12-18 month Female Class at NASS - Page 1

Here is what happened during the gunfire of the 12-18 month Female class at the 2005 NASS. At the first shots a dog dragged its HANDLER out of the ring. It found its person and climbed up this person. The judge could not see any of this but was immediately told that a dog left the ring seemingly because of the gunshots. He said to tell him when it re-entered the ring. It re-entered the ring ( the judge was alerted)and the judge picked it out and brought it and another dog to him in the center of the ring. The judge made sure that both dogs had very loose leash. He fired the gun twice. He sent the extra dog back into the line and kept the dog that ran out of the ring BY ITSELF and fired the gun 2 more times from a distance of only 12-15 paces. The dog that ran out of the ring did not react significantly and did not show the previous behavior that the judge never saw. In front of the judge with one other dog the dog in question did 2 shots and then 2 more shots by itself. It was tested above and beyond all other dogs in the class. It did not EVER exhibit the behavior that it exhibited when it took the handler out of the ring. Educated guess is it freaked out at something the handler did. The judge never saw the original behavior and since the dog was tested above and beyond all other dogs in the class it passed the gunfire. The dog DID NOT JUMP on the handler when it was tested in the middle of the ring with 4 gunshots. The dog did jump up on the OWNER when it originally left the ring when the first gunshots were fired. I have no idea why the dog reacted the way it did when the first gunshots were fired but when it came back and was tested in front of the judge it did not exhibit that behavior. This dog at NO TIME reacted to gunshots where the judge could see it.

May I ask if you were at ringside when this all happened?

I was in the MIDDLE of the ring watching ALL of this AS it happened INFORMING the judge and FOLLOWING his instruction as it was given. I had the best vantage point of anybody at the show and was as surprised as anybody when the dog recovered from WHATEVER happened to cause it to react AS IF it was afraid of the gun fire initially. I repeat, the judge NEVER SAW any reaction and as soon as it returned to the ring I told him (as instructed)and he immediately pulled it to the center, he brought out one additional dog, he instructed both handlers to have a VERY loose lead, he fired two additional gun shots with this very loose lead. He then put the extra dog back into the class and did two additional shots with that dog by itself 12-15 paces away and it did not react to the gunfire. Dogs that are gunshy do not have an immediate miraculous recovery from this type of fear. This dog apparently reacted to something unrelated to the gunfire at the beginning of the class when other groups were being tested. It did pull the handler completely out of the ring and ran to its owner and climbed all over that person. However, that all happened out of the ring and the judge did everything in his power testing that dog well beyond any other dog in that class. What else do you expect the judge to do? For the final time THE JUDGE NEVER SAW THE REACTION AND WHEN THE DOG RETURNED TO THE RING THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT FOLLOWED!!! THE DOG NEVER REACTED TO GUN FIRE DURING THE ADDITIONAL TESTING! There were quite a few dogs in this class and this judge runs a very fast paced and efficient ring.

Thanks for the clarification. I must have been watching the wrong dog. My mistake.