Hunting Tests

For all of these tests explained in their original language, please see the DTK Prüfungsordnung (http://www.dtk1888.de/dtkordnungen.html?PHPSESSID=85062c75033c7fa50ccc048d22e7acd9)

All of the tests that I describe here are based on the PO-unless otherwise noted- and also personal experience.
 

Spurlautprüfung (Sp):  Test for voice on track

This test is performed approx from August until May on/near fields for 3 judges.
The dog can be any age, bust must have passed Schussfestigkeit (gun shyness test)

Basically the objective of the test is for the dog to follow a fresh rabbit/hare trail while giving voice without actually seeing the animal.

Each participating dog gets 2 hares. The 3rd trail is given if there is some discrepancy (bad voice, bad tracking, etc...) or if the area has more than enough hares as compared to dogs. The trail that the dog completes with the best score is the one that is recorded. If the dog is tested on 3 rabbits, 1st prize cannot be awarded.

Dachshund symbols by Picasso
The dogs are lined up in 2 lines. The first line act as drivers and the dogs to be tested are in the back line, so as not to see the hares. Once a hare jumps and starts running, "Hase" (Hare) is called and the judges run to see the line of the hare. The dog to be examined is then brought to the site of where the hare way lying/started running and the handler can start to guide it in the direction of the track. After a few meters, the dog is released from the line and should follow the line, giving a usually high pitched barking noise. The dog should essentially follow the line, barking the whole time. If the dog goes off the line, it should be quiet and this is not a fault, but actually desired and the dog can go back and check the line on its own.

The dog is tested on the following criteria:
Nose work, Giving voice, Desire to follow the track, and Ability to follow the track

The conditions (hot, dry, windy, snowy, etc...) is taken into account when grading the dogs.

Faults:
Sichtlaut- Giving voice only when the dog sees the hare, but not on the track itself
Waidlaut- Giving voice in excitement of the hunt, even when there is no track.
Not trailing long enough/giving up on the trail
A single line of drivers during a Sp practice in Germany.


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BhFK/95: Aptitude for underground hunting test

The main point of BhFK is to see that the dogs will enter and actively search underground in tight, enclosed spaces, make sound when they find the fox, and pursue it.

The set up of the artificial fox den is as follows:

The general set up for the artificial den is that it is concrete and built into the ground. The width of the burrow is ~ 16-18 cm in diameter (6.25-7 in). The tops of the den are wooden (at least ours were) and there are a series of flags that will move (flap, turn, etc...) when the animal moves past them. This allows you to see where the fox and dog are moving throughout the test. This test is a test without contact. The dog and fox are always separated by metal bars. "Eingang" is the entrance and Kessel 4 is the final Kessel.

 The test is broken up into 3 parts:
Part 1- Baulaut
The dogs search the empty den before a fox has ever entered it. Ideally they search completely silently and go throughout the den. For this part of the test, the long arm of the artificial den is blocked, but the "figure 8" in the middle is completely open. If the dog does make some noise, it may be ok because of the excitement of being in the den. This is further evaluated later when the fox is present.

Part 2:
The fox is run through the long arm of the den (Hindernisstrecke) through kessel 3 and placed into the final kessel (#4). A kessel is basically the holding area for the fox with metal grating on each of 4 sides that can be removed to allow the animal to move or put down to hold the fox in the kessel and keep the dog out. In the long arm of the den, there is a sharp drop of 40 cm (~16 in) which continues for 1-2 meters and then the dog must get back up the 40 cm to continue on. Kessel 2 and 3 are open on all sides and the dog must find its way to the final kessel with the fox and bark continuously. The maximum amount of time allowed is 5 minutes.


Part 3:
The dog must search and pursue the fox. For this part of the test, the dog must find the fox and bay at it. When the fox is not present, the dog should be quiet or the barking pattern should change, indicating that the fox is no longer in front of the dog. The fox is then moved by the testers from kessel to kessel for a maximum of 10 minutes. For at least one part of this test the fox and dog must go through the Fall und Steigrohr (drop and climb), which is a 35-45 degree slope up and down, and through the Engsteile (Bottleneck) which decreases the diameter of the tunnel to 14-16 cm (5.5-6.25 cm). Once the fox has been moved into kessel 4, the dog is timed for persistence. The dog should continue baying at the fox no more than 50 cm (~20 inches) from the kessel for 5 minutes. If the dog should start biting the bars, the judges are allowed to stop the test so that the dog does not injure its teeth.

In the case of our test, 3 of the 4 dogs had their final 5 minutes cut short due to excitement and biting the bars. This was not a fault, since the dogs proved that they were courageous enough to try and take on a fox underground.

The test in Germany is now scored as either pass or fail. In other countries, variations of the BhFK95 are still graded. 


Note: Many Thanks to C. Gertzmann from the Südbaden club of the Badischer Dachshund Club (DTK) for the documents containing the BhFK/95 den set up.

** For a peak at Fox den tests in other countries, check out my post: Finnish Fox Trials
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Wassertest (WaT):  Water Retrieving

In theory the wassertest is a very simple test. The goal is 2 fold. 1.) A dog must prove that it is not afraid of gun shots (Schussfestigkeit) and 2.) it can retrieve a duck from water.

For the test the dog is held by the owner while two shots are fired and the duck is thrown 6-8 m into relatively deep water. The dog is then released and must enter the water, swim out to the duck, retrieve the duck, and bring it back to shore. The test is based on 2 categories: 1.) Wasserfreudig (Water happiness/water loving) and Bringen (retrieval).  A bit of encouragement is initially allowed to get the dog to enter the water, but too much negatively reflects on it's score for Wasserfreudigkeit. If the dog does not retrieve the duck, but is not bothered by the shots, it can be approved for Schussfestigkeit. Each participant is allowed 2 tries at the Wassertest.




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So, I realized that I have never really written a comprehensive post about the hunting test which are performed in Sweden.


While there are many tests that a dog can do: Rally, Eftersök, BPH, Viltsvin, Viltspår, Gryt, Drev, Mantrailing, Agility- I will focus this post on the most common hunting tests that Dachshunds do here in Sweden and what it takes to become a Champion.

Let's start with Gryt Champion (Underground/den work):

In theory, this Championship sounds relatively easy to achieve, but very few dachshunds nowadays participate in Gryt here in Sweden as compared to Germany, Denmark, or Finland where den work still seems quite popular and many tests are performed each year.

The Swedish GrytChampion-SEJ(G)CH- is made up of 2 parts:
1.) Passing the Grytanlagsprov (den aptitude test) with Kvalitet 1/1st Prize
2.) Passing the Grytjaktprov (basically the BhN (D or F) as in Germany- den hunting in the field) in 1st prize

The dog must have 2x 1st prize in either the artificial den or the jaktprov (3 trials in all)

In addition, the dog must be rated "Good" or better in exhibition.



To me, the underground aptitude test is something that I want my dogs to have. It proves to me that they can do something that the breed was originally bred to do: go into dark, tight areas, and be interested in working a badger or fox. Plus, a dog being able to fit into the artificial den puts a limit on the size of the dog. Neither of my boys are particularly small, but they are determined and agile enough to still squeeze themselves through a 13 x 17 cm space (5.1 x 6.7 inches). The Swedish den also contains a middle arm with a 60cm (almost 2 feet) vertical jump that both of the boys jumped up an explored during practice. For more information about the den set up here in Sweden, please check out this post: http://whdackel.blogspot.se/2014/06/training-with-badger.html

According to Taxen- the magazine of the Swedish Dachshund Club-in 2012  there were a reported 36 dogs that participated in the Grytanlagsprov and only 3 which went on to take the Grytjaktprov. There was a slight rise in 2013, with 51 dogs participating in the aptitude test and 6 in the den hunting trial. Now mind you I say "participating," just because you participate does not mean you pass. Indeed, at out trial this year only 5 of the 7 tested dogs passed their exams. This year only 4 of the 20 clubs hosted a Gryt test. It is a surprisingly low number, but den tests are in danger of being abolished all over Europe by activists, so I don't really expect to see an increase in the coming years. Hopefully den tests will continue and Dachshunds will continue to participate.

Next let's move onto Viltspår (Bloodtracking) Champion:

To become a Swedish Viltspår Champion-SEVCH- a dog must:
1.) Passing a Anlagstest (aptitude test)
2.) Receive 3x 1st prize in Open class tracking exams
No exhibition score is currently needed as I believe even castrated dogs are allowed to participate in blood tracking trials.

An Anlagstest is basically an aptitude test to see if your dog is interested in blood tracking. The picture above gives a description/ gives you an idea of how the test is set up. 2 dl (200 ml) of cows blood is used on the track and "Blodupphåll" is a bloodless stretch and the track is left to age for 2-5 hrs. For the length of the test a deer hoof is dragged along with laying a blood track so the dog can technically follow the smell of a deer hoof as well as blood.
The judge takes the dog to the starting point and the dog is given a maximum of 30 min to work out the track with a deer hoof at the end. The judge looks for interest, the dog's working ability, tempo, and accuracy and in the end that dog either Passes or Fails. If the dog passes, it can then move onto the more difficult open class tracking exams.


The open class exams are a bit different from the aptitude test. The length of the track, amount of blood laid and hoof dragged is the same, but the time and how the track is set up is different. First off, the track is to be allowed to age for at least 12 hours (overnight) and be at least 600 m (650 yards) long. Instead of a clear mark to start the track, the dogs must search a 25 x 25 m "box" for the starting point. The judge brings the dog and handler to the edge of the "starting box" and tells them where the boundaries are and the dog must find the start and continue with the track. There are several bloodless stretches on the track, including at least 1 corner and a "back track" area (återgång) where blood is laid, then only the hoof is dragged back to the line/no blood, then after about 20 m the blood trail continues. Finally, 50-100m before the end of the track, the judge fires a shot to test that the dog does not react (similar to German Schussfestigkeit).  The dog is allowed 45 min to track and again the judge is looking for working ability, tempo, and that they are not bothered by gunshots.

Now a big part of the test is that it is performed in an area that is rich in wildlife. Here in Skåne that means several types of deer, wild boar, moose, fox, badger, hares, etc... We have seen all these animals, or tracks of these animals, while out blood tracking. Simon has encountered a herd of deer and a very large boar during his tracking exams. These are definitely distracting and for some dogs more than others. For us, getting Baxter to focus on the track more than the animals was a huge challenge as he much rather explore the forest and chase after all the animals, then follow a silly, old cow blood trail. 



In Sweden last year 1140 dachshunds participated in blood tracking exams, which accounts for roughly 50% of the dogs taking blood tracking exams in Sweden. It is a HUGE number. Blood tracking is by far one of the most popular activity being done with dachshunds in our area. I commend the Swedes for their forward thinking of allowing everyone to work with their dogs and not just those with hunting licenses. I know many people that have gotten their dogs 1st and their hunting licenses later. I will definitely be in that group and am excited to have well trained partners to hunt with me. Blood tracking is a great way to learn more about the dog and work as a team, plus it gets you out in nature! What more could you want? 

The last of hunting championships that a dachshund can get in Sweden is the Drevprov-literally translated "Drive test." This is the test that I know the least about at the moment.

For more on Drev and dogs used for that purpose, I would highly suggest checking out the blog from Kennel Jaktvallens here in Sweden.

Swedish J(D)Champion
A dog must:
1.) Receive 3x 1st prize in a Drev exam
2.) Receive a rating of at least "Good" at an exhibition.
In order to get 1st prize a dog must:
Run/trail a hare or rabbit for 45 min or a fox, roe deer, or red deer for 60 min or 2x 45 min.

The dog is judged on criteria such as searching ability, hunting ability, hunting drive, voice, etc...
From what I can gather, this test is a combination of the German "Stöber/Waldsuche" test and a very long spurlaut/sichtlaut type of test. Either way, it will be exciting to see and finally understand what is involved in this test.

This is a much more popular test than Gryt, but not nearly as popular as blood tracking. According to Taxen, 625 drev-tests were performed in Sweden last year. Sorry for my lack of pictures of dachshunds decked out in Drev gear!

One reason that I think there are so many trials performed in Sweden has to do with exhibition grades and championships. For example, to enter working class in a Swedish exhibition, one must pass at least an anlagstest. If you then get 3x CK (Certificate Quality) in hunting class, you qualify for a Swedish Show champion. To become a champion from a class other than hunting class, the dog must essentially be BOB or BOS at 3 shows, which is much more difficult. Though even if you get the CERTs or CKs, you still need a result. To be a Swedish show champion as a dachshund, the dog must also get either: 1st prize in Grytanlagstest  (G) or 1st prize in Open class blood tracking  (V) or 2nd prize Drevprov (D) or pass anlagstests in both blood tracking and 2nd prize grytprov (KoV). So being pretty isn't the only thing, the dog has to be able to work as well.

Well, that is my (more or less) comprehensive guide to what I know thus far about Swedish dachshund-related hunting tests. Even though the nordic countries all do very similar hunting tests, each are a bit different, with different rules or ratings or requirements, therefore I won't get into them now. Maybe another day...












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