# Wcx experience?



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

www.grca.org has a DVD you can purchase for $8 if you are not a member, free if you are. It is excellent to watch and see how they run a test. I highly suggest it.

Has your girl practiced with white shirts in the field? That would be a suggestion for you to do.

Also if you have time, sign her up for the WC and WCX. That way you're bound to pass at least one.

There will probably be a barbeque after the event. Also might be other breeds too. Flat coats have a very similar WC. Tollers do too. We did ours with tollers. That was fun. So hopefully you will get to see some other breeds run theirs. Labs have a very easy WC and I doubt you will see them running your WC.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

I agree with Stacey, about the white shirts. I'm sure your trainer has done lots of this but to be sure, just have someone go out and wear a white shirt and toss the birds with a starter gun. At the WCX that I just went to they didn't have blinds just people standing tossing birds. Sometimes if the dog hasn't seen people out there in the field tossing birds it can spook them if they get there and suddenly there is a person standing out there in the field. Also the white shirts can distract her from focusing on the marks if she is just staring out at the white. 
The honor is at the water (at least the ones I've seen) and that can be hard for dogs that like water. The honors at all the seniors I've been to down here have been on land so I was way more nervous about Katniss at the water honor as she loves a good splash. We practice but never had a test on that one before, always just land honors. 
Oh and the honor dog for Katniss was a flat coat retriever and they are allowed to talk quietly to their dogs on their honor ( YOU ARE NOT) it is a rule for flat coats not goldens. Make sure this won't disturb your dog.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks Stacey,
I am a member of GRCA, so I will check out the video. 

I thought about the WC, but we are booked solid on running hunt tests as we are determined to get her through SH this spring, if I can get my act together. The extra day off, since they are running the WCX on Saturday is an extra day of training and rest at home before the next hunt test run, on the following weekend. Yes we have run her with 'white shirts' and retired guns and no retired guns....hopefully, she will be ok on this part, she is also good at honoring....

I need it the extra time home more than our girl does, but resting her is always good too...

Most of our hunt tests have Tollers and Flat Coats running also. I really like watching Tollers run, Flat Coats....no so much! Nothing about the dogs, they just do not interest me as much. 

Our Golden is small and sometimes is mistaken for a Toller, but she is pure Gold.....


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

MillionsofPeaches said:


> I agree with Stacey, about the white shirts. I'm sure your trainer has done lots of this but to be sure, just have someone go out and wear a white shirt and toss the birds with a starter gun. At the WCX that I just went to they didn't have blinds just people standing tossing birds. Sometimes if the dog hasn't seen people out there in the field tossing birds it can spook them if they get there and suddenly there is a person standing out there in the field. Also the white shirts can distract her from focusing on the marks if she is just staring out at the white.
> The honor is at the water (at least the ones I've seen) and that can be hard for dogs that like water. The honors at all the seniors I've been to down here have been on land so I was way more nervous about Katniss at the water honor as she loves a good splash. We practice but never had a test on that one before, always just land honors.
> Oh and the honor dog for Katniss was a flat coat retriever and they are allowed to talk quietly to their dogs on their honor ( YOU ARE NOT) it is a rule for flat coats not goldens. Make sure this won't disturb your dog.


Thanks and good comments..! As we practice for this test, we will be sure to where the white....

You are correct, most SH tests I watched the Honor was on the land portion....something else we can run in preparation...

Thanks!!!!!


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

I agree make sure about running with white shirts and steady on honor with no talking.
Also check the premium to what kind of birds they are using on land, they may be using upland birds. If she is not familiar with them you may want to expose her to whatever they will be using if you can.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

The water double is what screws up most WCX dogs but if your girl is confidently running SH then there should be very little trouble with a WCX water double. Yes, you must honor per field trial rules which is no talking.
Also be sure to practice pointing out and moving to the guns, in the WCX you will not have the aid of a handler's gun to help the dog swing, but you can take all the time you like pointing out the guns to your dog.
Another big problem I encounter with WC/WCX tests is --- judges setting up dumb tests. A lot of people have been grandfathered in and it's been ages since they ran or trained a dog. Have seen a lot of dumb setups because of ignorance, and it can really mess up the dogs. Not a lot you can do about it once you show up though!


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Alaska7133 said:


> www.grca.org has a DVD you can purchase for $8 if you are not a member, free if you are. It is excellent to watch and see how they run a test. I highly suggest it.
> 
> Has your girl practiced with white shirts in the field? That would be a suggestion for you to do.
> 
> ...


Alaska....I just watched those videos, they really help....also the one on questions....I have never ran Field Trials....so parts of this are different. Just got to relax, and have a lot of good stuff to do to get ready. 

Thanks again!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

The other thing at a WCX vs. a SH is that you cannot handle the dog for any reason at the WCX! So just let her hunt until she finds the bird, even if she's taking a while.
She'll do fine, relax and enjoy!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Barb, Good point! No handling!

One thing I did see at our WCX were field trial dogs having trouble with the shorter distances of a WCX versus a field trial. Several field trial dogs failed because the ducks didn't land anywhere they expected on the water. Those dogs were all looking for multiple land-water-land-water entries, ours were all land-water on the water series.


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

oh I forgot about the handling! That is a hard thing NOT to do on a triple!
K9 makes a great point about the pointing out the guns. I took a LONG time doing that before I ran Katniss and it really paid off as the test was kind of crazy, wind and sun. if she hadn't seen those guns first, I'm not sure she would have passed.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

HI all,

After all the help you all provided we have been working our girl on marks....getting ready for her WCX of Saturday. Yesterday after returning from our afternoon training session, she was in the house playing ball with my wife, she suddenly pulled up her right foot and started licking it. I checked her nails which are well trimmed and her pads and the area in the center of her foot, I could find nothing. During her training I saw nothing that happened to indicate she had a problem. We are only running her on 6-8, 70-100 yd marks each session (2 times per day). Actually less time training than normal. Right after the incident at home she acted normal, but had a slight limp when walking, and sometimes when she laid down, she started licking the bottom of her paw. I am going to the vet this afternoon to have him take a look. I think she strained something, and I fear she will not be able to run the WCX. Of course I would rather be safe than sorry, she is a very hard driving dog, and if she is gimpy, I will not let her run...until healed up...

We will see this afternoon....!


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## MillionsofPeaches (Oct 30, 2012)

i hope it is nothing serious


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Thanks for the concern, we all do love these Goldens.

Turns out she has a soft tissue injury, nothing serious, but needs a week on anti-inflammatory meds and no training or testing. So this weekend WCX is out...I will have to look for another. I did sent a letter from our vet to the WCX test people, so maybe they will return the entry fee, but no matter, Foxy is not hurt to bad. 

We do have 2 upcoming hunt tests she is entered in SH tests, those take priority, as she already has 1 pass...

Rest her a week, then...On with the campaign, and glad this was not serious.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

So plan on coming up to Alaska for the Midnight Sun Golden Retriever Club WC/WCX on Aug. 8th at Turnagain Pass! $100 each way to fly a dog on Alaska Airlines. The weekend proceeding the WC is a field trial at the same location. The weekend following is a double header hunt test weekend at a location nearby. So come for the week, get a WCX and 2 SH passes or 2 MH passes and enjoy Alaska for the week! Alaska Airlines flies into Chicago on a direct flight, 6.5 hours will get you here.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Wow, Alaska....you make a great offer...! But we are going to run in a WCX in July...
If I came up to Alaska, I would probably never come home! I was raised in the high Rockies of Colorado, and always thought about moving to Alaska...my best friend did move to Alaska in 1972 after finishing college. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident a few years later. For me as 'life happened' I was just never able to do it!

I will get up to Alaska, it is on my bucket list, but spending a week is not enough, maybe a month or so at the least....

Thanks for the great idea, but I have already set up a plan running through mid-July...provided my girls foot heals as expected.


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