me to my next point:

3.) French hunting licenses. This is what is suggested to us EVERY time we mention that we don't have a hunting license. The french license is cheap, fast, and easy (by Swiss standards). The same hunting guy who told we needed a hunting license, followed up by saying, "Ya, but just get a french one!" Ummm... what? Technically the rules say that you can have a hunting license from where ever as long as it is valid. Why don't I just spend $100 and order one from the US? I would just need to take a safety course when I'm back home this fall. Ya know, I maybe I'll just do it.

4.) This whole change really dampens my attitude towards the club and the hunting club, especially since Simon and I have been some of the most active members. We began blood tracking practices on our own because of the attitude of some of the people in the Jagd club. When Freddie was a puppy his first practice track with the club was 500m. He did super well for the 1st half, but then started to get bored and sniff whatever because 500m is TOO LONG for an inexperienced young dog. Furthermore, the track was super near to a walking path, so everyone and their dogs, horses, etc... were walking past and poor Fred was getting distracted. We contacted the club president to ask if we could have a shorter track (250-300m) for our inexperienced pup and the response was "if your dog cannot complete a 500m track it is either very bad or you are very bad at motivating the dog." Well WTH! This is like expecting children to know how to read without ever learning the alphabet. Ugh. So we began blood tracking on our own and soon after Freddie was completing 500m, 40 hr tracks easily in 15 min. I think our work with Freddie has paid off as he was 4th on the working dog list in Switzerland last year for tests passed. He would have been 1st if both of our fox tests in Italy would have counted (he is missing 94 points), but no matter! I was very proud of the work that we did with him.

With all of these new rules I feel very torn as to what to do. I would love to continue with the club. We have friends in the club, but these new rules seem to target people like Simon and I and tell us that we are basically not good enough. Do I really need to learn French, German, and/or go into debit in order to continue working with my dogs? No. I don't. The problem is that any tests that we perform outside of Switzerland, Germany, or France will not count for anything in the eyes of the SDC.

5.) Oh yes, Switzerland now has the rule that only tests in Germany, France, Switzerland, or organized by WUT (Welt union teckel) will be counted towards working results in Switzerland. This means that any tests performed in Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Hungry, Croatia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, etc... essentially the whole of Europe, don't count towards the Swiss working dog certificate OR the VGH/CIB title. I realize that each and every country can decide which tests it accepts, but, for example, Italy conducts tests according to the DTK PO. It should count in Switzerland, right? Wrong. Sigh. Furthermore, the dog could be a working champion in any of the above mentioned countries, but unless it was a German or French Gebrauchssieger it would not count in Switzerland. Actually, a dog could technically be an International working champion, but not qualify for the working certificate in Switzerland. How messed up is that?

All these new rules would make sense if Switzerland was able to conduct all of the trials that it requires for its working certificates/VGH, but right now only Wassertest, Spurlaut, and SchwhK is conducted in Switzerland and this is only 1 of each test per year with a maximum of 8 dogs per test. We don't even have the facilities to do BhFK/95 in CH and this test is under scrutiny in many areas in Germany, so soon that may not be an option either. So the Swiss that want to work with their dogs will have to compete to get spots in the already crowded tests in Germany.

So what will we do? Well, we will continue on as we normally would. We will do the tests that we can in Germany/Switzerland (Sp, BhFK, maybe St if we can find a colleague to help us out). We will also do trials down in Italy this year and get results. It is not only fun, but fantastic practice for more tests later. Although I am not in agreement with all of the new rules, we will likely get a hunting license because we want to keep working with the dogs. We will likely never be hunters. I love to eat venison, boar, rabbit, but I rather be tracking the wounded animal than shooting it. Plus, I'm not actually sure that I could get a license for a gun since I am a foreigner...

Who knows what will happen in Switzerland in the future, but I can tell you I think that this new set of rules is not going to help the breed. From what I have seen personally, there is already a distinction between show dogs and working dogs. As we were told, "working class is for dogs with more faults," which I think is complete bull shit. By implementing these types of rules, I can only imagine that the difference between working dogs and beauty dogs will grow. In the worst cases, it could end up like the dackels in the US where it is hard to convince people that the overangulated lawn-mowers are the same breed as the agile, light weight trackers. I think that this is a negative step for Swiss dackels, but only time will really tell. Until then we will continue doing what we are doing and trying to make our dogs the best that they can be.