During the 5 days between October 12 and October 16, 1995, John and Moira Rogerson, both noted animal behaviourists and certified British Working Trial judges, put on a 5 day seminar in Round Rock, Texas introducing us to the British Working Trials. John, who comes to the States on a regular basis to put on behaviour and training seminars, was asked by Diana Smith (of Austin Canine Training) to put on this Working Trial seminar while he was here giving a shelter rehoming seminar in Austin.
A number of teams took part in various parts of the seminar, including Barbara West with Bliss (from Houston, TX), Caroline Watson with Sephie (sp?) (from Fort Worth, TX), Mark & Kim Donnell with Mako (from Georgetown, TX), Bart Emken with Chelsea Garbo (from Pflugerville, TX), Barbara Perry with Bindi, Jeanne Ruder with Shep, and Diana Smith with Valor's Cheer (all from Austin, TX). In addition, quite a few others came as observers on various days of the seminar.
During this seminar, we learned about control, agility, and scent work the Working Trials way. Topics discussed through the first three days of the seminar included the 6' scale, 3' clear and 9' long jumps, out of sight stays, recalls, send-aways, on and off lead heeling at slow, medium and fast pace, retrieves and the scent-box search. On Sunday, we then competed in a complete working trial, from which, if we had qualified, we would have been awarded a title in the first 'stake' (level) of the Working Trial sequence, that of Working Companion Dog. The seminar rounded out on Monday with tracking field work and a review of the topics from the previous days.
To qualify in the Companion Dog stake, a dog must meet a minimum score (qualify) in each of the four groups as well as in overall points. While none of us received titles, Mako qualified in two of the four groups, and Cheer qualified in one of them. Bliss received the highest overall score, being the most consistent dog in the group, and Chelsea broke new ground as the first mixed breed to compete in the American Working Trials. Scores for the trial are shown in the table below.
| Exercise | Points | Qual. | Chelsea | Mako | Bliss | Cheer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heel on Lead | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Heel Free | 10 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 4 | |
| Recall | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| Sendaway | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Group Total | 30 | 21 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 16 |
| 6' Scale | 10 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | |
| 3' Clear | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | |
| 9' Long | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Group Total | 20 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 9 | 4 |
| Sit Stay | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Down Stay | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Group Total | 20 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Search Box | 20 | 0 | 20 | 8 | 18 | |
| Retrieve | 10 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 8 | |
| Group Total | 30 | 21 | 4 | 25 | 18 | 26 |
| Overall | 100 | 70 | 26 | 51 | 55 | 46 |
To qualify, a team must qualify in each of the four groups as well as in overall score.
Qualifying scores are indicated in bold in the table
To earn a CD title, a team must earn 70 points plus qualify in all four groups.
To earn a CDex title, a team must earn 80 points plus qualify in all four groups.
