April 2010
This is the cover of the AKC Field Trial Rules and Standard Procedures for Dachshunds in use when I began field trialing in the mid-1970s. You might be surprised to learn that the Dachshund trial rules consisted of 3.5 pages in the middle of the rules for Pointers, Retrievers, and Spaniels!
Here is how the rulebook was divided:
Foreward.....pp 1-2
Chapters 1-16.....Registration and Field Trial Rules.....pp 3-30
Chapter 17.....Rules for Pointing Breed Trials.....pp 31-48
Chapter 18.....Rules for Dachshund Trials.....pp 49-52
Chapter 19.....Rules for Retriever Trials.....pp 53-68
Chapter 20.....Rules for Spaniel Trials....pp 69-80
And following are the Dachshund Field Trial Rules in their entirety.
Chapter 18
RULES FOR DACHSHUND TRIALS
(Chapters 1 through 16 also apply)
SECTION 1. In Single Stakes for Dachshunds, the order of running in pairs in the first series shall be decided by lot at the draw, dogs worked by the same person or belonging to the same owner being separated when possible. In event of a bye dog, the Judge or Judges shall choose its bracemate. At the end of the first series, the Judges will call up the two dogs with the highest score, and any other dogs they require to be run in additional series.
SECTION 2. In Couple or Pack Stakes the order of running in the first series shall be decided by draw, and the dogs composing a couple or pack must belong to the same owner. No dog shall form part or more than one couple and one pack at the same Meeting, and each couple or pack shall have but one handler. A couple consists of two dogs. A pack consists of two or more couples (the number to be specified in the premium list). Dogs will be expected to work their ground harmoniously together, performing as in a Single Stake.
SECTION 3. In Pack Stakes each entry in the stake shall be run separately as a pack.
SECTION 4. A Derby Stake at a Dachshund field trial shall be for dogs whelped on or after the first day of January of the year preceding that year in which the field trial is run.
SECTION 5. A Non-Winners Stake at a Dachshund field trial shall be fore dogs which have never won first place in any field trial stake at a licensed or member Dachshund field trial.
SECTION 6. The field trial-giving club may run such other stakes as are printed on the premium list and/or entry form and which have been approved the The American Kennel Club.
Note: In all Stakes the principal qualifications to be considered by the Judges are good noses, courage in facing punishing coverts, keenness, perseverance, obedience, and willingness to go to earth.. Should a rabbit lodge in any earth, or run through any drain large enough for the Dachshunds to enter, the dogs should, of course, be expected to enter without hesitation; and failure to do so should automatically render them ineligible for first award, even though their performance was in all other respects outstanding.
SECTION 7. Only trials that are run on live cottontails, or hare, or both, shall be permitted to carry championship points.
SECTION 8. Stakes may be divided by sex if the field trial-giving club so desires and so states in its premium list and/or entry form. If, however, the premium list and/or entry form states that the stakes are divided by sex, and thereafter when the entries are received it is found there are less than six entries of each sex in any stake, that stake shall be combined and run with both sexes in a single stake, but no stakes which the premium list and/or entry form states are to be divided by sex shall be combined into a Single Stake under any other circumstances.
SECTION 9. A dog is not eligible to be entered or to compete in any field trial in any stake in which championship points are given, if a judge of the stake or any member of his family has owned, sold, boarded, trained, or handled the dog, within one year prior to the date of the field trial.
SECTION 10. Judges shall have the power to turn out of the stake any dog which does not obey its handler, and any handler who willfully interferes with another competitor, or his dog; and the power to exclude from competition bitches in heat, or any dog which the Judges may consider unfit to compete. The entry fees of all such dogs shall be forfeited.
SECTION 11. The owner or agent entering a dog in a trial does so at his own risk, and agrees to abide by the rules of The American Kennel Club.
SECTION 12. In the event of the weather proving unsuitable for holding the trials, it shall be in the power of the Field Trial Committee to postpone the meeting from day to day for a maximum of three days following the last advertised day, provided said postponement does not conflict with any other Dachshund field trial. After postponements for three days the provisions of Section 13 of this Chapter shall come into operation.
SECTION 13. In the event of the weather still proving unsuitable after postponements for three days, the Field Trial Committee may then abandon the meeting at any time, on returning the entry fees to the competitors. If, from unforeseen circumstances, the Field Trial Committee deem it advisable to alter the date of the meeting after the closing of the entries, this may be done with the consent of The American Kennel Club and by sending formal notices to all competitors, who may exercise the option of cancelling their entries within four days from the date of such notice, in which event their entry fees shall be returned to them. All entries, however, in regard to which no such option is exercised, will stand good for the meeting at its altered date.
SECTION 14. Splitting of prizes and/or places at Dachshund field trials is prohibited.
SECTION 15. Championship points for Dachshunds shall be awarded only to the first and second place winners of Open All-Age Stakes. A Dachshund winning first place in an Open All-Age Stake will be awarded a number of Championship points equal to the number of actual starters in the stake in which it competed. A Dachshund winning second place in an Open All-Age Stake will be awarded one-third as many points as the first place winner of the stake, provided there are nine or more actual starters in the stake.
SECTION 16. No Dachshund shall be recorded a Field Champion unless it is registered in The American Kennel Club Stud Book, and unless some of its required championship points have been won as a first place winner of an Open All-Age Stake.
SECTION 17. The total number of championship points necessary for a Dachshund to win in order to be declared a Field Champion of Record shall be fixed and determined by the Board of Directors of The American Kennel Club.
At present, the total number of points required is 25.
Here is how the rulebook was divided:
Foreward.....pp 1-2
Chapters 1-16.....Registration and Field Trial Rules.....pp 3-30
Chapter 17.....Rules for Pointing Breed Trials.....pp 31-48
Chapter 18.....Rules for Dachshund Trials.....pp 49-52
Chapter 19.....Rules for Retriever Trials.....pp 53-68
Chapter 20.....Rules for Spaniel Trials....pp 69-80
And following are the Dachshund Field Trial Rules in their entirety.
Chapter 18
RULES FOR DACHSHUND TRIALS
(Chapters 1 through 16 also apply)
SECTION 1. In Single Stakes for Dachshunds, the order of running in pairs in the first series shall be decided by lot at the draw, dogs worked by the same person or belonging to the same owner being separated when possible. In event of a bye dog, the Judge or Judges shall choose its bracemate. At the end of the first series, the Judges will call up the two dogs with the highest score, and any other dogs they require to be run in additional series.
SECTION 2. In Couple or Pack Stakes the order of running in the first series shall be decided by draw, and the dogs composing a couple or pack must belong to the same owner. No dog shall form part or more than one couple and one pack at the same Meeting, and each couple or pack shall have but one handler. A couple consists of two dogs. A pack consists of two or more couples (the number to be specified in the premium list). Dogs will be expected to work their ground harmoniously together, performing as in a Single Stake.
SECTION 3. In Pack Stakes each entry in the stake shall be run separately as a pack.
SECTION 4. A Derby Stake at a Dachshund field trial shall be for dogs whelped on or after the first day of January of the year preceding that year in which the field trial is run.
SECTION 5. A Non-Winners Stake at a Dachshund field trial shall be fore dogs which have never won first place in any field trial stake at a licensed or member Dachshund field trial.
SECTION 6. The field trial-giving club may run such other stakes as are printed on the premium list and/or entry form and which have been approved the The American Kennel Club.
Note: In all Stakes the principal qualifications to be considered by the Judges are good noses, courage in facing punishing coverts, keenness, perseverance, obedience, and willingness to go to earth.. Should a rabbit lodge in any earth, or run through any drain large enough for the Dachshunds to enter, the dogs should, of course, be expected to enter without hesitation; and failure to do so should automatically render them ineligible for first award, even though their performance was in all other respects outstanding.
SECTION 7. Only trials that are run on live cottontails, or hare, or both, shall be permitted to carry championship points.
SECTION 8. Stakes may be divided by sex if the field trial-giving club so desires and so states in its premium list and/or entry form. If, however, the premium list and/or entry form states that the stakes are divided by sex, and thereafter when the entries are received it is found there are less than six entries of each sex in any stake, that stake shall be combined and run with both sexes in a single stake, but no stakes which the premium list and/or entry form states are to be divided by sex shall be combined into a Single Stake under any other circumstances.
SECTION 9. A dog is not eligible to be entered or to compete in any field trial in any stake in which championship points are given, if a judge of the stake or any member of his family has owned, sold, boarded, trained, or handled the dog, within one year prior to the date of the field trial.
SECTION 10. Judges shall have the power to turn out of the stake any dog which does not obey its handler, and any handler who willfully interferes with another competitor, or his dog; and the power to exclude from competition bitches in heat, or any dog which the Judges may consider unfit to compete. The entry fees of all such dogs shall be forfeited.
SECTION 11. The owner or agent entering a dog in a trial does so at his own risk, and agrees to abide by the rules of The American Kennel Club.
SECTION 12. In the event of the weather proving unsuitable for holding the trials, it shall be in the power of the Field Trial Committee to postpone the meeting from day to day for a maximum of three days following the last advertised day, provided said postponement does not conflict with any other Dachshund field trial. After postponements for three days the provisions of Section 13 of this Chapter shall come into operation.
SECTION 13. In the event of the weather still proving unsuitable after postponements for three days, the Field Trial Committee may then abandon the meeting at any time, on returning the entry fees to the competitors. If, from unforeseen circumstances, the Field Trial Committee deem it advisable to alter the date of the meeting after the closing of the entries, this may be done with the consent of The American Kennel Club and by sending formal notices to all competitors, who may exercise the option of cancelling their entries within four days from the date of such notice, in which event their entry fees shall be returned to them. All entries, however, in regard to which no such option is exercised, will stand good for the meeting at its altered date.
SECTION 14. Splitting of prizes and/or places at Dachshund field trials is prohibited.
SECTION 15. Championship points for Dachshunds shall be awarded only to the first and second place winners of Open All-Age Stakes. A Dachshund winning first place in an Open All-Age Stake will be awarded a number of Championship points equal to the number of actual starters in the stake in which it competed. A Dachshund winning second place in an Open All-Age Stake will be awarded one-third as many points as the first place winner of the stake, provided there are nine or more actual starters in the stake.
SECTION 16. No Dachshund shall be recorded a Field Champion unless it is registered in The American Kennel Club Stud Book, and unless some of its required championship points have been won as a first place winner of an Open All-Age Stake.
SECTION 17. The total number of championship points necessary for a Dachshund to win in order to be declared a Field Champion of Record shall be fixed and determined by the Board of Directors of The American Kennel Club.
At present, the total number of points required is 25.
