I am cognisant of the ability to make some potential rule changes next year. This is the reason I am keen to start a dialogue and garnish some thought on what we have, if it works and most importantly if there is anything we could do to improve or make changes to the rules that are currently in place.
I am also aware that it could be a contentious issue so I would ask fellow handlers and judges to keep an open view of what could be a great fact finding tool which can be used to gather information on the site to support the State RAFT Committees when making a proposal or a rule change in the future.
My own initial thoughts are just that my own and having counseled other trialler’s around the country on ways to improve what we already have in place which are a tried and proven product, I do however, think some things could change slightly and be worded differently, so it is clear and no ambiguity exists. I am also aware that some rules should be left, as they are to allow the judge to make that call on the day.
I will sign off for now and be bold enough to suggest a couple of things without uploading the site too quickly and just concentrating on one area at a time. The first area I would like handlers to consider are concepts.
An area I see we could make some changes for both the judge and competitor is the Double Fall and Two Bird. Why can’t either the double fall or two bird be used off a blind leg retrieve?
Is there a reason why this can’t occur? Has it always been from a mark retrieve leg? If so why? When a trained dog understands that concept they will pick the bird when told by the handler and not before.
Double rise: This concept that is not a great habit at all, I understand the theory behind it, but as both a handler and Shooter struggle with this as some of you may have experienced in a competition when a dog double rises again. It teaches a dog all the wrong habits to go back to an old fall where they have previously found a bird, this is really bad and can become a habit if not careful.
Why do we have such a concept that teaches dogs such a bad habit, when as a hunter I have no desire to keep sending my dog back to the same area again and again?
I have several other ideas, which I’m happy to put on this site month after month to test the water to see if there are any others that support that idea or have any other ideas for the good and benefit of the sport. I look forward to hearing your reply and thoughts about this vast subject.
Yours in trialling,
Karl Britton
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