Braque du Bourbonnais

NSTRA, Lebec, 31st of March, 1st of April 2012

Version française


The So Cal NSTRA chapter put on field trials on March 31 and April 1, each dog could run twice each day in separate fields and separate trials. I took Cody du Pech de Cayrol pedigree and Rufnit Fletcher pedigree and they had a great time.
As you may know the NSTRA format is a bit different, ok very different, from what we usually run in BDC or NAGDA. The trials are "Judged" vs "scored" that means that the Judge will give you N points depending how he/she score the Point or Retrieve or Field Coverage or Obedience or Back and you are on the field for a full 30mns, this is not a race against time. It is however important to get the birds before the other dogs finds them. Of course the score is based on specific criteria but there is a judgement involved and the Judges are well trained. For example a Point that is judged excellent can scored between 80 and 100 points depending on intensity dog posture etc.. This does make it interesting.
While we did not have a great day on Sunday we had a good day on Saturday. The end results: Fletcher took 3rd place Derby dog in field B, 1st Place Derby dog in Field A and 3rd place overall (24 dogs) in Field A. Fletcher got some pretty high scores, 90 in Points and 82s in retrieves as well as very good scores in Back, field coverage and obedience.
Another interesting thing is that you are running in two dogs braces. If the dog in your field does not do well you have a better chance at a higher score especially if the other dog is not finding the birds and yours does. In the Brace that Fletcher was in and took 3rd overall in Field A, the other dog in our brace took 1st overall in Field A. It was quite a battle going back and forth between the two dog teams for the full 1/2 hour of the Brace.
BTW Derby dogs are dogs that have never placed 1, 2 or 3 overall before.
So Fletcher can no longer be a Derby dog. He also earned his first "Open" point which are points toward Championship and qualified him to run in the So Cal Regional on Memorial Day weekend. It takes 18 points, of which 9 must be from 1st places, to be a Champion.
Oh, and remember each day was two 1/2 hour runs, full out. Both Cody and Fletcher showed that they had the stamina to sustain these runs and the follow on runs. That can be attributed to sufficient exercise and the right nutrition: Canidae Natural Dog Food, made in the USA. I think they should make something for us humans too.