The thing that bugged me the most is dogs blowing blinds getting the same rating as dogs who ran all the blinds fast, tight, flowing and consistant. The blind search is like five points and we already spend hours teaching the damn thing. There are bigger things out there and more important things out there in the protection and training that many more hours for a "look" in the blind is just not worth it to me so I guess if I show under him again I know I am starting off with a 98. My dog did look in half the blinds and still only received a good rating on the search.

For those who were at the North Americans, just wondering what your thoughts were of the various dogs. Which dogs did you like, and why?

Also, a littermate (Antar vom Kiefern Tal, aka "Turk") of my husband's GSD (Artemis vom Kiefern Tal, aka "Lodi") competed at the NA. This was the first big trial for Turk & Gus. Like my hubby with Lodi, Turk is HOT and this is Gus's first SchH dog. They got a very good 97-88-96=281 score and a 9th place finish. Nice going, Gus & Turk! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Laura

I personally was impressed with Gus and Turk.
And it was great being able to see the two littermates (Doug's dog at the AWDF and Gus's at the NA) work and be again amazed about the similarities of the dogs' working ability. I love genetics... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Boy there are so many things to cover here .
Blind serches are obedience routines,and the dog knows where the helper is ,we train for that ,this is sport ,not Street work ,but as to looking in the blind the dogs have eyes,ears and noses ,they search one way or another .
Judges should be consisitant ,but most of us will trail under a judge if we like the judge for what ever reason you did good ,or you felt the judge was fair ,you go again ,its all up to you the person that is trailing the dog . As someone had said you train your dog the best you can with what you have it may not please all the judges, but its your dog.You pay ,you go you get the score good or bad .JMHO Peter

The whole point of the origination of the blind search was a disciplined search.

"I don't think so, as soon as he rounds the corner he can tell if it is empty or full without moving his head. No need to flip his head up to the top of the blind like an idiot."

No a dog cannot SEARCH without a visible change to their body. Remember dogs are pretty easy to read. they also don't lie. But they sure will tell you when they are lacking a behavior. Look at a handful of excellent blind searches of the past where the dog prepares to do a bark and hold as they approach each blind. they cannot do a B&H without being prepared to do it. Look how they approach the last blind. If it is significantly different from the other five you have an obedience routine instead of a disciplined search. I have always stood in awe at the sport handler whose dogs did this as I saw them as a bit enlightened. Remember where the sport got the routine.....from the police. A disciplined search is a must for safe searching and random running about is not a safe way to make your way through a search area. Even if you think you know where the suspect is.
Lance is knowledgeable, and fair, I commend him on judging the protection portion of the NA's as the rules have meant it to be judged. Maybe people should be pissed at the judges whose understanding of the dogs is not up to par and stopped judging the work and only judge the the surface of the performance. Such difficult judging in the championships is a must.
Just so that it is clear, the Canadians were involved in the judges college at the HOT tournament this year as well. Maybe we'll learn something from Lances insight into the rules.
Next time I see Lance I will tell him that such judging should be an inspiration to other judges.

Originally posted by Kevin Sheldahl:
The whole point of the origination of the blind search was a disciplined search.

Lance is knowledgeable, and fair, I commend him on judging the protection portion of the NA's as the rules have meant it to be judged. Maybe people should be pissed at the judges whose understanding of the dogs is not up to par and stopped judging the work and only judge the the surface of the performance That is for sure!! Good post, Kevin.

I agree 100% with kevin - those that complain about Lanc should re-evaluate the way they look at the dog sport or change the way they train their dogs. This thread is closed !