Predators ring trial and seminar

[pocketpit]

I was very excited to get away from work and take some time this weekend to attend the Predators ring trial and one day of their seminar. I figured I would post photos here rather than the gallery since the much of the general populace seems to have no interest in bitesports.
It was a very small trial (6 brevets, 2 ring ones and 1 ring three) but everyone had a good time. I took a ton of pictures but most of them were on film and have not yet been developed. However here's some of my favorites off the digital camera.

I've never seen a blue fawn Mal! This guy is a French import I believe.


Bomber (the ring III competitior) perfoming the palisade

Kimber

Kimber and Dice (they were only like that while I was packing the crates in the car)


seminar participants watching on the sidelines


high jump work


teaching a young dog high bite placement


building entry work





Kimber's friend Turbo (she's a few months older than Kimber)



Kimber doing obedience and tug work




Sokko (ringI) during the defense of handler exercise


I'm really hoping that my film comes out with some decent pictures as well and that my car is fixed so I can go back for the next trial on Sunday.

[cheekymunkee]

Those are GREAT!!

[Maryellen]

those are awesome pictures, kimber and dice are my favorites.. but that fawn mal is different looking....

[Mike A.]

keep on the good work.

[Romanwild]

Man I love dobermans!

[odnarb]

Go Bomber!

Gotta put in a plug for Harry's half-bro

[Purple]

Great pictures! Kimber is beautiful! I miss my Dobie!

[SisMorphine]

Kimber is absolutely gorgeous! It looks like you guys had a fun day.

[Malli]

holy crap that wall is insane! Oscar would never even think about it :lol

So you do French Ring?

What are the main differences between that and Schutzhund??

Malli

[pocketpit]

So you do French Ring?

What are the main differences between that and Schutzhund??

Yes, I train and compete in French Ring. Brooks (SBT) has her Brevet and I titled my first Doberman to a RingI. I also had a Malinois ( ) who was ready to title for her brevet and one when we lost her. I toy with the idea of getting Brooks a ringI but she's getting so old (she'll be 10 this year) that I don't think we'll do it but the idea is not permanently out of my mind as she'd love to continue working. Currently I have Brody and Kimber (both Dobes) as my next up and coming competition dogs.

Obviously the biggest difference is the suit vs a sleeve. In Ring a dog can be an upper or lower body biter or both. The dogs are allowed to bite wherever they want. We train for specific target areas but points are not lost if a dog chooses to bite elsewhere. Schutzhund also puts big emphasis on bite technique and depth and Ring does not.

The obedience is very different as well. Schutzhund is more rountine oriented than ring. While the ring exercises are the same, their order is chosen the morning of the trial as is the order of the bitework excersises. Greater emphasis on perfect obedience is put on Schutzhund dog vs the ring dog. For example attention during heeling is required of a Schutzhund dog but not for a ring dog. It's flashy and it's nice if you achive it but it will not award you any more points in ring. Schutzhund dogs have to track, ring dogs do not. Ring dogs have a palisade (the wall) and Schutzhund dogs have an A-frame, ring dogs have an incredible broad jump as well. There are many other differences as well like the various retrieves in ring and the change of positions which make ring obedience a little tougher in my opinion. Though attaining perfect obedience for Schutzhund is a lot of hard work too.
On the field the decoys for ring have a job to do. They are to find and expose weakness in your dogs character or training and expose them in order to cause you to lose as many points as possible. They are active opposition. This is not the case with Schutzhund.

Overall each sport was designed for a different purpose and I just happen to find ring more entertaining and challenging to train for. I think its more of a "thinking" sport for the dogs and they have to be able to operate on their own and make decisions for themselves.

[Malli]

wow, how interesting

I definately think one sign of a well trained dog is obedience (not necessarily in normally how we think of it, but I mean obeyance) in a non-predicatable situation. Its one thing to know the routine, its another to pay attention to enough to work well out of routine...

Though I am sure that in training for Schutzhund things are not always as set as in the competition

Anything further you have to share, I'm all ears!

Malli

[Pitcrew]

VERY cool. I've never seen a ring event. Dont know of anyone training that up here. Like to look into it.
Beautiful dogs though!