Re: RC: Endurance Dog

[Lynn Kinsky <lkinsky@silcom.com>]

>    One more opinion on the dog issue.  I ride  with my Springer Spaniel
>quite often.  He can go for miles and if I keep  him trimmed up he doesn't
>bring too many burrs home.  I ride in a National  Forest alot and so we do
>run into hikers, sometimes with dogs.  My Murph  will come immediately to
>my horse's side when I say 'come' and ignores other  people/dogs. He does
>this also when I come out on a road - I would not take him  if the roads
>where not 25 mph through the forest and quiet.  he is a great  athlete and
>a wonderful companion.   My first springer, Kelley, traveled with me
>in the 80''s across the country competing in races.  Back  then no one
>payed much attention to dogs in camp.  I don't remember it  being a
>problem, though I understand why there are problems now.  Anyway,  he even
>competed in a 100 miler with me in Canada.  We won- plus BC.   That night
>I slept in the stall with my horse and dog - too cool. - we were a
>team....   laura hayes #2741

Although I don't take any of my dogs out on the trails -- it's not
permitted in the areas where I normally ride -- you all might be interested
that there is one breed that actually awards an endurance  title:  the
Dalmation Club Road Dog title:

>In keeping with their early utilization as carriage dogs, Dalmatians have
>earned  the titles of Road Dog (RD) and Road Dog Excellent (RDX) from The
>Dalmatian Club of America (DCA).  Road trials are held in conjunction with
>the
>DCA National Specialty and with some other regional Dalmatian club
>specialties.  The Road Dog titles are earned by dogs who accompany horses or
>carriages for distances of 12.5 miles (RD) and 25 miles (RDX), (~20 and 40
>km)
>and perform some off-leash obedience work.  Competitors need not be
>members of
>these clubs.  In fact most are pet owners who enjoy working with horses and
>their dogs.


The National Specialty will be held in southern California this year and
the road trials are tentatively set for Camarillo Springs.  Any of you who
take your dals out on the trail might think about coming!  Chair for the
event, should you want further information, is Steve Sunshine
(Steven.Sunshine@usa.xerox.com).




Lynn Kinsky (Santa Ynez, CA)
http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky