WUSV Helpers are - Page 2

 I,ve seen Lotus working and he is fast in the escape but controlled and his sleeve presentaion is normally spot on. I,m not familiar with the back half helper but i,m sure the judges would not of picked him if he werent properly skilled for the occasion. Who is the alternate? 

We had a helper here this summer from the Czech Republic and he could certainly have outrun many a dog on the escape. But, as Doug says above, "Safety, proper technique, testing the dog, following the trial rules and being consistent for all dogs is what helper work should be about" and that should especially be true in championships, and even at the local trial. 

One problem that has not been mentioned yet is that it rained a lot yesterday. The infield had sod laid on it but they removed no dirt so that the infield sod is higher than the outfield sod, thus necessitating a change in pattern on at least the long bite, which is now apparently considerably shorter because the helper goes from the blind diagonally to the center line, thus missing the uneven turf. 

Several friends have said attendance is not very good and worse, signage is not there or incorrect in some instances. The host motel has their sign as WSUV ........SHOW....LOL OH Well.

Critiques are in German without a translator present. Two judges had to be replaced because of illness. Not an event off to a propitious start I guess. Here's wishing it goes well for most competitors.

Doug

I have never ever seen a helper beat a Dog yet, Once the handler tells the Helper out from the hide and he goes to his mark, the handler then goes to his spot and  the Dog sits then the handler tells the Dog to AFT. down. and moves away to the side of the hide

The said Helper is about 15 m out as soon as he moves the Dog it at him and i have never seen any Helper get more than 6 strides before the Dog is onto him 

With Fred he leaves a groove in the grass as he launches his self off from a Down, and the helper does not usually get more than three or four strides before the Dog has him

Of course once the Dog is on to the Sleeve, the Helper runs and goes through the normal sequence, then stops and of course then the handler tells the Dog to Los', 

other than this i do not know what you mean by the helper beating the Dog running

There is no man alive that can outrun a Dog, Perhaps you can show a video of it happening

Steve

Steve:

                   At our Regionals in september a front half helper out ran 2 dogs. The main problem that happens is improper training of the dog and improper helper technique.This is why I have left my last 2 clubs as of late, Inconsistant helper work at the club level can leave some dogs slower to respond at the helpers break then they go to a trial and are on a helper working quickly and properly and the dog is taken by suprise how fast it must move which effects it,s timing. I,m sure the dogs and helpers at the worlds are not going to see this happen. I can find  the cd of the work at or regionals and mail it to you if you like.

I'm sure that you missed typed as the set-up for the helper is about 5 steps away from the down location for the dog on the escape. That would translate to about 12-15ft.

Lotus outran dogs to the cut-off line at last year's North American's.

As Doug stated while fast is good without control you're setting yourself up for a Snafu. If a helper is running as fast as they can and a dog slams the sleeve forward on the grip...guess what the helper is 9 times out of 10 going to go ass over tea kettle as the have nothing left to accelerate into the bite.

Keith Jenkins

The short work helper at the WUSV 2006 in Denmark out ran quite a few dogs, I think it was 8 in total. I did a quick search on youtube and found this video http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-4embhlKA9o which shows 3 of the dogs that missed in the escape.

Henriette

 Some of the dogs missed in this video because of incorrect work by the helper in sleeve position.

No one can outrun a dog on a straight line but in trials this can happen if the dog is not positioned properly by the handler. Those dogs that were outrun are some of (if not) the fastest dogs in the competition (one is Antar and another is Zender) so I can not agree with Hodie about the sleeve position. The helper in that clip actually one of the best front half trial helpers in the world. He is very fast but very consistent in his work. 

Hodie...respectfuly, you do not know what you are talking about.  The front half helper, who by the way was 19 years old at the time, was extremely fast, consistent, correct and safe.  The sleeve presentation was money, E-V-E-R-Y single  time.  By the time this kid finished, he left a trench in the grass on his escape and drive routes and each dog was worked the same.   You couldn't ask for a better front half helper AND I'm not even a fan of the skip drive. 

I was on the side lines at this event and the following is one of many pictures i took of a shepherd from Japan.  I have practicaly the same shot for almost every dog and the sleeve presentation was the same. (don't know how to post a picture but here is a link)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/gnaranjo/WUSV034.jpg

BTW good luck to the competitors and helpers.

I know Zender well enough, He is one of the Best Dogs still in Training and next Month he goes for the Interland Championship against Belgium v Holland and he will not be far from thne top spot even at his age

He has had many helpers on the Turf on many occasions, But i still maintain that however fleet of foot a Helper may be

IT' is his job to get away from the Dog as we all know, but he also has to postition himself correctly so the Dog and every Dog has the same chance of hitting correctty

I have seen some great Helpers over here and some not so good, only two weeks ago the front helper did not do things as he should have, but there is no second chance

But i am sure the Guys picked for this Job are up to the Challenge

There will be some controversy about them after the event i am sure of that, they are only human and it is a l.ot of Dogs they are working with, so mistakes will creep in But i think they will have chosen the right Guys i am sure

As regards to my main Club we have Three outstanding helpers, one who is working with Fred' in the Photos on this site been at these dogs for 40 years

The Belgian team Captain, and the fellow he bought along from a young lad and still is only in his 30;s an excellent helper all qualified by many helper tests and written exams as you have to be in Belgium to qualify as a registered helper

and they not only help the Dogs learn, but the Handlers as well

Steve