I HATE the hold!

[TuMicks]

Oh, my!!! I almost forgot. Only 11 more days till St. Patrick's Day. Hope you're feeling well IW.

[IRISHWISTLER]

Oh, my!!! I almost forgot. Only 11 more days till St. Patrick's Day. Hope you're feeling well IW.

TuMicks,
Thanks Mate! Just did me last round of chemo this week and feeling less than chipper. Charging forward and the end o treatment is not far off. St. Paddy's Day will be less than jubilant for me this year, but we'll get beyond it.

Faugh a Ballagh,
Irishwhistler

[IRISHWISTLER]

Not sure which Hunt Tests Labradorks has been attending where she see's dog's being hit and otherwise abused? The rules of all HT's I attend strictly prohibit the intimidation and abuse of dogs and will most certainly lead to dismissal of the offender. I have attended and participated in numerous HT's over the years and have never witnessed any such activity. Surely one can bring such abuse to the attention of the Test Marshall if observed. This alleged abuse is certainly far from commonplace at hunt test venues.

Also, in my experience, the far majority of trained K9 athletes I observe at hunt tests are enthusiastic in their participation, and not at all imtimidated in said test environments / venues.

Faugh a Ballagh,
Irishwhistler

[TuMicks]

Not sure which Hunt Tests Labradorks has been attending where she see's dog's being hit and otherwise abused? The rules of all HT's I attend strictly prohibit the intimidation and abuse of dogs and will most certainly lead to dismissal of the offender. I have attended and participated in numerous HT's over the years and have never witnessed any such activity. Surely one can bring such abuse to the attention of the Test Marshall if observed. This alleged abuse is certainly far from commonplace at hunt test venues.

Also, in my experience, the far majority of trained K9 athletes I observe at hunt tests are enthusiastic in their participation, and not at all imtimidated in said test environments / venues.

Faugh a Ballagh,
Irishwhistler

I'm not sure, but I think Labradork was speaking about a club training day. But even with that, our club training days are for the purpose of simulating HT venues, and we pretty much follow the HT rule book. (I mean, why bother with a training day otherwise?)

BTW: I WISH I could tone down my Fireball with harsh discipline. (Not really.) I just wish it was that simple. Of course it's not. It's a tedious process of putting her away when she can't contain herself, and letting her taste a lot more plastic (blinds with bumpers) and a lot less feathers (marks). Big sigh.

[Labradorks]

Not sure which Hunt Tests Labradorks has been attending where she see's dog's being hit and otherwise abused? The rules of all HT's I attend strictly prohibit the intimidation and abuse of dogs and will most certainly lead to dismissal of the offender. I have attended and participated in numerous HT's over the years and have never witnessed any such activity. Surely one can bring such abuse to the attention of the Test Marshall if observed. This alleged abuse is certainly far from commonplace at hunt test venues.

Also, in my experience, the far majority of trained K9 athletes I observe at hunt tests are enthusiastic in their participation, and not at all imtimidated in said test environments / venues.

Faugh a Ballagh,
Irishwhistler

Picnic tests with local hunt clubs, not hunt tests. The only tests I've been to were with the Lab Club and we did not have those issues.

[IRISHWISTLER]

Most all of the parent organizations under which Hunt Tests are held such as AKC, HRC, and NAHRA have specific regulations that prohibit intimidation and physical abuse of dogs at hunt test venues. Most clubs that I am familiar with would not tolerate such behavior on the training grounds during a club training day either.

I am not saying you would not see such behavior at a gun club / hunt club event that is just a club sponsored event with no hard and fast regulations specific to those behaviors. Unfortunately, there is a wide range of opinion on what constitutes abuse. Some folks with little to no understanding of e-collars consider the devices abusive, far from the case. Can e-collars be misused? Of course e-collars can be misused and there are those that should never pick one up.

Just want to make the point that hunt tests are NOT a venue where animal abuse is tolerated and that most HT retrievers lead exceptionally good lives with caring owners tomlook after them.

Faugh a Ballagh,
Irishwhistler & TRAd