Hi all,
I have to class myself in both the "new handlers" and "under 30s" category. I started in Retrieving Trials in about 1999 with my boyfriend's Golden Retriever. I was lucky enough to live in a country town (tamworth) that was also home to a relatively experienced trialler who took me under her wing, so to speak. I found the idea of trials thrilling - it was fantastic to see the dog doing what it was bred to do.
My first trial was equally exciting - the dog went well and I had a good time. The people were very friendly.
The only downer, and it was a BIG downer and is still an ongoing downer - is the repetitive remarks of "experienced triallers" which go along the lines of,"if you want to do any good in this sport get rid of that Goldie/GSP/Viszla (sp?)/Springer/Flatcoat etc etc and get a Lab". I find this to be extremely grating and annoying
- no offense to all those triallers who have said this to me (and continue to say this to me).
The thing is, most newbies venture into Retrieving Trials for exactly the same reason I did - to let their dog enjoy doing something similar to what it was bred to do.
The sport itself is extremely time consuming once you get out of Novice. I would spend a minimum of an hour every day doing yard work with my dog (mostly in 15 minutes lots) in order to have him progress at an acceptable rate. I travel 2 hours each week to train on a property which offers variable terrain and water. Sometimes I take rec leave from work to do this. Entries to trials are quite expensive and so is the travel and accomodation - I would spend around $200 every time I go away. It costs even more if I take into account the pay that I have forfeited by not working the weekends that my work roster clashes with a trial.
Pigeons are expensive to buy and its horrible, for most softies like me, to justify killing them for sport. I'm known as the "pigeon lady" at the local poultry sale and it doesn't make me feel proud that they know exactly what I do with those birds.
So yes, as we all know, it is a major commitment in both time and money to take a dog past Novice. This is even more so for the new handler as it takes so much longer to learn the timing and techniques vital to success in higher levels. I know this because I quit for 12 months for exactly those reasons I have mentioned.
What got me back into trialling? Guilt mainly
- there's nothing else that my dog enjoys as much as retrieving - but for people whose dogs also love obedience, tracking, agility and GWTs perhaps the guilt isn't there....
Sorry for the length of my reply - but I don't know what the answer is - I hope the WGC has success with its program next year.
Kirsty