Does anyone know of the ÖPO1 title - Austrian? - Page 1

All: My dog Lars is an Austrian import I bought from a SV judge in April of 2005. The judge had bred the dog - then brought it to the USA during a trip to judge a regional conformation show. Evidently it was given back to him by it's former owner due to that person developing a serious illness and being unable to care for the dog. At the time I purchased the dog I was told he is a SchH1. During the purchase I was given a FCI scorebook with the dogs name, tatoo # and other information, along with that of the previous owner. There is one title recorded in the score book - which appears to be written "ÖPO1" in the "Art der Veranstaltung" column. The title was earned on 11/13-14/2004 at the Österreichischer Verein Für Deutsche Schäferhunde OG - 90 Weinburg. Does anyone know exactly what this title is? There are 3 scores (A, B, C), a total and the judges name and signature. I called the USA headquarters today to inquire about having the scorebook certified and when I asked about the title was told they'd never heard of it before. I'm planning on titling the dog next month (need BH first - they're not required in Austria) and don't want any surprises when I take him for his "2." Thanks for any input, -Calvin

to my knowledge it is the same as SCH 1 and IPO 1

I'm hoping to find something that "oficially" says what it is - I'm a little worried about there being problems at a trial due to the confusion over the matter. I googled "ÖPO1" and only found like 2 relevent hits - both here in dogs records at the DB. It seems to be an obscure title (at least it seems that way) and I'm a little leary since even the USCA had no idea what it was. I'm wondering of maybe the Ö can replace an I as in IPO? Seems a little improbable - but who knows... Thanks for any additional help. -Calvin

Calvin, I believe in Austria the BH,is not required for a SchH.1 so I think you would have to obtain a BH in order to validate OPO1 as a SchH.1. Who is the judge in the score book most Austrian judges are dual SV,Germany and SVO judges..Maybe this will help....Joe

Hi Joe, You are correct that Austria does not require a BH. According to USA I will have to do the BH first then the remaining titles as the BH is required here in the US. Otherwise they are OK accepting that he has a 1 and allowing me to go directly to the 2 after the BH - but the hangup is that now that I've looked carefully at the scorebook it doesn't say IPO or SchH - which I would think most people would be looking for - so I'm hoping to find out more about the OPO and maybe a reference in case there are ever any questions. The judge is Bernhard Prem who is an SV judge who also does a lot of trials here in the USA. At this point I'm just trying to find something that actually says the OPO1 is equal to a SchH or IPO title - there doesn't seem to be much about the title anywhere I've searched. A couple of dogs listed here in the DB have the title - but thats all I've been able to find. -Calvin

Does anyone else have any information on this? It appears to be an Austrian title - but I can't find anything that says that the OPO = IPO or SchH. -Calvin

Hi there Calvin! Hope all is well! Lars has a wonderful title already. What I found here: "Gebrauchshundeprüfung ÖPO-1 gliedert sich in : Abteilung A 100 Punkte Abteilung B 100 Punkte Abteilung C 100 Punkte Gesamt: 300 Punkte" You can read more on the subject here: http://members.chello.at/svoeog59/OEPO_2003_Stand12092003.pdf So we're talking the Austrian (Ö = österreich) PO equivalent to the German PO of the SV. I'm quite sure the title's accepted by the SV, as the Austrian GSD-club is a member of the WUSV. You could ask the Kennel Club: Österreichischer Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde, I'm pretty sure someone must speak English there. mailto: office@schaeferhund.at for further clarification, OR you can mail the WUSV directly: wusv@schaeferhunde.de to elaborate on the validity of the ÖPO title. Good luck to you and Lars for 2!! Jantie

Thank you Jante, hope all is well for you! -Calvin

Basically its all the same (SCH, IPO OPO), Differences are minor and you have Obedience, Protection and Tracking scored by the judge. OPO should be equal to IPO. SV judge was there, should be no problems

I'm pretty comfortable at this point the title is the same - it just doesn't appear to be well known in the USA and I fear issues at trials - say when I get to the SchH3 level and am going to a regional and get told "your SchH1 isn't valid" or some such silliness. Such an issue would undoubtedly garner an apology later - but that doens't compensate for the lost day or having to repeat the title. I'd be less worried about it except for 2 things - the USA (United SchH Clubs of America) knows nothing about the title - this was from the very person who certifies the scorebooks. The second issue (again with the UScA) is that they take NO ROLE in resolving issues such as these - which again causes me to question what good they even are. According to their HQ "there should be no issue have the title honored at a trial - but that would be up to the local club" Not much assurance!!! That makes no sense to me and moves responsibility for knowing about a less known aspect of the sport down to a volunteer level from the people who should really take care of the issue. In short, I'm not even sure why they bother "certifying!" the imports scorebooks as they seemed very uninterested in the whole matter. The other pain is that they won't transfer a title from an existing scorebook to theirs - so I've got a scorebook, written in German, with someone else's contact info (from Austria) in it. Talk about confusing on trial day for the secretary. So to take things a step further, I asked for a UScA score book as was told "we really, really only want a dog to have one scorebook." I asked "what does that really mean?" They responded "either have the existing scorebook certified and contine to use it, or get a new one and carry the existing scorebook everywhere with you." What sense does that make? *If* you do opt for a new scorebook (written in your language and containing your name and contact info) they refuse to certify you existing scorebook. So how is that going to look? You show up to a trial and have an empty scorebook claiming to have a SchH1 dog presenting for his 2 (or 3 down the road) and something the trial secretary can't even read that UScA won't certify that has the existing title in it. Maybe I'm overthinking this - but have had so many people tell that my dog couldn't even have a SchH1 without a BH (which is common in some countries - not all require it - Austria being one) it is apparent that not everyone knows everything that they might. And that adds another layer of conplexity to the siutuation - He'll have a SchH1 in an uncertified scorebook, then a BH dated AFTER the SchH1 in a second scorebook - I again can see lots of confusion on trial day - exactly when you don't want to be dealing with any additioanl stress. The whole thing is weird and makes me mad at the UScA. So, just to CYA I'm still hunting for something that I can print out, that looks "official" so if there are ever any questions I can present proof at the time and hopefully quell any problems. All in all I think it's kind of cool my dog has a title in a notation not typical - but I'm burnt at UScA for not being more together to deal with it. They seem to want to take your money - but push any responsibility for the matter down to you or the club. -Calvin