How did we get started?
I have the good fortune to have friends who hunt with their curly-coated retrievers, and they invited me out to a CKC hunt test being held one fall afternoon in 1997. My interest had been encouraged by conversions with Emily Cain, then VIP Chair who had seen my oldest mini’s VC application. All we needed one more discipline and he could have his VCX. Although there were many avenues open to us, Emily suggested hunting and with the encouragement - and admittedly much hilarity - I went to the CKC test to see what it was all about. At the hunt test, Emily tossed a pigeon for Percy, then 9 years old, who bounced off into the long grass with much enthusiasm and curiosity. With the encouragement of my friends, we found ourselves enrolled in classes with John Hamilton (who worked with Jac Harbour in getting the first Standard Poodle into the CKC WC series) and who we continue to train with to this day. Classes started later that fall and I was dismayed to find out that Percy was gun shy. Our first three lessons were spent chasing him back to the car. Kind of embarrassing when your classmates are 16 week old lab pups who seem to do retrieving naturally. For our fourth, and potentially last lesson we were a bit late arriving that day and everyone was already out in the field doing some short marks. Percy pulled me to where everyone was standing, they’d all had one go at it already and so we were last. I set him up on the line, waved my hand to let John it was ok to start, he fired the starters pistol, threw the bird and gosh, Percy was off down the hill, bounding away, found the bird and returned it to me perfectly. Our gun shy days were over just like that. I’m not sure what turned him around, except I like to think the lure of the game was stronger than the fear of the noise. Whatever it was, we’ve never looked back and he can now handle having a shotgun fired over his head.
Titles
Percy, Sigma Chi’s White Delight, is the first miniature poodle in North America to get the Poodle Club of America Working Certificate. He ran as test dog at a CKC WC/I/X test in Alberton, Ontario in June 1999. The CKC WC test is similar to the PCA WC although distances are outlined in the CKC rules and not the PCA. Although we’ve run in tests set by the North American Hunting Retriever Association (NAHRA) we have not achieved a qualifying score. Percy’s most successful test was in Pennsylvania in August 1999 where he had three water marks (there are five marks altogether, two land, two water and one either land or water). He missed the last water mark by about 10 feet - remember he was 11 years old at the time! And the previous water mark was 100 yards, and the second was easily 125. He wowed them all that day in the pouring rain with his tenacity and spirit - the video is a testament to his hunting instinct. He has since been retired as hunting was the last, and probably the most favourite, of his “sports”. Meya, Sundancers Meyacht, achieved her PCA WC in Alberton, Ontario in July 2000 by running as land test dog at a CKC event and by running her water marks under PCA rules with the assistance of the venerable judges.
Where can Minis Hunt?
Effective January 1, 2002 the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) has approved the wording of the breeds eligible to participate in the WC/I/X tests to read: Retrievers, Irish Water Spaniels and POODLES. Previously they had only been open to Standard Poodles. It is hoped that changes may also be made to the Hunt Test rules in time.
NAHRA opened its arms to miniature poodles in 1998 - allowing Percy to become the first miniature poodle to participate in their tests.
PCA’s WC/X program has been open to all poodles on paper since inception, and the second WC/X test held at the PCA specialty in June 2001 has invited minis to participate.
Training Methods
Readers need to understand that both of my minis participate in other activities as well as hunting: flyball, obedience and agility. In addition, Percy was a member of the International Superdog performance team for five years, and Meya for two. All of this activity makes for a not defined approach to training as we modified our approach for each activity. The pieces that make sense for hunting are: the recall, the fetch, the hold and distance training.
One of the most useful tools I’ve ever come across is the Volhard method of determining which training method works for your dog. It is a series of questions designed to figure out if your dog has strong prey, pack, fight or flight tendencies and then which training method will work best based on that information. It works best on dogs that are two years or older but you can see some of the basics trends in younger dogs. I did it with Percy and found that although we’d have some success by using just praise, that food was the ultimate motivator. From there everything clicked with flyball (he wouldn’t bring the ball back) and with doing agility (learned to drive out to a series of jumps or table for a treat). So we used the same principles with the hunting. For every bird returned successfully and delivered to hand, he got a treat (he still does). This works well in flyball where in the relay I want the ball delivered to hand instead of risking it being dropped at the line (which causes a rerun). By combining this method with the desire to retrieve the birds, it has worked successfully for both dogs. Meya has a very competitive streak and learned flyball and agility mostly by watching Percy being trained. She picked up the hunting fairly quickly and never bothered with the noise of the guns, her desire being so strong to retrieve that it never became a factor. She is a very intense dog – dedicated to the game to the exclusion of all else. She is also a very strong swimmer and loves to retrieve anything thrown into the water. I actually taught Percy how to swim by letting her play first and working him off against her – with lots of encouragement and because he loves the birds so much he worked through his less then enthusiastic approach to swimming. My next pup will be trained for field first to build the desire and drive sooner and will be introduced to water at an earlier age than my first two dogs.
Training and working with a miniature poodle is not much different than training or working with a standard poodle. With the exception of size, the mini can have the drive and desire to work just as much as their larger cousin. Of course, you’re working with a smaller dog (15 inches and under) and that in itself has its own challenges.
Goals for the future
For the immediate future, while we wait for the CKC rules to come into place in 2002, is to work Meya up through WC/I/X training. I’d also like to enter her in a NAHRA test. Part of the problem in living in Canada is that our swimming season is short and we have to intensify the training to get as much as we can. Land work can be done all year round. I’d like to see Meya get her CKC titles. I also want to support and encourage all other mini owners/trainers to bring out the heritage in their dogs – poodles have such a desire to please you can’t waste their mind.
