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 "Spaz-tacular"!!
Posts: 20309
 
Location: Bennett, CO | as many know- Hubby and I are very involved with dogs as well as horses. Hubby's passion(and I love it too) is hunt tests
These competitions are growing fast- to the point of insanity. Reminds me of some of the growing pains we went thru with the development of the 3-D concept in the 90's
im curious about what insight our industry has on this as honestly the hunt test game is in trouble at this point
These are competitions for retrievers(labs
, Goldens, Chessies, and other retrieving breeds) where the dogs are tested on their hunting ability. It's a pass/fail deal compared to 1st,2nd, 3rd etc
a pass gets you a orange ribbon. 3 passes at Jr or Sr gets a title on your dogs Registration. JH or SH following their name
the young dogs do a simple test called a Junior Test- and entries are light and manageable. 3 junior passes (it takes 1 day to run a junior test- pick up 2 ducks on the water- then go to the next series and pick up 2 birds on land= a junior pass or ribbon)
the next step is senior. Tougher tests- dog needs much higher level of training. Same as junior needs 3 passed tests. Two parts to each test- but this time the dog picks up 3 birds in each part of the test on land or water- and again requires far more training as this time the dog gets handled to a hidden bird- directed using whistles and hand cues similar to a border collie. -again moderate entries
finally we have the Master test- where all the problems lay
it takes 5 passed tests to earn a Master title on a dog. Instead of a one day test- Master takes 2-3 days to hold a test. The tests are a 3 part deal where the dogs pick up 5 birds on each of the 3 parts of the test
a big part of the attraction of the master test- beyond the title is the ability to qualify to run at the annual Master hunt test. It's a whole lot of fun. This 10 day long event has exploded in 20 years. Going from under 100 entries- this year there were 600!
So just to clarify- there is no $ won. Only a orange ribbon.
So so now we all have that in mind
the issue is entries at the weekend tests
some areas- Texas in particular has such a demand to get into these tests that it is insane
entries for the master are typically limited to 120-180 dogs. Typically a flight consists of 60 dogs. Meaning an event might have 2-3 groups running a test at one time. These groups have to be far enough away that they don't really hear the gunfire or activity at the other test. You could see where there becomes an issue of access to enough land to do this
Entries for tests are done online using a website called Entry Express. It's a first come first serve deal.
last week- Port Aurthor Tx had a test that filled all of the 180 master spots in less than 5 minutes
its reminisent of pre 3-D days trying to enter A rodeo on the phone
clubs make $ on the tests- but not enough to put on enough tests to meet the demand. Most clubs put on 1-2 tests per year and make $500-$3000 per event
its always an issue finding help to throw birds and such
Entry fees for Master are around $80 with costs being about $50 per dog
So- what is the answer here- how do we get more people to put on tests? Last year was the first year that AKC allowed clubs to limit the entries in a test. Prior to that the club hosting had to figure out how to handle the large entries and that could be problematic as sometimes there just wasn't enough property to have them or enough judges!
An easy answer to me is to increase costs to $100 or more per test so that clubs are making more and more inspired to host
many amatures are upset wit professional trainers who sometimes enter as many as 20 dogs in a test- but I don't see them as the problwm
what it boils down to is a sport that is growing and nobody knows how to deal with it
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 Popped
Posts: 20421
Location: LuluLand~along I64 Indiana | as i was getting to the end of the post my inclination was the same as yours... you need to up the fee so the clubs make more money. If upping the entry fee is problematic (as seen in hosting barrel races) you start tacking on fees. timer fees, club fee ect... but even with the club making money they still may not have enough interest from the membership to host large events.
or thirdly find a private group whos goal is to make a profit and have them rent the facility, garner the insurance, put on the event and pocket the proceeds. at that point the entry will reflect the costs of the event and the needed profit margin and allow the group to assume the liability. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
  
| I can see where a trainer bringing 20 dogs to a test would cause a little animosity with your back yard trainer. Could you limit entry numbers per trainer? Then say, if the field does not fill the rest of the slots could be filled on a first come first serve basis?
Raising the fee to me is very logical. Birds out here cost any where from $6 a bird to $18 depending on species and gender. I think my father-in-law gets $12 a hen for his pheasant. Of course he does discounts on large orders and pre-hatch orders but if you were paying per bird, that would be a minimum of $36 right off the top of each entry fee. Doesn't leave much room for profit if officials, any kind of help, land lease or event insurance has to be paid.
As far as fees, you could try it, but since none of the entry goes back to a payout I really don't see how you could justify it with the competitors. Honestly, if I was competing I would wonder why I had to pay so many fees on top of an entry I will not get back.
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Expert
Posts: 1898
| One more suggestion I would have is side pots. A trainer can pay into a side pot, the side pot would pay back a percentage with the remaining going to the club. How you would handle the details I have no idea? I am not familiar with Field Tests, but I am assuming they are timed(?) and judged(?). So maybe the handler and dog with best over all score and time would win the side pot, depending on how many entries you had in the pot would determine how many places you pay. |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | Sounds like there is an opportunity for someone to specialize in producing these events -- just like folks have formed businesses to produce races and horse shows. Of course, entry cost may go up, but you did not mention any sponsorships to defray costs of producing an event. I'd talk to one of the major companies that produces big AQHA shows/APHA shows (i.e. horse shows) since this reminds me greatly of the issues horse shows face..... Theses businesses provide all the help required, handle entries, set up, etc. There IS a cost, but it allows all those who want to show their horse to show rather than have to work putting on the event -- just a thought to explore that and see if something can be learned and converted to use for these events. (We have a couple of friends who do the hunt tests - they LOVE their dogs and these events! Husband and I hope to attend one sometime to watch friends' dogs work.) |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| One option is to separate the classes
Have specific breeds and classes one weekend
The next weekend have different breeds and classes the next weekend
Yes more work but more entries more profit.
One other option is
Splitting up the entries by amateur, novice, pro. You would need to figure out the qualifications for each class |
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Using our industry as an example