# A little blast from the past



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Here's a video our club did with the AKC way back in 1985. Some things remain the same , some things have changed a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS4AJZPt2d0


----------



## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

Very good video and some talented dogs. What would be the biggest change today?


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

I enjoyed this a lot! Man the speaker sounded so much like any 80 s school documentary I've heard. So funny.


----------



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

BriGuy said:


> Very good video and some talented dogs. What would be the biggest change today?


The Junior test is largely the same as it was in 1985 (maybe a little longer marks). 

The Senior and Master tests have changed a lot. The dog work seen in the video would not pass today. The bar has been raised quite a bit.


----------



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> I enjoyed this a lot! Man the speaker sounded so much like any 80 s school documentary I've heard. So funny.


The speaker was Dave Moore. He was a TV personality and newscaster in the Twin Cities from the mid-50's into the the 80's. He did a lot of voice over work.


----------



## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Nice video and excellent quality. Thank you for posting this.

Real hunting scenarios.

The bar has been raised or has their been a change in purpose?

I also have an old video by the Northeast Federation (NEF) that shows different scenarios you might expect to see in different parts of the country. Nice to see the old timers in this training video.


----------



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

gdgli said:


> The bar has been raised or has their been a change in purpose?


In some cases the AKC added some clarification to the rules, in others they revised the rules to add difficulty. 

In the Senior water series shown. The yellow lab would have failed on the water blind. (Cast/whistle refusals to the point of returning to an old fall.) The Chessie failed on many points, physical restraint by the handler and style just for starters.


Master tests now require a full triple be thrown (three birds down before the dog is sent.) On the blind retrieves the dog must handled (directed by the handler) all the way to the bird. getting them to the area and releasing them to "hunt it up" is an automatic failure.


----------



## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

Ha I thought that about that yellow senior lab too


That makes a lot of sense about the speaker now. I knew I'd heard him somewhere. He has a great voice for that kind of thing.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for posting. I had a few questions.

1. On the JH test, they had the gunners at the line on either side of the handler. The birds appear to have been shot by those 2 gunners. Is that correct? If it is, it does appear that the birds were shot from a farther distance than normally they are thrown from. Where were the bird throwers positioned?
2. I didn't see any holding blinds for gunners, did I miss them or were they not used in 1985?
3. How recent had AKC started hunt tests in 1985 when this video was shot? Was the only other hunt test association back then NAHRA, or did HRC exist back then?
4. Were more live flyers shot back then? It looks like there were more live birds used in the video.
5. The senior test used a double mark with a quartering flush with 2 planted birds. Were the birds put to sleep in the field and planted, or were they released in another method?
6. That is the first time I've ever seen an Irish water spaniel move, I've only see photos of them in the past. Any idea why we don't see them much anymore?


----------



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Alaska7133 said:


> Thanks for posting. I had a few questions.
> 
> 1. On the JH test, they had the gunners at the line on either side of the handler. The birds appear to have been shot by those 2 gunners. Is that correct? If it is, it does appear that the birds were shot from a farther distance than normally they are thrown from. Where were the bird throwers positioned?
> 2. I didn't see any holding blinds for gunners, did I miss them or were they not used in 1985?
> ...


1985 was the first year for AKC tests. 

We were still poor at that time and didn't own a lot of blinds.

The thrower for the Junior was off to the right and slightly behind the line. (Pigeons were still allowed then too.)

We use a lot of flyers, and we still do. Two flyers in each test this last weekend. (Yep even for Junior.)

Upland work is still allowed in AKC tests. ( The birds were dizzied and planted) You don't often see it due to the amount of time it consumes for each dog. Back in 85 we might see 10 dogs in a Senior, now it's more like 50. 

We see Irish Water Spaniels all the time. One of the Nations Top Breeders of IWS's is a member of our club.


----------



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

I did not watch the video to compare the 1980's to the present, but as an introduction to the subject. (I would prefer not to shoot animals myself.) I have to say that watching those dogs do the work they were bred for was awesome. Thank you so much for posting the video.

NewfieMom


----------

