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WORKING

Chancepixies Angellica VPG1

Although all our dogs are first and foremost companions, pets and show dogs, here at Chancepixies, we are in pursuit of the 'golden middle', a Dobermann not only of excellent conformation, but also a dog that has the character to work.

The sport of Schutzhund/VPG originated in Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century, in order to evaluate a dogs character in a competitive trial with other dogs. It must be emphasised that all working trials are done so as a SPORT. In these days of anti-dog legislation it was felt that the term 'Shutzhund' (literally protection dog) was inappropriate and a new title for the sport has been introduced - Vielseitigkeitsprufung (VPG), a rough translation of which would be 'versatility test' , which was deemed more acceptable.

The sport is compiled of three disiplines: tracking, obedience and protection.

In the tracking phase, the dog is attached to a ten metre line, and must precisely follow in the footsteps of the tracklayer, finding, and indicating, articles that the tracklayer has placed along the track.
The obedience phase determines the dogs responsiveness to its handler and the accuracy to which the dog carries out the handlers commands, incorporating heelwork, retrieve, jumping, sit, stay, stand, recall and sendaway.
The protection phase evaluates the dogs self-confidence, courage and obedience to its handler under the most 'high-drive' situations. The level of control is of utmost importance.

The sport of VPG has levels of increasing difficulty, VPG1, VPG2 and VPG3. Before a dog can enter into the Shutzhund sport, the dog has to take a test called the Begleithundeptufung (BH), this test is to assess whether the dogs character is suitable to progress into the sport and, importantly, demonstates the level of control the handler has over the dog both on and off the lead. If the handler and dog team fail this test after two attempts the team can not progress into the VPG sport.

The vast majority of the dogs taking part in the sport are German Shepherds, in fact in this country in 2005 there were only 19 Dobermanns working under the British Shutzhund Association (BSA).

We are proud to say that Chancepixies Dobermanns are helping to add to that number. We currently have 8 Dobermann with their BH title, and four have gone on to gain full VPG titles, namely:

Chancepixies Auctioneer VPGI

Chancepixies Legend VPGIII

Chancepixies Angellica VPGI

Chancepixies Cherry Brandy VPGI

CH Gaindyke Keramia of Chancepixies BH

Chancepixies Juggernaut BH

Chancepixies Femme Fatale BH

Chancepixies Orchid BH

Chancepixies Auctioneer, Chancepixies Angellica, Chancepixies Cherry Brady and Chancepixies Legend are four of the first ten Dobermann ever to gain a full schutzhund/VPG title in the UK.

VPG Trial - Washington BAGSD

WUSV/FCI World Qualifiers February 2007

IDC World Championships - Chancepixies Legend is the only UK Dobermann to compete at the IDc Working World Championships two years in a row. He was one of only two in 2007 at the Championships in Slovakia and the only Dobermann to represent the UK in 2008 at the Austrian World Championships. Working through the UKDA we are actively encouraging Dobermann to participate in the sport and hope that the numbers will grow.