What is French Ring Sport?
This is a serious, very rigid training method that requires intense focus and skills.
French Ring is a protection dog sport most similar to Campagne, Mondio Ring and Belgian Ring, but also has elements common with Schutzhund and KNPV. Within the French Ring Sport, there are four levels of skills: Brevet, Ring I, Ring II and Ring III, each level introduces situations with increasing difficulty and increased demands on the dog. French Ring Sport includes: agility, obedience and protection exercises.
The differences between French Ring Sport and Schutzhund are few. French Ring has no tracking, the decoy (helper) wears a full body suit, the dog can bite anywhere on the suit, the order of exercises is random, and when the team walks on the field they complete the entire routine all at once. Schutzhund has tracking, the decoy only wears a sleeve, and the trial is broken up into 3 sections: tracking, obedience, and protection and each section is performed with a break in between.
French Ring Sport is for dedicated dogs and handlers.
THE MAIN COMPONENTS OF FRENCH RING SPORT
Certification at one of the levels of French Ring Sport requires dedication and intense practice for both the dog and handler. All three tests happen in the same day, in the same perfomance session so intense training and endurance are required.
AGILITY SKILLS
Palisade - dog jumps and climbs over a wooden wall, then does a return jump and returns to handler 2.3 meter maximum.
High Jump – dog jumps a hurdle, then on command does a return jump and comes to a heel position by the handler. 1.2 meter maximum.
Long Jump – dog jumps a long jump with key 4.5 meter maximum.
OBEDIENCE
Heel on leash – in a pattern determined by the judge with multiple stops and starts.
Heel with muzzle – Heeling off leash while the dog wears a muzzle.
Long Sit/Down – done with the handler out of sight, the dog stays in a position 1 min.
Food Refusal – dog is thrown 4 pieces of food (usually meat or cheese) while on a down stay with the handler out of sight. Dog must not eat the food, and if it is “accidentally” thrown into dog’s mouth, he must immediately spit it out. The field is also baited with 6 pieces of food, in strategic locations (ex: by blinds, jumps etc.).
Positions – the dog is told to sit, stand and down in random order decided by the judge. The handler is approximately 20 feet away.
Retrieves – the dog does three retrieve exercises, a thrown retrieve, an unseen retrieve, and a retrieve where the handler drops the object and the dog immediately picks it up and returns it to the handler.
Send Away – the dog is told to run in a straight line away from the handler until called, then it returns to the handler.
PROTECTION
Face Attack – the dog is told to attack a decoy who is facing him about 40m away behaving in a menacing fashion.
Fleeing Attack – the dog is told to attack a decoy who is running away. Heel on leash – in a pattern determined by the judge with multiple stops and starts.
Attack with Gun – the dog attacks a decoy who is firing a gun. After the bite/fight, the decoy freezes, the dog lets go and guards the decoy. The decoy tries to escape twice, the dog bites each time, and then the handler disarms the decoy and heels the dog away.
Search, Hold, and Bark – The dog finds the decoy who is hidden in one of six blinds, and barks to indicate the decoy has been found. The decoy attempts to escape, while firing a gun, and the dog stops the decoy by biting. The decoy attempts another escape, then the dog escorts the decoy to a designated spot, preventing two more escape attempts by biting. The dog has no set pattern to run the blinds in.
Call Off – This is done exactly like the face attack, with the decoy acting menacing and the dog being told to attack. When the dog is 1 to 4m away, the handler calls the dog who returns to the handler without biting the decoy.
Guard of Object – The dog is told to guard an object, and the handler goes to a place out of sight. The decoy tries three times to steal the object, and the dog stops the decoy each time by biting. As soon as the decoy begins to move away from the object, the dog lets go to remain close to the object he is guarding.