UNITED HUNGARIAN WIRE-HAIRED VIZSLA ASSOCIATION

The UKC Pointing Dog Program is uniquely different from other bird dog events as it is fashioned closely after the European pointing dog events. The events are for the companion gun dog breeds that are bred for the foot hunter, as these events are always walking trials.

Dogs are judged against a standard and are judged against specific criteria for that breed. There is a non competitive atmosphere between handlers, since the dogs are being judged against a standard of performance, not against another dog/handler team. Judging dogs based on breed type puts all the pointing breeds on a level playing field. Professional handlers are not permitted to enter dogs unless they handle a dog that is owned by them.

Two main divisions exist, Gundog and Open, which are different in how “finished” a dog is,(or to what level of training is required of the dog.) An example would be that dogs testing in the Gundog class do not have to be steady to wing and shot, whereas dogs testing in the Open class must be.

Also in the Pointing Dog Program is the TAN test. TAN stands for Natural Ability Test and is a test established to credit those dogs that represent the minimum natural hunting qualities desired in pointing breeds. TAN certification is open to all dogs under the age of three years of age that are registered with UKC., as in Permanently registered, Temporary listed (TL) or Limited Privilege listed (LP).

Pointing Dog events are also either designated by the host club to be Type (W) or Type (L) trials. Type (W) is a field trial run on wild (W) upland game, and Type (L) trials are run on liberated (L) upland game.

All Rules for the UKC Pointing Dog events can be found by going to : www.ukcdogs.com/PointingBreedRules.htm

Submitted by: C. DeFiore , Vidor Wirehaired Vizslas