023. Water Rescue Dogs
Description
This article is from the Working Dogs FAQ, posted to rec.pets.dogs newsgroup. Maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
023. Water Rescue Dogs
This information was kindly supplied by Carol Norton-Miller and/or Darlene Stever .
The Newfoundland Club of America offers tests for two water titles. The junior title is for Water Dog, while the senior title is for Water Rescue Dog. Both tests consist of six exercises, with two judges in attendance. The dog must pass all six exercises by both judges to obtain the title.
Junior test
In the junior test, the first exercise is Basic Control. This is held in a fenced area, similar to an obedience class. All exercises are done off lead, but the handler may talk to the dog and give hand signals all they want, as long as they don't touch the dog. The exercises are heel, which includes fast, slow, turns and stop; recall, in which the dog must start to move on the first command, after which the handler may call and encourage all they want, "finish" is optional; and a three minute long down as a group exercise, with the handler in the ring. If the dog has a CD title, they may elect to skip this exercise.
The second junior exercise is a "single retrieve." The handler must throw a boat bumper a minimum of 30 feet. The dog must retrieve the bumper and deliver to hand. The handler may not step into the water at any time. If the dog drops the bumper, the handler may command him to pick the bumper back up. The next exercise is a "drop retrieve." A steward rows through the test area at 50 feet from shore. The steward drops an article, either a boat cushion or a life vest (usually selected by the judges in a random drawing), on the blind side of the boat (the side away from the shore). Once the boat clears the test area, the handler sends the dog to retrieve the article, and deliver it to hand. Again, the handler may not enter the water.
The next junior exercise is the "take a line." A steward introduces himself to the dog, then goes into the water to 50 feet from shore. The handler hands the dog a boat bumper with a 75 foot line attached. The dog must swim out to the steward, who is calling the dog by name, and must swim close enough to the steward so that he is able to grab the line. The exercise is completed once the steward has the line in hand. The dog is usually taught to swim around the handler to make it easier to grab the line. The next exercise is "tow a boat." The dog and handler enter the water to wading depth. The dog is handed a boat bumper which is attached to a 14 foot row boat, with no one in it. The dog must tow the boat for a distance of 50 feet parallel to the shore. If the dog "grounds" the boat, he must tow it back out to wading depth, with the handler using voice commands only. If the dog drops the boat bumper, the handler may give voice commands only to get him to pick it back up.
The last exercise is "swim with handler." The dog and handler enter the water together and must start swimming within thirty feet of shore. They swim together for 20 feet, and the dog must not interfere with the handler in any way. At 20 feet, the judge will blow a whistle, at which point the dog and handler turn towards shore, again with the dog usually swimming around the handler. The handler then takes hold of the dog, usually to the rear feathering or hair on the dogs sides or back, and the dog must tow the handler to wading depth. The handler's feet must be out of the water to show that they are indeed being towed.
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