The Detection Games with Happy Dog Park
Mariasole FerranteShare
The Detection Games with Happy Dog Park
On Sunday 5 May, Patforpet.com participated in the Campania-Lazio Detection Games organized by the HAPPY DOG PARK training center. It was a fantastic day full of good humor and healthy dog breeding, in a beautiful setting and with impeccable organisation. We were welcomed by the staff with kindness and ethics, who immediately put us at ease and allowed us to fully experience these fantastic games.
But what are Detection Games? These are sniffing games created to allow the dog to exercise one of its innate abilities, namely sniffing, which unfortunately is being exploited less and less since the majority of dogs live in an urban environment.
What are the benefits of this activity? Detection Games improve the dog's concentration, increase awareness of his abilities and help reduce stress. Furthermore, they improve the dog-human relationship, refining communication between them.
Who can participate? Detection Games are an activity suitable for all breeds, sizes and ages. The discipline is divided into 5 grades: one non-competitive for young dogs and 4 competitive (beginners, 1, 2, 3).
How are the games played? The dog must find, within a set time, the target odor (a cotton swab soaked in essential oils) in the search area, within a time ranging from 2 to 5 minutes depending on the test. The essences provided are juniper, fennel, anise and cloves. The aim is to test whether the dog is able to find the target odor. Each essence recognition test will be dedicated to a single essence and a single binomial, which must pass the membership degree test.
The tests are divided into:
Essence recognition test : the pair must find the target odor hidden in one of 10 identical boxes lined up. If the pair passes the test, they will be able to access the subsequent races.
Search on containers : the test consists in finding and reporting the container inside to the target. The containers must be positioned at a distance of 1 m from each other without a fixed pattern, as long as they are placed in one or more parallel rows, at the discretion of the judge. The number of containers must be between 20 and 30. The containers can be made of any material, with a maximum height of 35 cm and there may also be objects of different types on the pitch. Container research can be done both internally and externally
Research in an internal environment : the research is carried out in a room of approximately 30 m2. The pair must find and report the point where the target odor is located.
Research in an external environment : the research takes place in a delimited area, of maximum 200 m2, in a rural environment. The pair must find and report the exact point where the target odor is located.
Enriched Environment: This test is for dogs admitted to Grades 2 and 3.
Grade 2: in the area, a rural area delimited between 50 m2 and 200 m2 or in an internal environment between 30 and 150 m2, 20 objects unusual for the surrounding environment will be placed (drawers, bags, chairs, etc.) and there cannot be more than 5 identical objects. The target odor will be hidden among these objects and the test will be concluded when the pair finds and reports the exact point where the target is located.
Grade 3: in this case the area extends between 50 and 200 m2 externally or between 50 and 250 m2 internally, there must be 30 small objects. The hidden targets can be from 1 to 3 and elements of distraction such as games or food, which however must be indicated by flags or in another way.
Search on vehicles: the search will take place on 3 vehicles and the target will be hidden on one of them, externally.
Search on people: the search takes place on 5 people positioned in a row, standing or sitting, at least 2 m away from each other. The participants must not have food in their pockets and must not have had contact with estrous bitches. The helpers must remain still until the pair finds and signals the one with the target on them, which obviously will only be 1.
As for young dogs, aged 6 to 12 months, they will be able to participate without ranking in the beginner level trials.
People with violent behavior, dogs not comfortable in that situation, if the handler voluntarily contaminates the competition field, people with unsportsmanlike behavior will be excluded from the race.
Dogs who leave the search field without returning, handlers who let their dogs loose without authorization, dogs who urinate or defecate in the competition field, dogs who bark repeatedly for no reason, dogs who destroy the competition scenario, incorrect use of leashes, dogs attempting to attack a helper, dogs mounting a helper and the introduction of food or toys into the field.
The judge must be external to the organizing Association, will be responsible for validating the competition scenarios, will try to maintain the same level of difficulty for all the various situations, while being able to move, if necessary, the target odor between one test and another. another and he will be the only one to position the targets. The judge will also decide whether or not to accept the public. On Sunday, the judge was Sara Marchetti.
If you want to support the work of HAPPYDOGPARK , you can enter the code [ HAPPYDOGPARK ] at checkout.