Working Trials
Working Trials Control
Working Trials Agility
Working Trials Nosework
Working Trials Results
Working Trials Points CD Stake
UD, WD, TD Stakes Points
Patrol Dog (PD) Stakes Points
Working Trials Control
Weimaraners are both excellent nosework dogs and extremely agile however the section in Working Trials that stumps
most owners is where they have to demonstrate a high level of control. We are not looking for the precision of the
“obedience” competitor but an all round responsiveness to and compliance with the handler.
Sit/Down Stays
These must be conducted out of sight for 2 minutes and 10 minutes respectively. Success in this area necessitates a
gradual build up of time and distance; differing locations, other dogs and plenty of distractions in order to ensure the dog
completely understands what is required. It helps if you can always see your dog even if he cannot see you so that you can
correct sniffing, scratching, rolling etc. Living on a corner plot allows me to use passing pedestrians, skaters, cyclists and
dog walkers etc. as an opportunity to reinforce the stay; when the dog is really competent I will throw balls, toys, sausages
etc. to tempt the dog to break; This instils self discipline and makes the stay a positive exercise with the dog actually
choosing to stay rather than prefer to interact with said disruption.
Heel on Lead/Free
This must be performed at slow, medium and fast pace with no extra commands; insistence must be placed on the dog’s
attention and not allowing the nose to go down for a “general sniff about”. Using a toy or titbit can help focus the dog on you
whilst gradually building up. the length of concentration. Working in places such as supermarket car parks provides plenty of
diversions for training purposes. Always ask for very short spurts of heelwork interspersed with plenty of high reward activity
which will increase the dog’s interest in this exercise.
Speak
Getting your dog to bark and cease on command can be started from around six weeks old when you get out the food bowl!
The dog will need to respond to this command in the sit, down, stand, on the move, tied up, in a car, on a table, out of sight
etc. etc. I have met very few reticent barkers but as most will speak out of frustration it is just a question of finding what
frustrates them most!!!
Retrieve
The retrieve exercise is more complex than would first appear. You are going to ask the dog to sit at heel, wait, go out and
pick up the dumbbell, return to you, sit straight in front of you, give you the dumbbell and then return to sit at heel. A good way
of training this is to work backwards i.e. Start with the dog in front of you and asking it to hold the dumbbell; from there you
can move on to asking the dog to pick it up from various positions until you throw it. This way the dog will automatically
assume the correct spot on its return.
Recall
This is essentially the same exercise as the Retrieve but without the dumbbell! In both exercises it is best not to ask for a
“finish” but to train this separately; this overcomes anticipation.
Steadiness to Gunshot
This is usually carried out on the tracking field either before or after the nosework. The dog must display neither aggression
nor nervousness and the gun may be fired whilst the dog is in a static pose or on the move. Most Weimaraners are not gun
shy however it is as well to purchase a starting pistol and blanks so that the dog is used to hearing it prior to competition
and fire quite a way away from the dog whilst it is just mooching about to gauge its’ reaction. (It is a good tip to be somewhat
discreet when producing a gun in order to avoid being surrounded by the firearms squad).
Sendaway
This is the exercise which often decides the winner of the Tracking Dog Stake and is probably the hardest to train; as the
dog is being asked to go up to 200 yards away from you and then the same distance right and/or left for no particular
reason! The easiest way to start a pup off is to send it to a bowl of food; eventually you will need to dispense with this and
reward it with a titbit/toy/praise. Many Weimaraners will “sniff’ their way out, not go down at the end or, horror of horrors, if
they are male cock their leg on the hedge etc., something that will not endear you to other competitors or the judge. Very
good sendaway dogs are few and far between and their results reflect the amount of training put in.
The above is just a preliminary overview of the components of the Control Round in Working Trials and is not intended to be
a comprehensive programme of training but rather identify good practice.
Article by Allyson Tohme - First printed in Grey Matters (the Weimaraner Associations Newsletter) in November 2001