The First Gathering of the Entlebuchs, Vyžlovka, 8 – 9 September 2012
The historically first Czech meeting of the Entlebucher Cattle Dogs took place in the Vyžlovka area on 8–9 September 2012. For the Entlebuchers as well as other breeds, it was a great
entertaining opportunity to pit one’s strength in agility, in short a nice event full of physical activity and fun.
At the beginning, they took a picture of all of us and the dogs were given a chance to get to know each other, sniff each other, frolic and to compete for fun in pulling the rope and
chasing the ball. Some took advantage of the nearby pond and happily cooled themselves in the warm weather. Then it was time for competitions.
The competitions with agility elements were rather unbalanced. There were both real ‘professionals’, who practise agility and flew through the course in perfect style and in record time,
and those who had their own idea of performing the obstacles and tunnels – diametrically different from the competition rules. Almost everyone managed the following competitions in classic
obedience disciplines, such as recall and fetch, although not always according to the rules. Barnie, for instance, amused everyone when just before the finish line she dropped the fetch
object and changed it for another dog’s, which she liked better. This would definitely not have passed at exams.
The funniest part was the IQ test, when the dogs were to look for a hidden treat or an object in a box with a small hole. This test has been described on examples of various animals in
numerous publications dealing with ethology. They all compare the time needed by the individual animals to discover the whole on the other side of the box. Our competitors however discovered
a new way of reaching the desired object, which does not seem to have been described in the literature: they simply made a larger hole using their head. Fortunately, the organisers had
enough spare boxes. In the IQ test, Barnie placed third; the whole competition was won by her brother Bentley. It is a pity that their mum Elinka was not at the meeting; she would have
certainly been proud of her intelligent puppies.
Even though this was a meeting of the Entlebuchers, likewise other breeds participated in it. Their representation was really varied. They all competed with enthusiasm. The dog handlers
included not only adults but also children.
The dogs were not the only ones who had to show their abilities. Tasks were given to their masters as well. They had to find and answer questions placed distributed the pond and they had
to manage that as quickly as possible. Our result was not good enough for any medal, so Barnie did much better in her IQ test.
The walk around the pond the next day already took place without our participation, but the pictures taken prove that everyone enjoyed it in their own way. The first Czech meeting of
the Entlebucher Cattle Dogs turned out very well. Thanks for the organisation and excellently prepared programme are owed mainly to the organisers.
