Dog Sports protection dog tournament
This tournament will be directed at all dog trainers, handlers, and will offer the unique opportunity for a decoy competition as well!
Entrants will not have to be members of any organization. Entries are open to all breeds, including mixes. You may enter as many classes as you wish. An exception: A dog handler team that won any previous year's competition will not be allowed to enter the same level, Unless it was advanced.
Judging will be based on how well the dog gets the job done. The obedience portion will be judged by the normal standards for obedience. Penalties will be given for extra commands, tight leash, forging, lagging, and wide.
The protection portion will be judged by a panel of judges. This panel will consist of at least two judges to observe the dog and handler, and another to observe the decoys' work. A consensus score will be obtained at the end of each exercise. Points will be given or lost based on accuracy of the performance, control, willingness to engage, and of course, to out on command.
All decoys will be wearing a full body suit. There will be no penalty for dogs that bite arms, or legs, but the decoy will be instructed to work as if he/she does not have a suit on. No bites will be "fed" to the dog, and the decoy will not "freeze" on the outs.
When gun fire is utilized, it will be 38 blanks, "Hollywood" loads. These are somewhat louder than the .22s commonly used by some clubs. There will be three levels of competition. Beginners, intermediate, and advanced. All work in the beginners level is ON LEASH, including the obedience. Each dog will have to perform the same obedience, the exception will be that at the intermediate and advanced level, the dog will be off leash. The advanced obedience will contain different distractions than the beginners and intermediate.
The ninth annual Dog Sports Open is being held August 18-19, 2007. The theme for this year is "Jail Break"! Please make sure you bring your own theme music, or risk Cheryl Carlson picking it for you!
If you are anywhere near St. Johns, Michigan, I highly recommend you make the drive to watch this tournament! We went last year and it was FANTASTIC!!!
Here are my writeups from last year's tournament. I never did the advanced thread.
http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=5197
http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=5204