IPO/VPG
Today in Australia, IPO/VPG is a fast growing competitive sport. In Europe, where IPO/VPG has its roots in the breed survey procedure, it is used to determine breed worthiness in dogs, and has been a popular Sport in Europe since the early 1900’s. The Sport is undertaken throughout the world.
To really understand what IPO/VPG/Dogsport is, it is important to understand what it is not. IPO/VPG/Dogsport is not security training, it is not guard dog training, nor is it personal protection training.
In places such as Europe and the United States, requirements for breed suitability include levels of IPO/VPG degrees. World wide agreement reached in recent years, have made the federation Cynologieque Internationale (FCI) IPO rules incumbent to all member countries. The FCI is the head organisation for national dog associations throughout the world and was founded in 1911. The Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC) is a member of the FCI. It is interesting to note that many breeders import IPO/VPG titled dogs from overseas; many of these dogs are becoming the main progenitors of our pure bred Australian stock.
IPO/VPG Sport gives us the ability to test our dogs to determine if the temperament is correct and also to view their working ability. It is also a highly competitive Sport, which is maintained by the efforts of teamwork between handler and his/her dog. IPO/VPG is designed for the dog with working ability. The training and trialing involves three phases:
TRACKING
OBEDIENCE
CHARACTER ASSESSMENT
There are three IPO/VPG levels one can achieve
with his/her dog:
IPO/VPG I – considered the novice level
IPO/VPG II – the intermediate level
IPO/VPG III – the advanced level.
TRACKING
Tracking is a development of a dog’s natural abilities and instincts. It helps build confidence within the dog. The dog must use his nose in locating a track laid either by his handler or a stranger and also have the ability to locate various articles dropped along the track. The track length the age of the track, the number of articles and the size of the articles depends on the level of the IPO/VPG degree.
OBEDIENCE
Obedience makes a dog a more enjoyable companion and also makes him more reliable in everyday situations. SchH obedience judges a handler and his/her dog as a team. The team is required to do various exercises, depending on the IPO/VPG degree one is attempting to earn.
CHARACTER ASSESSMENT
Character Assessment as trained for IPO/VPG requires that the dog has a reliable temperament and show courage without aggressiveness. It is an advanced and complex form of training testing the dog’s natural drives. The Helper in the sport is required to wear protective pants and a special hessian covered sleeve for the dog to grip. The dog must grip correctly or he will lose points. The dog must also be trained to release his grip on command. A dog can fail if he consistently does not release his grip when commanded.
In all three phase of the sport, the dog is also being tested for impartiality. That is if any character traits appear during a Trial which are undesirable e.g. aggression towards people, nervousness, inappropriate reactions to gun etc., the dog/handler team can be dismissed from the trial.
All dogs participating in AUSC INC Trials must
have first passed the BH Test
(Begleithunde or Traffic Sure Companion Dog
test), the international prerequisite for entry into
an IPO/VPG Trial.
The IPO/VPG dog is a controlled companion
dog.
You can download the brochure "Why AUSC" for future reference, you will need Adobe Reader
