All entrants must attend the Judges Briefing at the appointed time. Entrants who miss the Briefing will only be admitted under special circumstances and at the discretion of the Test Manager.
Purpose - To demonstrate a dog's ability to respond to the owner's commands and to safely pull through its harness.
Download the full 2010 NNC Draught Test Regulations in Adobe pdf format here
Please be aware of the Northern NC Statement in respect of the new 2010 Regulations. You can view the Statement in Adobe pdf format here
A Beginners Test in progress
CONTROL SECTION Beginners
Desired performance:
A course will be set in the test area by the two judges with the following elements:
Over a distance of between 50 and 75 metres,
There will be between 3 and 6 turns, all at normal pace made up from:
between 1 and 2 left turns;
between 1 and 2 right turns;
between 1 and 2 about turns
a wait at a junction of 5 seconds
a 1 minute down-stay, the handler standing beside the dog with a lose lead;
a simple recall from 5 metres, the dog must be off lead
Before entering the test area, the handler will hand the harness to the steward. The dog will be walked into the
test area and left in a "stay", standing, sitting or down position as the handler wishes. The handler will take the
harness from the steward, who will be positioned 5 metres away and then return to harness the dog. When
they are ready, the handler will inform the Judges the dog is ready for inspection. One of the Judges (Judge
A) will then carry out the formal inspection. If this is passed satisfactorily, then the handler, with their dog
alongside them, will walk the designated course, responding to the instructions that will be given by the
steward.
Scoring:
It is expected that;
The dog will wait calmly while they are harnessed;
The dog will walk at the side of the handler and respond to their commands, thus demonstrating that they are under control;
Changing position during the stay, the dog may be calmly and quietly reset back into the original stay position for the remaining time still running on the clock, but will lose 5 points each time they are reset;
45 points will be allocated for this section.
Points will be lost for:
general lack of control;
incorrect harnessing;
each time the lead is tightened to obtain conformity to the handler's wishes;
the dog not staying alongside the handler;
getting up during the down-stay (the dog may be reset but will lose 5 points each time);
the handler adapting his pace to that of the dog
lack of control on turns, waits, stops, the recall and the down stay;
the handler adapting his pace to that of the dog;
Failure:
if the team loses more than 15 points in this section (at least 30 points required to pass);
if the team have more than 3 attempts at the recall;
if the team does not reach a sufficiently high standard, then it will NOT be allowed to enter the next section of this test
if the dog leaves the ring;
Permitted actions:
Handlers can kneel or extend their arms or even walk backwards during the action part of the recall; the element is complete when the dog is back with the handler;
Desired performance:
On completing the Control Section satisfactorily, the handler will be required to hitch up the dog to the
apparatus designated by the Judges (see note below1). When they are ready, the handler will inform the Judges
the dog is ready for inspection.
The other Judge (Judge B) will then carry out the formal inspection.
If this is passed satisfactorily, then the handler, with their dog alongside them, will get the dog to pull the
apparatus willingly and safely diagonally across the ring in a straight line as instructed by the steward.
When instructed by the steward, they will stop; the handler will unhitch and un-harness the dog before walking out of the test area in a controlled manner.
Scoring:
It is expected that;
the dog will wait calmly while it is hitched;
the dog will walk at the side of the handler and respond to their commands, thus demonstrating that they are under control;
at the end of the pull, the dog will again wait calmly while they are unhitched and unharnessed;
55 points will be allocated for this section.
Points will be lost for:
general lack of control;
mistakes during hitching unhitching and harnessing and un-harnessing;
each time the lead is tightened to obtain conformity to the handler's wishes;
the dog not staying alongside the handler;
the handler adapting his pace to that of the dog;
lack of control on stop;
Failure:
if the team loses more than 15 points in this section (at least 40 points to pass);
if through lack of handlers safety awareness the log, sledge or cart becomes unstable or tips over
