Tracking Club of Victoria
About the champions of champions event
How did such an event come about? We asked Trish Wileman who is the driving force behind the Champions of Champions and found out.
“It’s a strange old dog world we construct. Our clever dogs finally get to a commendable level in some disciplines and then their reward is to stop what they love doing the most! Yet the show conformation fans can show to their heart’s content, every weekend, year in and year out. Now who has the silly discipline amongst us dog people huh?
The Tracking Champion of Champions event was an idea I had in mind to occupy our Tracking Champions, and give them and their handlers something to get out there for. I put forth my ideas with many a comment of “it won’t work” from the crowd, which made my hackles come up and I was all the more determined to make it work. Like a dog with a bone. A special working group meeting was held and so many people within the club were amazingly supportive. Without their help and dedication we would not see this successful annual event continue every year.
The trophy was, believe it or not, an eBay bid! I saw it and thought what a great trophy it would make, and I eventually had the winning bid. The beauty of it is that it is stainless steel and requires no polishing. Trust a dog person to think of that!
The trophy is in memory of my first ever Weimaraner Long Hair, Ally, Dual Ch (T) Smokeydees Bootsn All ET. Ally was also my first everything; first conformation show Champion, first endurance dog and my first Tracking Champion. A dog I will truly miss and love forever. May Ally’s and my dedication and passion towards this event inspire you all to not only get out there and compete with, but share time with your dog and enjoy them. As we all know their time on this soil is so very special.”
Things have now changed and our Tracking Champions can continue in the sport they love. We now have Track and Search competition, which is fantastic for our dogs and us. At Champion of Champions, there is a competition, but at the end of the day the real winners will be the handlers and dogs who go out and enjoy themselves.
*Champion of Champion Winners
TCV Champion of Champions event rules
The dog is to follow a trail of approximately 600 metres. The minimum time delay is 60 minutes with the maximum time limit being 90 minutes. The test will have a "blind start" at the commencement of the track. The tracklayer will place a sock, which has been on their person for no less than one hour, into a bag that will be sealed and left in the vicinity of the two flags denoting the starting line. These flags will be approximately twenty metres apart. Two people will leave from the start of the track and walk together for at least fifty metres before the decoy tracklayer will leave the track without crossing the track. This decoy tracklayer cannot be used again as a crossover on the track they were a decoy tracklayer on. There will be four changes of direction one of which will be acute in nature. The track will be crossed twice by one person with a dog approximately 30 minutes after the original tracklayer has passed. There will be two articles left by the original tracklayer on the track which will be; 1 wooden dowel and 1 leather wallet (both items will be supplied to the tracklayer by the club at least one hour prior to the laying of a track).
This event will be judged by two judges simultaneously but independently. In other words both judges will have their own scoring sheet/s on which their score will be placed. Following the completion of the test/s the score sheets will be handed directly to the event secretary who will collate the scores, which will be out of a combined total of 200 points. The highest score gained for the event will be declared the Champion of Champions winner.
The winner will receive a trophy and certificate, with all competitors receiving a certificate stating their score for the test signed by both judges.
The Count Back
In the event of two or more dogs obtaining the same score for this event the following count-back procedure will be used.
The combined score of both judges for the acute change of direction plus the wooden article indication; if the scores are still the same then the combined score of both judges for the general tracking part of the test will determine the winner. Should any two or more dogs still remain on the same score the two judges on the day will confer and jointly decide from the various elements of the test the winner of the title TCV Champion of Champions!! The Judges decisions on the day are final!!!
The Scoring System:
Various elements of the test have a maximum score that is attainable by each competitor and dog. For example each article that is left on the track has a maximum score of 10 points allocated to it. Therefore if your dog does not indicate the article it will receive a zero for that part of the test, but if it has trouble finding the article but eventually does it may receive a score of 5 or 6 out of 10 from the judge.
Listed below are the various elements within the test that have scores:
Each competitor will be allowed one redirection back to the track, by the judges. Should a redirection be necessary a penalty of minus 40 points will be deducted from the total score of the competitor. If a competitor requires more than one redirection to the track no points will be awarded for that test.
2019 Winner
T Ch Trigolden at Morningmyst (Harper) Golden Retriever
Owned by Mr M &Mrs L Klecka
