THE VGP

The VGP, all the German pointing breeds are submitted to this test as well as other continental breeds and quite rarely
pointers and setters.
The training is carried out in a multitude of hunting circumstances, as much in open country as well as in woodland,
The dogs are tested in their ability to track the blood trail of big game (deer), retrieving in various ways, searching by the
trail or by the wind- inside and outside of water- finding hare as well as feather, and ducks as well as the fox.

The test in is four parts:

This is a two day exam. We have taken part in two exams with our girls, at the first exam in 2010 Rory had the water and
woodland work on the first day and the field on the second. At the most recent exam where both Rory and Amber took
part, we had field and then watrer and the woods on the second day. I should add that there are always two judges
judging each single exercise and that the retrieving is carried out so that the dog always has to sit in front of the handler
and wait for the game to be taken away- and NEVER drop the game. You may give one verbal command only in
every part of the test. For every command after the first one, you lose points. There is also always a time limit in which the
dog must complete each individual part of the test. All of the exercises except number 3 in part three are prepared
without the dog knowing which animal or where it is or even what is coming next. The dog is not present when the
preparation takes place (dragging or throwing into undergrowth)

Part one:

is a simulated shoot with beaters, gunshots, whistles and shouts, the dog has to stay with the handler in "sit" or "down"
during the simulation. Usually the handlers and dogs are set out at regular intervals around a small wood. This lasts about
15 minutes. All dogs are obviously off the lead.

Part two:

Working in the water

1. A duck is let loose on the water (always still water not a river) and swims off. The dog does not see this, and is sent into
the water where the duck went in and should follow the scent trail on the water. When the dog gets sight contact, the
duck is shot and the dog retrieves.
2. Retrieving out of deep water. A dead duck is thrown into the water - the dog does not see it but hears the splash,
(different place on the lake), with us there was a very steep bank, and the dog must jump in without mucking about and
retrieve the duck.
3. The dog is sent into the reeds to quarter. The dog has 15 minutes to do this and must not leave the reeds before the
judge gives a signal.
4. A dead duck is thrown into the reeds, (dog doesn't see it) and is sent in to retrieve it.
5. You also get points for obedience in the water (reacting to the whistle and hand signs when searching)

Part Three:

Working in woodland

1. Up to 24 hours before the exam, tracks are laid in the woodland. In her first exam Rory was the last one to do the
exercise and it was around 4pm ,( so ours was bang on 24 hours), a track is laid using a quarter of a litre of blood, the
track is a minimum of 500 metres with four 45° angles. This is done in a hilly wooded area with lots of undergrowth. At the
end of the track is a dead deer. In our case a deer which had been hit by a car the day before. The wind is coming from
behind. The dog works on a long lead and the handler has no idea where the track is. A judge walks behind the
handler and dog. This is the only exercise where the dog is on the lead.
2. A dead fox is dragged through the woods for about 350 metres with 45° angles again. The dog is put onto the scent
and is sent off to follow the track and retrieve the fox.
3. The same dead fox is put into a 2 metre x 2 metre fenced in area with a minimum of 70cm high- the handler places
the fox in the enclosure goes back to the dog (5 m away) and sends the dog to retrieve, the dog jumps in- using the
shortest route and out again with the fox and brings it to the handler. The fox must weigh at least 4kg and the dog only
has 3 minutes to complete this.
4. A dead hare is pulled over a field with one 45° angle and into the woods (about 400m). A bit of fur is pulled out at the
beginning so that the dog has a starting point, the dog follows the trail and retrieves the hare.
5. The same hare is thrown into thick undergrowth the dog has to search and retrieve.
6. The dog is sent into the woods to quarter and must go at least 50m away from the handler when quartering, it has to do
this with no commands except the initial one, some shots are fired on command of the judge.
7. The next step is for the judge to observe basic obedience without the lead. Walking along putting the dog into down
and then disappearing into the woods with one judge- the other judge observes the dog from a distance. After about 5
mins (with the dog still in the down position) a shot is fired and a minute later a second shot- the dog should not move at
all during the whole exercise- the handler and judge return and the dog must stay down until the command comes
(from the judge) to let the dog stand up.

Part Four

Field Work

1.This entails the normal field work you would expect from a pointer. It is marked on how fit the dog is, how good its nose
is on picking up scent. Correct quartering, pointing, shots fired. Also the obedience factor- not chasing hares or deer is
checked, you stay on the field for so long until the dog comes upon a hare or deer to check this.
Retrieving.
2.A dead pheasant or duck is thrown into a high field - in our case sugar beets- and then you send the dog in to retrieve,
it has to quarter until it finds it (15 mins allowed) Sugar beets are awful because there are loads of hares in there
3.Next stage is the dead duck or pheasant dragged for about 400m with at least one 45° angle, the dog is then set on the
start (where a few feathers were plucked), the dog is sent to retrieve and must follow the scent.

The training for all of this took a year, our girls needed to learn to search with her nose down (requirement) I think that
was the hardest part of all for them to learn to get direct scent and not the scent on the wind.
In order to get all the dead animals (and there were a lot in our "dog" freezer over the last year) we bought ducks, hares,
pheasants and foxes from shoots in the neighbourhood, without them we could not have trained her.
This exam is the highest a pointing dog can do in our part of Europe and is really aimed at the continental pointers, not
the British pointing breeds (setter/pointer).

Only 16 dogs are accepted for the test in our club. There were German short haired, German wire haired, Weimeraners,
German long haired, Münsterländers, Magya Visla and our girls being the only pointers. Only 10 dogs finished the exam,
the others were disqualified. If a dog fails on ONE of the retrieving sections, it is out, there is no catching up on points
missed. It is either you fulfil the requirements or you are disqualified. A very nerve wracking business from beginning to
end.
Rory and Amber are examples of very few pointers ever to have completed this test in Austria.We are very proud of
them, the training took a whole year and it was certainly worth it!