BMH society of GB Training & Test Day

November the 21st saw Heidi and myself attend the BMH society of GB Training & Test Day at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire, organised by Pete Garraway of the BMH society. The day consisted of an introduction and lecutre on blood tracking, from tracking test judge Andreas Guhl. This was a very informative and interesting talk, which also included a section on tracking dog equipment from Kit at www.muntjactrading.com

After this we were taken outside into the icy wind, where Andreas gave us a practical demonstration of how to lay a training track for our dogs using a liver drag on open ground. After which we were split into teams of two, and were able to lay down tracks for each others dogs to practice on, which I am very pleased to say, Heidi was able to complete with no problems.

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Hall http//:deertrackerupdates.blogspot.com

After a hot lunch in the college canteen we returned to the car park where we were then split into two groups, each of which was accompanied by a judge, witnesses and assistants, and sent of to the location of our the Schweisshund Aptitude Test, which had been laid earlier in the morning before our arrival. Full details of the test can be found here: www.bavarianmountainhoundsociety.org.uk/Images/Aptitude%20Test%20v2.pdf

We each waited nervously for our turn, and soon enough it was time for me and Heidi. The judge, in our case was Andreas Guhl who showed us our starting point and then it was up to us! Although being a basic test, I really felt the pressure, as this was the first time we had be on a track laid by somebody else, and not knowing exactly where it went. Anyway I kitted Heidi up with her tracking outfit, showed her and examined the impact point, told her to 'track on', and away she went steadily but confident. I was desperately looking for signs of blood etc, but couldn't find a great deal, mainly because I was watching Heidi perhaps a little too much. Doing this test made me realise just how much more you have to work as a team, and work at a pace that lets you notice the tell tale signs left behind, if nothing else so you can back your dog up if things dont go quite right.

Luckily for me Heidi seemed to know what she was doing and followed the line perfectly, picking up and dealing with the obligatory turn in the track with no problem, eventually working her way to the find, which in this instance was a Roe head. At this point you cannot imagine my relief that everything went okay and I passed this on to Heidi giving her masses of praise and reward. We then walked back to the rest of the group with the judge and helpers who kindly praised Heidi's work and gave us a few pointers for the future. Its always good to hear from those more experienced than yourself, you can learn so much. After a short drive back to the classroom, we refuelled with a hot coffee and biscuits, were given our results which in our case was a pass,followed by a debrief on the days events.

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Hall http://deertrackersupdates.blogspot.com

All in all a terrific day. Anyone with a tracking dog should have a go. Its not expensive and there is no need to worry about being embarrased if things go wrong, these people are there to help you and your dog. It has given the both of us inspiration to continue with our training and look forward to taking the Schweisshund Test Level 1 in the future.