Reported By Rossella Di Palma
Descriptions: Alberto Bevere, Tiziano Cagnoni and Susan Street
It was still May when a friend asked me if I was going to be free on the first week-end of July (2-3 of July). "There is an International Working Test for Retrievers in Cervinia", she said," nice event, you should come." Busy as am I, as always I quickly answered yes not even thinking of the date. I thought I had nothing planned to do for those days but… I did not check my agenda. The end of June quickly came and as the week-end in Cervinia got closer, I realized I was about to leave. Being involved in pointing dogs, I am not overly familiar with retriever events: I know these dogs still perform well at field trials but they are not hunted often, at least in my area. Local hunters prefer versatile pointing breeds such as the German Wirehaired Pointers, springers and other continental pointers who are good retrievers and suitable for waterfowl. So I left, curious to learn and photograph something new.
The Matterhorn
Driving, I left the heat behind reaching a cloudy and chilly Cervinia. This is small village in the Alps, at the foot of the Cervino, also known at the Matterhorn. If the Cervino is 4478 meters high, Cervinia is “only” 2050 meters above sea level and my toothpaste tube felt the altitude, telling me it was about to explode. Cervinia is small village but, at the same time, is a worldwide famous ski resort: it was founded in 1935 when the road from Valturnenche reached this area, previously being used for grazing livestock. In spite of its dimensions, however, I had an hard time finding my hotel: it was right in the “city” center, small, cozy and decorated according the local alpine taste. I reached the restaurant right before the appetizers and I later took my place at the judges’ table: what an honor, I was representing “the press” after all. All the judges appointed to evaluate the working test came from the UK: three from England (Peter Hammond, Tony Parnell and Mike Tallamy) and two from Wales (Mark Bettison and Roger Tozer). The committee chose them because of their valuable experience in training, handling and judging retrievers, England is the home country of most of these breeds and is still the land where their breeding and training is more advanced.
The restaurant was full of people. I think there were more than one hundred, coming from all over Europe. Different tables spoke different languages and at some tables different languages were spoken at the same time: this testifies to the unifying power of canine sports that make man able to overcome language and cultural barriers. The night ended in an atmosphere of friendship and we all went to bed waiting for the first day of competition.
Working tests are not currently recognized by Enci (Italian kennel club) and FCI but are held in several parts of Europe. The tradition of International Working Tests dates back to 1991 when the first one was held in Bueckeburg, Germany. The purpose of these international events is to bring together dogs and handlers from different part of Europe so that they can share their experiences and learn from each other. This working test, the first ever organized in Italy, was held over two days: 5 steps (tests) on the first day and 3 on the second. Entries totalled up to 75: 57 Labradors, 15 Goldens, 2 Chesapeake and 1 Flat. Twenty five teams came from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany , The Netherlands and Switzerland. Each team was composed of 3 dogs and a reserve. The largest entry came from Germany which brought 7 teams.
The terrains chosen for the trial were offered by Cervinia’s tourist office and were located at “La Baia delle Foche” “ Seals Bay”. This strange name was bestowed by the Italian explorers Naido Carrel and Guido Manzano upon their return from Greenland where they found a bay that reminded them of this area. (Naturally, there are no seals in this "bay," though mountain trout are taken from the small lake by anglers.) The “ Seals Bay” is not exactly the place where you would expect to see retrievers at work but this area, with lakes, streams and pines, proved to be extremely suitable for the purpose. Early on Saturday morning all the teams showed up at the bar near the big lake, ready to compete. The five steps were scattered along the valley and its streams. On the first day I spent the morning and part of the afternoon at step 1 with Judge Hammond, trying to learn and understand something about working tests.
I have to admit, I was impressed by the friendly and quiet atmosphere and by the good temperament of the dogs: they were real retrievers, capable of respecting the line, off leash, without a bark or the desire to fight with the dog next to them: polite as their handlers. Each team showed up with its own uniform, some had important sponsors such as Land Rover (sponsoring a Swiss team), some others wore the national color (all the Dutch were in orange), some others had clothes produced by the respective retriever club. Most of the dogs at work were Labradors, most of the Labradors were black and most of them were real Labs. They were 100% Labs as far as temperament was concerned and most of them had a good conformation, some were thin and light in structure but most of them could easily fit the breed standards. They were nice, alert and agile, nothing in common with many pet or show Labradors with sparkless eyes and swine- like conformation... Goldens were less represented but they did incredibly well astonishing all those who no longer consider this breed capable of performing any working task. Another chapter should be devoted to the two Chesapeakes, great working dogs, essential and smart and perfectly attuned with their handlers, I really had a positive impression on this uncommon (in Italy) breed.
For what I can write about my step, it was a blind (see description below) and in some cases, the dummies being well hidden in similar bushes so it was hard even for the handlers to understand where to send the dogs. I noticed different attitudes and, probably, different training methods: some dogs worked with a few indications from their handlers. Some others were, in my opinion, a bit over-handled but, being a pointing dogs folk, if I were you, I would not rely on my opinion too much. Some dogs, (I later discussed this issue with judges,) seemed to me to take advantage of the scents previously left by other canines and/or of the man scent (there was a man near the dummy appointed to throw them). Most of the dogs found their dummies, some made little deviations and a dark colored Golden (representing Italy…) decided to take a swimming tour of the nearby lakes before retrieving his dummy!
By the end of the afternoon some final placements could be guessed but this did not affect the friendly atmosphere. During the day and at night back at the hotel the volunteers by the Working Retriever Club Italia, chaired by Stefano Martinoli, continued to work incessantly for making the working test perfect. People from all over Italy came to Cervinia to assist the judges, to help with paperwork, to throw dummies and to shoot with blank pistols. Thanks to them Italy has ascended the medal stand for its organization of the event and made a favourable impression with their excellent work. On Sunday the competition continued with three more steps, an open-air lunch and the final award ceremony in the city hall of Valturnenche. The overall quality of the competitors was very good, and judge Bettison declared that the Europeans had improved significantly: both dogs and handlers (and more indirectly the training techniques), he said, have reached very high levels, with performances no longer inferior to their British counterparts. At the end of two days of intense competition Germany placed the highest scoring teams.
The Italian Team
Germany 2 collected 429 points and was placed first, while Germany 3 was placed second with 419, with third place going to Denmark (415 points). The winning team consisted of Christian Schlögell (captain) with Diamond Maximum Surprise ( Chesapeake), Petra Soons with Bearavens Zeb (Golden), and Norma Zvolsky with Glen Mohr Swift (Golden). None of the four Italian teams scored in the team rankings, but the judges' consensus was that Italy won for the excellent organization. Our best team, Working Retrievers Club 1, got 387 points and placed 7th. The team was composed by Stefania Martinoli (capitain) with Greenbriar Schnaps of Morayglen (labrador), Thelma Blumenthal with Hillus Tay (labrador) and Barbara Campi with Fireside Gunner (golden). Other special awards went to:
The team France 3- They began the test with 2 dogs only and, due to a small incident, ended the competition with just one dog the Golden Retriever Featherquest Shadow handled Jean Louis Recchia. This dog, alone, obtained 133 points.
Baeverasens Zeb, 2 years old, handled by Petra Soons, team Germany 2, got a special award for the youngest dog enrolled. Baeverasens Zeb gathered 152 point.
A similar prize, this time for the oldest dog, went to the Dutch Labrador Sandy, team Netherlands 2, aged 9.
A big thanks also goes to the villages of Breuil-Cervinia and Valturnenche for the support and assistance and to the dog food Autarky which sponsored the event.
The International Working Test 2006 will be held in Germany.
Those interested in learning more on this area may visit the website www.breuil-cervinia.it , additional information on the event, pictures and full results, entries, instead, are available here: http://www.workingretrieversclub.it/iwt/
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