Endurance Test 2011 Thread

[Guest CaptainCourageous]

From VicSchipp magazine, Spring 2002.

CINDERS’ ET

On Saturday 17th August 2002 my six year old Schipperke bitch Ch Semois Cinders successfully completed an ET. She is the first Schipperke to achieve this in Australia, and now bears the letters ET after her pedigree name. Hopefully this introduction has evoked questions like "What's an ET?" or "Why an ET?" from you. This article aims to address those questions, and also to inspire you to consider entering your dog in an ET.

WHAT’S AN ET?

It's not an alien and although it may seem merely an "Extra Title" beforehand, when your dog has completed an ET you know it's something of which you can be very proud. ET is an "Endurance Test", a dog sport title approved by the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC).

The ANKC rules for the ET were adopted in November 1996. They indicate "The Endurance Test shall demonstrate the dog's ability to work after being subject to a certain degree of physical strain without showing signs of undue stress or lack of constitution. Due to the dog's physical structure, such a test can only consist of a gaiting performance of some lengthy duration, which, it is known places an increasing load not only on its internal organs, such as the heart and lungs, but on many other aspects of the dog's physical structure and temperamental characteristics. The effortless accomplishment of such a test shall be the evidence as to the physical fitness of the dog". The test is open to dogs between 2 and 8 years old.

The equipment required for an ET is a fixed collar or harness, and a 2 meter long lead. If the handler is not jogging they can ride a bicycle (with helmet) or any other non-motorised vehicle. A veterinary certificate must be attained within fourteen days prior to the test, covering general fitness, temperature, standing heart rate, condition of pads and the muscle tone of the dog.

The dogs and handlers must move at 10 km per hour in single file behind an official pacemaker. The dog is permitted to pull slightly but continued lagging will result in disqualification. Verbal or physical reprimands are not permitted. The dog may stop to relieve itself, but must then be moved slightly faster until it has resumed its correct position in the field. The field size is limited to 20 dogs. The terrain must be of at least three distinctly different types – e.g. grass, bitumen, gravel, unsealed roads etc. If the ambient temperature reaches 24C the test is cancelled regardless of what stage it has reached - this is why ETs tend to be scheduled in July and August and commence early in the morning.

An ET is split into 3 legs - 8 km, 6 km and 6 km. The first break is 15 minutes and the second 20 minutes, with a further 15 minute rest at the end. Four vet checks are undertaken: before the ET starts then at the completion of each leg. The vet checks cover general fitness, temperature, standing heart rate, and condition of pads. Before and after the ET simple obedience checks are carried out to see if the dog's willingness to work with its handler has deteriorated. (Heeling, right about turn, halt with or without auto-sit, and on- or off- lead recall).

If, during the ET, the dog is reluctant to move with its handler it's disqualified. Likewise, if the dog shows any undue stress, has badly worn pads or a high temperature it is eliminated. The dog can fail due to lack of physical condition, showing signs of undue stress or tiredness, failing to complete the distance at the required speed, requiring artificial means to reduce its body temperature, or failing to complete the obedience exercises. If the dog attacks it is disqualified.

WHY WAS CINDERS ENTERED?

The Semmels have now been involved with Schipperkes and organised dog events for five years, which is a relatively short time. As for all newcomers, it's usual to look around at what challenges a new activity has to offer, and the "ET" was something that I noticed every now and then although I knew little about it. It was probably in 2001 that I chatted with people in Northern Obedience Dog Club who had completed ETs - Sonya Nagel (owner of the obedience-accomplished staffie Murphmeister) and Frances Hammer (Great Danes) come to mind. Sonya told me about the extensive training she did with Murphmeister and the magnificent muscle tone her dog had built up when it came time to do the ET. I was sufficiently inspired to try leading Cinders, Paddy and Marsha beside the bicycle. They were successful in that order, which happened to be their order of heeling performance at that stage.

It was this year that Anne Lenne mentioned that the Dalmatian Club was holding an ET at Altona and that one of her dogs was entered (with someone else handling!). That gave me the opportunity to look at an ET to find out what this mysterious event actually was. I dropped Paula off at the Showgrounds for a Champ Show and continued down to Cherry Lake, Altona. The ET wasn't restricted to Dalmatians. These events tend to be held by breed clubs whose interested members achieve ETs with their breed early on and in further years the portion of the field from the host club's members reduces.

I saw the ET and what was required, and said to myself "I can do that". Apparently ETs had already been completed by Papillions and Dachshunds. The next ET at Altona was the Australian Shepherd Club's, commencing 8am (check-in 7:00 - 7:45) on the 17th August. (I had been warned that ETs at Knox traversed hilly ground, and Sale, the only other site that I'm aware of, seemed slightly impractical - being 200 km in the wrong direction). The entry fee was $25, which mainly covered vet time. The judge was Mr N Kay.

PREPARATION

It was now time for training. At this stage I didn't have a copy of the ET rules, but I started getting ready as best I could. We have cloth leads around 0.8 meters long. Connecting two together provided length for the dog plus some reserve slack that could be released if the dog stopped suddenly (which is quite normal if they need to answer a call of nature). Our street has a long bike path on each side, so straight runs up and down the street made for the bitumen practice. A newly renovated park with a new oval just up the road provided grass and concrete or gravel paths. The "dog park' opposite gave the opportunity for training on gravel, but due to the presence of dogs off-lead I tended to treat this a bit differently: I would let Cinders off lead, race away from her and call her along.

Cinders was now moving with the bicycle very nicely, without any lagging. I felt we had arrived at a standard where we could compete in an ET without going too deeply into a fitness-building routine. It was now time to enter and to download the rules from the ANKC web site so that I could become familiar with all the minor details that could trip me up. We purchased a light 2 meter lead and found a fixed collar that we had never used before. (I think the tag was still on it). We had the preliminary vet check done, and the report indicated that Cinders had very good muscle tone and excellent pads.

I practiced at Altona a week before the trial. Not knowing the course at that stage, I went around the lake. Cinders travelled very well, except when she spotted water birds in the lake to the right of the bicycle and moved across the bike - here was something I would have to be prepared to deal with if the situation arose again. A full blown obedience practice didn't go as well as I would have liked - a bird had been mown over on the reserve and there were remnants everywhere.

But there were complications, as there are no doubt going to be preparing for an event like this. Paula (my wife) was in central NSW showing Marsha and BB. My brother was lending me his car and staying over on the Friday night. He arrived after midnight and Cinders and Paddy were suspicious of him and kept me up all night, or at least till the 5am alarm arrived.

I didn't feel like competing in anything at all, especially something I hadn't tried before. It would have been very easy to stay home, but that little bit of determination deep down inside kept burning. It was then a matter of getting the bicycle into the back seat of the sedan, taking dog and day-pack with me, going around the corner to the 7-11 to pump up the bike tyres and put some petrol in the car, and driving down to Altona.

The car didn't seem to have an interior light, the window was frosted over and I think for a short distance I actually drove near-blind, but I was on the road.

THE ET

I got to Altona safely at 7 am, the start of check-in. I was slightly nervous (or perhaps just tired and wanting to look relaxed), and got to talk to other handlers as they turned up. An official was late, so the event start was delayed. There were 17 dogs in the field, including Belgian Shepherds, German Shepherds, Boxers and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Cinders put in a dreadful Obedience performance in the initial test. (I think she was still asleep). That's the only time such a bad performance could make me happy. I did the recall on-lead, although I would in any other circumstance do an off-lead recall with Cinders. (Tip: in a test situation, if given an option to make things easier, take up the option).

The vet check was thorough. There were two teams doing the checks: one with the vet and one with a vet nurse. Cinders' heart rate started slightly high due to her distrust of the vet team. (Later the vet nurse took such a long time trying and failing to take Cinders' temperature with the dog standing that Cinders developed a strong dislike of her, and I had to insist on having the vet rather than the vet nurse do the checks. The check was eventually made easier by rolling the dog onto its back).

And now it was time for a start. Cinders was entry 16, with the staffie behind her - this suggests that the organisers felt that the Schipperke was more likely to complete the task than the staffie. In front were 15 large dogs and their handlers. The front two handlers were jogging, the rest on bicycles.

AND THEY’RE OFF

The trial's 3 legs followed the same track, with the first leg 3 laps and the others 2 laps. (I think they may have omitted the diversion past the Council Offices on the first lap to properly form the 8 km / 6 km / 6 km split). I'll describe the course and events without reference to which of the seven laps was in progress.

Led by the pacemaker on his bike equipped with stopwatch and speedo, the procession moved off from the grassed assembly area towards the gate at the corner of the reserve. The day was gorgeous and sunglasses were essential. The judge was on a bicycle moving up and down the line, not riding along it. My focus was on the bicycle in front of me and the dog on my left. We weren't allowed to let gaps build up, as that might see us fail on a time criteria.

Having left the reserve, it was on to a good bitumen roadway. A right turn, some left turns, then three right turns in front of the Council offices. It was very important to encourage Cinders by voice around these right turns, so that she didn't lag the bicycle. On some occasions cars in this area forced us to hug the side of the road. My general motorcycling skills came into play to give Cinders best advantage - choosing speeds, when to brake, when to deliver encouragement by voice to keep our dog/handler combination moving, picking a line to follow, my posture on the bicycle etc.

A long stretch of bitumen past the oval was a bit rougher. Here it was possible to have your dog traverse the grass border, if that brought an advantage. It might help on pads, but also brought with it scents to distract the dog.

Cinders travelled level with the bike over this terrain. Over a speed hump, round a right turn, over another speed hump then into a deteriorating bitumen stretch. There were potholes and then into gravel. A gate obstacle here comprised short treated pine poles with a narrow gap. Many handlers seemed to manouvre both themselves and their (large) dog through the same gap, but I chose to have Cinders pass to the left of the pole immediately to my left.

This led us on to the concrete pedestrian path around the lake. Cinders sought to lead along this path, which suggested that she could achieve our quest. On an early lap she stopped for a bowel movement around here, and I cleaned up after her, tying the freezer bag to the bicycle luggage rack. One challenge along this stretch was members of the public walking dogs (sometimes off-lead). Common sense would suggest that if someone saw 2 joggers, 17 cyclists and 17 dogs approaching they might move aside so as not to interfere, but common sense doesn't always get applied.

On this path, bathed in sunshine and with your dog heeling fast just ahead of level on a nice loose lead, it was very tempting to believe you were there for an enjoyable ride in the park. But this was a test, and one where the causes of a fail could be quite obscure, so it was necessary to put all notions of relaxation out of my mind and concentrate on the fundamentals of getting the two of us around the distance.

The pleasure of the path was quickly interrupted by the second wooden bridge. This was narrow and had a right turn in the middle of it, as well as some form of platform or landing. Safely manoeuvring bike and dog onto the narrow bridge without running over the dog or dropping it off the edge, whilst adapting to a traffic slow-down to maintain a suitable gap behind the dog and bike ahead, made for some hard work. Overhanging trees made this a dark spot, so sun-glassed eyes had to adapt to the change quickly. On one lap we encountered a fellow walking a Boxer stuck on the platform while the field passed - fortunately all dogs were stable. Later on I slowed to the point of losing balance as we moved onto the narrow bridge - I didn't fall and can't recall putting a foot on the ground, but I may have clipped a handlebar (hence fingers) on a rail. (This was the only moment of unhappiness I experienced during the test).

Over the bridge and it was a right turn onto a twisty gravel path. I found that in the later laps Cinders wanted to slow as she got onto this gravel, causing the judge to call me forward along this stretch. The solution was to use my voice to encourage her as we were about to enter the gravel section. I recall one handler coming off her bike somewhere around here - her dog may have put her off balance.

Now it was through another narrow gate (metal bollards), across a road and onto the grass reserve. Cinders needed some encouragement on the grass. I traversed the lawn one gear lower. If we weren't stopping, the field was cheered on by the spectators.

Eventually the task was completed, we got through all the medicals and the final Obedience check. Cinders had a high heart rate at the final check, which was expected for a small dog and permitted. In terms of scale, the work done covering 20 km for a Schipperke (divided by body mass) is probably the equivalent of a much longer distance for a larger breed, so Cinders' achievement is something very special.

After a rest we were presented with certificates and ribbons. All seventeen entries had passed and the judge was delighted with the conduct of the dogs and the smooth movement of the field. There were three Belgian Shepherds in the field, so we organised a Belgian breeds photo of dogs, handlers and ribbons.

I dropped into the Showgrounds on the way home as I had double-booked Cinders into a Champ Show. The judge, Kevin Summers, had a Standard Poodle in the ring. Perhaps fortunately, the group was complete and the poodle was the Best In Group. I said hello to Kevin and told him about the ET, then headed home to a well-earned rest and an anxious younger brother.

WHY AN ET?

I may have taken an initial interest in ETs as both an extra accomplishment with a brief lead-time and a new frontier for Schipperkes. Having completed one, I can look back and say an ET pass is a statement that the dog/handler combination has worked as a great team for almost three hours, and that the dog is both healthy and anatomically correct to the extent that it has met the objectives of the ANKC Endurance Test.

I expect to handle Marsha and BB in future ETs. I'm not sure about my neuter bitch Paddy, who has both a poor rear gait and a stubborn streak which could lead to her giving up. So I don't advocate ET's for all Schipperkes, but I do recommend them for the right Schipperkes.

Philip Semmel

[N.M.E.]

Oh. I asked about some course details for the new location in WA. Apparently the loop is just shy of 800m, which means the first leg is 10 laps. How boring :p Also, we'll be going over grass, sand and gravel.

[Sir Sniffalot]

Good luck to WA's ET'ers for this weekend. We got our vet cert today no charge and Hamish turned 2 on Tuesday so we are all ready for next weekend.

[murve]

Good luck to WA's ET'ers for this weekend. We got our vet cert today no charge and Hamish turned 2 on Tuesday so we are all ready for next weekend.

Good luck for next weekend Sir Snifalot :thumbsup:

[Abbiestar]

Oh. I asked about some course details for the new location in WA. Apparently the loop is just shy of 800m, which means the first leg is 10 laps. How boring :p Also, we'll be going over grass, sand and gravel.

SAND!!!!! You have to go over SAND!?!!

M

[RubyStar]

Oh. I asked about some course details for the new location in WA. Apparently the loop is just shy of 800m, which means the first leg is 10 laps. How boring :p Also, we'll be going over grass, sand and gravel.

Are you guys just going to be doing bog laps of the GSDA grounds?! Couldn't think of anything more boring At least at the old location, there would have been scenery! Does anyone know why the location was changed? I think that is a huge step in the wrong direction for the ET if you guys are indeed just doing it around their grounds.

Anyway, best of luck to all the WA competitors tomorrow! I'm sure you'll all do great :D

Edited June 17, 2011 by RubyStar

[OSoSwift]

We did it, he didn't pant, cruised it in and his heart rate coming in from his last leg was 85, not bad I thought. He is busy scmoozing and working the room at my SIL while I am resting my weary knees! Tomorrow a CCD attempt!

[OSoSwift]

It was changed RS because the shire in their wisdom bitumised the whole track at the other location. Had a great day

[emery]

Congrats oso, and lewis :D

[Sir Sniffalot]

We did it, he didn't pant, cruised it in and his heart rate coming in from his last leg was 85, not bad I thought. He is busy scmoozing and working the room at my SIL while I am resting my weary knees! Tomorrow a CCD attempt!

Wow 85, the vet took Hami's standing heart rate at 92 but l think that was because he just spotted a cat in the waiting room lol. Congrats for today and good luck for tomorrow.

[murve]

We did it, he didn't pant, cruised it in and his heart rate coming in from his last leg was 85, not bad I thought. He is busy scmoozing and working the room at my SIL while I am resting my weary knees! Tomorrow a CCD attempt!

:happydance: wwwwhhhhhoooooaaaa hhhoooaaaa told ya, you guys could do it

Big Congates to you & Lewis big hugs & sloppy kisses from Orlando tooo

Oh cant forget everybody else who took part in WA Congrates to all

[Abbiestar]

We did it, he didn't pant, cruised it in and his heart rate coming in from his last leg was 85, not bad I thought. He is busy scmoozing and working the room at my SIL while I am resting my weary knees! Tomorrow a CCD attempt!

Yay! Well done OSoSwift!

Well done on your ET title.

Great news.

Next ET is the GSDCV at Altona. The weather reports so far say 13 degrees, mostly sunny, not much cloud, no wind, no rain.

Here's hoping this is true.

Went for a ride this morning for 36k's and got caught in the rain

M

[TerraNik]

Congratulations OSoSwift!!!

Ahsoka and I have 3 weeks to go until her ET... Woohoo! We did 6km this morning - loving this nice weather!

[Guest CaptainCourageous]

Next ET is the GSDCV at Altona. The weather reports so far say 13 degrees, mostly sunny, not much cloud, no wind, no rain.

Here's hoping this is true.

I'm just back from 8.5 km @ 10.8 km/h there. Planning to do wet weather practice tomorrow.

It seems to take extra effort to peddle over the grass lawn opposite the Altona Obedience clubhouse. (Maybe they'll mow it before the big day?).

Two big piles of gravel have appeared at the west end, blocking the straight line to the pedestrian gates to the lake-side path. Chances are it'll be spread over the short gravel path north of the pedestrian gate. (This is after I wrote that things hadn't changed much there for six years).

CC

[tommyspazz]

Next ET is the GSDCV at Altona. The weather reports so far say 13 degrees, mostly sunny, not much cloud, no wind, no rain.

Here's hoping this is true.

I'm just back from 8.5 km @ 10.8 km/h there. Planning to do wet weather practice tomorrow.

It seems to take extra effort to peddle over the grass lawn opposite the Altona Obedience clubhouse. (Maybe they'll mow it before the big day?).

Two big piles of gravel have appeared at the west end, blocking the straight line to the pedestrian gates to the lake-side path. Chances are it'll be spread over the short gravel path north of the pedestrian gate. (This is after I wrote that things hadn't changed much there for six years).

CC

Hey CC...you weren't the person with the skipp today at Cherry Lake were you????

[Guest CaptainCourageous]

Hey CC...you weren't the person with the skipp today at Cherry Lake were you????

Yes I was. I packed up then drove across to where you were parked to say hello properly but you were leaving as I got there. Guess I'll see you next Saturday.

CC

[tommyspazz]

Oh im sorry!!!! Didn't relise, we wern't being snobs on purpose, i promise!! :-)

So what happens next weekend when we encounter all the fantastic dog owners and their off lead dogs? Will someone be telling them to put their dogs on leads or do we have the honor of doing that?

[ish]

Sorry CC!! I was the other person with the GSD today Pity we didn't realise you were coming to see us as we were leaving, I would have loved to asked where the actual track went for the ET next weekend. Nevermind, it was good to do a few laps and let the dogs get their sniffing out of the way!

I'm concerned about the offlead dogs - there was so many today with owners who didn't care if they approached us

[Guest CaptainCourageous]

Oh im sorry!!!! Didn't relise, we wern't being snobs on purpose, i promise!! :-)

It's OK.

So what happens next weekend when we encounter all the fantastic dog owners and their off lead dogs? Will someone be telling them to put their dogs on leads or do we have the honor of doing that?

I remember reaching the narrow footbridge and the group encountering a GSD on-lead that was stuck there until we all passed. All dogs were stable. Have a read of my 2002 write-up posted earlier in the thread.

We do have a couple of advantages - the early start, and the fact that two groups of us, staggered I hope, may scare the roaming dogs and their stray handlers off. However they aren't fencing the park off for us so coping with Jo Public and Fido her new pup as we meet them is probably going to be part of the game should it come to that. Of more concern will be black swans etc and traffic on the roadways (I guess).

CC

[Sir Sniffalot]

We had a problem with an off lead dog yesterday riding around the footy grounds, the little thing came out of no where and rushed us l ended up falling off and Hamish took off and stood about 100m away waiting for the nasty dog to be collected, when the owner got to us he laughed and said his dog was not chasing Hamish he was after the wheels of my bike