From the Show Ring to the Field
You and your dog have had a very successful tour in the show ring. Maybe you have several group ribbons hanging on the wall of your office, and your trophy case has been augmented by a few Bests in Show. But you know that the dog’s show career is winding down, and you are pondering what’s next for both of you. Do you consign the dog to life as a stud/brood bitch and couch potato? Or do you do something that keeps the dog and you stimulated mentally and physically?
The answer, for many people, is the latter, and this has been a definite plus for the breeds as a whole, as dogs with correct conformation show that they can also do the job they were bred to do. But for many breeds, taking a dog from the show ring to the field is not the easiest task, especially when they have spent their whole competitive life in the conformation ring and have had little or no opportunity to learn anything about their real job.
What do you need to do in order to be successful with your show dog in the field? First of all, you have to be realistic. There are simply some show dogs that won’t be able to cut it in the field or the arena. This can happen with any breed, but it is particularly true of those breeds where there is a major split between “show” and “field” types. This should not, however, discourage you from trying. No matter how negligent the show faction of a badly split breed has been about selectively breeding for field abilities, there are always a few dogs that retain the necessary instincts, and yours might be one of those exceptions.
Let’s take a look at going from show ring to field with the five dog types that have a job to do in the field — hunting dogs, hounds (scent and sight), Working dogs, earthdogs and herding dogs. There are also some breeds in Non-Sporting — such as Dalmatians, which have a road dog testing program, and Standard and Miniature Poodles, which can participate in hunt tests — and the Toy dogs — including Italian Greyhounds, Silky Terriers and even Yorkshire Terriers — that have jobs other than being lapsitters.
Flat-Coat puppy with pigeon.
The first thing to do is find out if the dog has any interest in whatever prey is part of its historical job. For Sporting breeds, Airedales and the two Poodle varieties that means birds. But it’s not enough that the dog chases sparrows in the backyard. They have to demonstrate a desire to catch birds, and that almost always means you’ll need pigeons. Pigeons usually are inexpensive, small enough so they don’t intimidate the dog, and if a dog won’t at least chase a clip-winged bird — a most enticing target — you might be better off looking for a different sport for that dog.
If you don’t have access to birds, either look for a professional trainer in your area or, if you can’t find one, get in touch with a club that hosts hunt tests; someone in that organization likely will be able to direct you to a person who has pigeons. It’s best, however, to find a pro trainer for this task, as they can also give you a quick evaluation of your dog’s level of desire for birds, an important factor in how successful you will be in your transition from the show ring to the field.
If you have a hound (either sight or scent) or an Airedale, you’ll need to see if the presence of a rabbit or a raccoon excites your dog. This is true for Sighthounds if you think that there is even the remotest possibility that you’ll do some open-field coursing with your hound. As far as lure coursing is concerned, my coursing friends tell me it’s pretty much instinct. A hound will either chase the plastic bag, or it won’t.
Whatever field activity you do with your conformation champion will be positive for both the dog and the breed. Photo: Krista Smude.
With vermin-hunting terriers, you need to find out whether your dog lusts for rodents. Again, in the case of hounds and Airedales, you should get in contact with clubs that hold tests — earthdog or barn hunt — and trials for these dogs. The National Hunting and Working Airedales hosts an annual event in which Airedales can have an opportunity to see if raccoons are something they’d love to chase. As for rodents for the smaller terriers, most pet stores have mice. Also, many of the clubs hosting earthdog or barn-hunt events provide opportunities for novice dogs to get acquainted with mice and rats. If your dog won’t at least make an effort to chase a mouse, a sport other than earthdog or barn hunt might be the best option for both you and your dog.
As for herding, many clubs that hold herding tests or trials also host herding instinct tests. These events, where herding judges and trainers are present, are often the best way to find out if your Herding or Working breed has any interest in moving livestock. They also provide a little information on how stock thinks/works for you, which will be important if you decide to begin herding with your dog. Most importantly, however, going to tests and trials for any of these sports will provide valuable contacts when and if you decide to try the sports with your dogs as well as giving you an idea of what your dog will be expected to do.
Tests and trials can ignite the herder within.
Ideally, you will have put the “bird,” “rabbit,” “raccoon,” “rodent,” “cow/sheep/goat/duck” in your dog at an early age, like as puppies. Once you put the desire for whatever quarry your dog will be pursuing, it’s there for the rest of the dog’s life. Then, when the dog’s show career is finished, even if several years have elapsed, the greatest obstacle to success in the field — limited or no desire for your breed’s prey — has been eliminated.
However, if developing prey drive as a baby puppy is not possible or impractical, don’t lose hope. Your next window of opportunity, especially if you have a larger breed, usually happens sometime around seven to 10 months. Almost every larger dog I’ve ever known has gone through a growth period when they are so gawky that they are painful to the eyes. Use this period when they are not going to be shown to further cement the prey drive in the pup. If you have a Sporting breed, it also makes sense to use this time to force-break them to retrieve, establish the relationship between the gun and birds and teach them the basics of what they’ll be required to do.
The rudderless retriever: Can type exist without working ability?
If you are fortunate enough to own a dog that never goes through the “uglies,” none of this is absolutely necessary, as much of this is trained behavior and is something that can be taught after the dog’s show career is finished. Only igniting the fire in the dog’s prey drive while they are still a pup is what’s important. This doesn’t mean that older dogs can’t have an intense desire for whatever bird or critter they’ll be pursuing. But it’s a whole lot easier if that desire is developed when they are puppies.
This is not just vital for the dog’s post-show career. There is another very important reason to see if your dog has any desire for its historical prey. If the dog displays no interest in its intended quarry, why would you bother showing it? How much value can a dog possibly be to the breed, no matter how many show ribbons and trophies it has, when it lacks the most basic instinct to do the breed’s real job?
Igniting the fire in the dog’s prey drive during puppyhood is very important.
Your next step is to find a professional trainer, or at least an experienced mentor to help when things don’t go as planned. The books and DVDs are great, but odds are at some point you’ll have an issue that isn’t covered in any of the publications or videos, or the solutions proposed in either aren’t working with your dog. That’s when you need help from someone who not only knows what they’re doing, but has had a fair amount of experience in dealing with your dog’s problem.
Three notes of caution are needed here. First, it is extremely important to find a trainer who has been successful with your breed. If, for example, you have a Belgian Shepherd or a Corgi, it wouldn’t be wise to pick a trainer who has never worked with any breed other than Border Collies. The same would be true of a trainer who has exclusively trained Labrador Retrievers, German Shorthaired Pointers or English Springer Spaniels in the Sporting group. If you have an Airedale or a Poodle and you are looking to run your dog in hunt tests, you need to find a trainer who has been successful with several different breeds.
Caution number 2: If your plans include retriever field trials or hunt tests, you absolutely will need to find a professional trainer to work with your dog. Retriever field trials during the last 30 years or so have become so tough that only professionally trained dogs have a chance to be competitive. Sadly, although it was never meant to be this way, the same must now also be said of AKC retriever hunting tests. If you want to do anything beyond the Junior level, unless you are a highly skilled and experienced amateur trainer, it is a virtual necessity to have the dog professionally trained and, most times, professionally handled.
Caution number 3: This is also a bit of a warning; finding a trainer willing to work with a show dog can be a daunting task. Nowhere else in the world of field training does such bias against show dogs exist among field professionals as with the Sporting breed trainers. This anti-show dog bias, incidentally, is across the board, encompassing retrievers, pointing breeds and spaniels alike.
Dogs were meant to have active, challenging lives.
What’s more, you will occasionally run into judges in the field who will refuse to give your dog a qualifying score, no matter how well the dog performs (they can always mark it too low to qualify for “style”) simply because the dog is a conformation champion. Your options in these situations are limited. You’ll have to look for a trainer who isn’t biased against show dogs, and this may involve sending the dog out of your state. In the case of judges for all these sports, you can decide to never run your dog when so-and-so is judging. It does no good to complain to the AKC about judges’ bias, as they aren’t about to do anything about it, given the acute shortage of judges who are both qualified and willing to do the job.
Despite the obstacles, whatever field activity you do with your conformation champion will be positive for both the dog and the breed. Field or arena work and titles demonstrate that the dogs still have the ability to perform the breed’s original function, and that is just as important as the dog’s appearance. It also gives the dogs an outlet for their physical and mental energy. Most dogs were never intended to spend their lives on grooming tables or sofas, but were meant to have active, challenging lives. We owe it to them and to their respective breeds to provide it.