New trial brag

Riva and I got our first Q in a search trial last weekend and Riva got his HK1 title. :-)

The Finnish working trial system has different diciplines: tracking, search, messenger dog, "combo" and IPO/schutzhund. All diciplines include an obedience part which is the same as in the international IPO trials, its max. 100 points. There are three levels. In the first level search trials a dog has to find three people from an area of 100 by 100 meters in 10 minutes (max. 170 p.) and one article out of three in a 50 by 50 meter area in 5 minutes (max. 30 p.), so 200 points together. To earn a title you must get min. 70/100 in obedience and 150/200 p. in search. Riva and I scored 82/100 in obedience and 162+30=192/200 in search and placed second. Riva is a joy to trial, I can concentrate on doing my bit as handler as well as I can and he takes care of the rest. With Karma trialing was always quite stressful because I had to be very careful she didn't get out of control especially in obedience but with Riva I can actually enjoy myself :-).

Our next trial (level 2) is planned late October and I'm considering entering him to a SAR certification test in early November. The SAR certification test and lever 3 trials are roughly equal in requirements but certification test is graded on pass/fail basis, not scored.