Hi all;
I've been thinking a lot of this E-collar issure. I started out training with the idea that I would not use a collar, but I got impatient with his progress when I saw and compared him to other dogs that were trained with the collar. I guress that's very American.
I also felt that I had hit a wall in my training and could not og through it. So I succumbed the way of the collar and when Bosco was 18 months old we began using one in our training.
I am neither pro collar, or anti collar. I think it is a personal choice. There are a few people in America who train without one and I greatly admire them for it because I know the work, the patience, and perserverence that goes into their training. Some of the most interesting, passionate and colorful conversations on the subject of the e-collar in BB's have been between UK trainers, I think the use is illegal there, and US trainers. From what Garweth, Kirsty and others have written, I think the people on this board have a healthy, balanced attitude about using e-collars to train.
What interests me is that several times the 'American Way' of trialing has been mentioned as a way that people hope Aus. trials won't go. I'm not sure that my definition of what constitues the American way of trialing is what Australians think of when they hear the term. When I think of the American trialing, I think of a contest that does no longer resembles true to life hunting situations, but rather a contest that pushes dogs to their very limits of performance to determine a winner.
I think there are reasons for this and maybe ones that Australians need to consider if they wish to keep a more pure form of trialing. Keep in mind that I have been in the game for only a couple of years and hardly speak from a position of authority. This is only my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.
I don't think there was a set plan for the way our trials have evolved, but I think they have become what they are because of several influences over the last twenty years or so, The e-collar being but one of them. These infuences also include, selective breeding, the popularity of the sport bringing in large numbers of people particpating, the professional trainer, and, of course, the e-collars. As the dog work in trials got better and better, it became very hard to determine a clear cut winner; so the natural outcome was to make the tests more dificult so that a clear cut winner would emerge, actual hunting situations and hunting abilties of the dog taking a back seat.
From what I've read on this board, there is a desire for sport's popularity to grow. But I believe from what I've seen in American trials that there is a price to pay for the growth of the sport. The challange I see for your trials is to promote growth while at the same time perserving the purity of the sport. Is this what you mean when you say you don't want your trials to go the Amerian way? Are there any in the Australian community that do want to see the trials go the American way?
The growth in our sport has also enabled it to support four, that I know of, difrent organizations that conduct retrieveing contests, all in varying degrees trying to maintain tests that reflect actual hunting conditions. So, while the American trials have gone the way they have, we are not without choices. It will be interesting to see what happens in Australia as our sport grows.
Brian