Today at the Greater Portland Dachshund Club earthdog test it was "Mother-Daughter" day, with both Echo and Stella earning their very first Master Earthdog qualifying legs. Four legs are required for the Master title, so I guess you could say they are both one-legged dogs.

Echo has tried and failed a number of times at Master - she usually does everything right but the very last bit, when the handler has 15 seconds to extract the dog from the den - she backs away so I can't reach her. Today Peggy handled her instead of me, and was able to get her out of the den - her first leg! Peggy thinks she was so busy working the quarry she was caught by surprise and doubts she'll be able to repeat the extraction. Tomorrow will tell!

In the very next brace of dogs, Echo's daughter Stella made her second attempt at Master. In her first attempt last fall, she gave a poor indication of the den entrance and was boggled by the root obstacle. Today she hunted nicely, gave a good indication, easily passed through the root, and was extracted without drama. We'll see what tomorrow holds, but I thought I'd better brag tonight so I could at least end this post on a high note

Brag away! I love hearing you tell about Earthdog Legs. Congratulations to Echo and Stella for today's performance. Sending positive <<vibes>> that they repeat the extraction tomorrow.

Good luck tomorrow, Echo and Stella!!

Cathy

Thanks! Today Echo earned leg #2, again with Peggy handling. Stella and I had a great hunt-up, braced with a nice Border Terrier, but the judge ruled Stella's indication of the correct den entrance non-qualifying. She passed all other elements very well, so while there was no green ribbon for us, it was a good (if cold!) day in the field. Now we just have to hunker down until our May tests!

If you have a Cairn, check out earthdog. The dogs really enjoy it.

Well done Brad! Congrats!

Congrats!!!!!!

Congratulations! Earth dog sounds like SO much fun. Unfortunately, our Allie is afraid of going into tunnels. Could be an excuse for a second dog someday, though...

Well done, congratulations to you, the missus, and the dogs. Yeah!

If you have a Cairn, check out earthdog. The dogs really enjoy it.

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Okay, I did some searching and I found that in May up in Dayton Ohio (an hour drive from me) they will have Earthdog trials. I printed out the information on Novice A & B groups that is a Quarry trial. What I printed out sounds like its just a trial to see if your dog will show interest---- and please do correct me if i'm wrong here...

Also are the dogs off lead for this? or is the enterance/exit an enclosed area? I'm freaked out at the prospect of having Mett and/or Bratt off Leash and having a tempting rabbit or squirrel cruise past The prey drive that they boys exibit is astounding- The interest they show birds makes me wonder if they are part spaniel!

Tracy

I think you got the gist of it! As I recall, yes, the AWTA Novice class was roughly equivalent to the AKC test, Introduction to Quarry. Novice A and B are terms that apply to AWTA trials, so I don't know as much about them. I've only ever been to one - although it was our introduction to earthdog and terrier racing.

In my experience, most Intro dens are fenced, even if the rules don't require it. At our tests in Turner, we do rarely fence Junior and never Senior, or Master dens. We always fence Intro.

Are you far from Dayton? AKC lists an event for the Central Ohio Dachshund Club on May 13.

Useful links - AKC Event Search and the Earthdog Event Calendar. The earthdog event calendar is user-contributed, so is not as complete as the AKC.