Effective: January 2007
1) Altered Dogs may now compete in Irondog.
2) Irondog competitions are now open to ALL breeds.
3) There is a $20.00 charge to compete in an Irondog (Pentathlon) or to trial for a GDT
4) All Irondog events must be sanctioned. Contact informationis on the website.
5) An Irondog Judge has the authority to dismiss any competitor for unsportsmanlike conduct or for arguing with the Judge. The Judge also has the right to dismiss any dog he or she feels is sick or injured.
6) During ALL stages of Irondog dogs must wear a flat collar, choke chain, or fur saver attached to the dead ring.
7) The Hardest Hitting event was previously adding 1/2 point for an out. The amount has been raised to 1 point. The dog must out on one command and not re-bite the sleeve. The distance will be approximately 15 meter. Follow the Judge's instructions.
Your dog must have a recognized protection spport title or K9 certification to participate in an Irondog Triathlon or Pentathlon. If it does not have a recognized sport sport title you may qualify for the Triathlon/Pentathlon by passing a test administered by Irondog called the Guard Dog Temperament Test (GDT). Bellow are the requirements for the GDT:
A) Obedience/Temperament Test. The test begins with the dog in a controlled stay command at the handler's side.
Obedience portion will consist of the following in any order the Judge elects, 5 to 10 pace Healing, Left & Right turns, Sit & Down on command) EXAMPLE CLICK here. On the Judge's signal EXERCISES WILL BEGIN & END, HEADING INTO THE RE-CALL. The leash must be loose at all times. The dog will have to stay in one spot on command while the handler drops the leash and walks ten paces away. The dog must then do a recall on command. Next, the dog will have to meet the first of two friendly strangers and not show aggression or shyness. Ideally the first stranger will be an Irondog judge, assuming the dog does not know the judge. The handler will shake hands with the stranger and exchange brief words. After asking permission, the stranger will stare into the dog's eyes for less than two seconds and pet the dog on the shoulder or flank. We are looking for good-natured dogs that are not shy or sharp. The dog must enjoy being petted by the stranger. It must display tail wagging pleasure or exhibit other body language to show that he is at ease and happy to meet this new person. The Irondog judge will then pick a second friendly stranger from the crowd that is physically dissimilar to the judge. The entire "Meeting a Friendly Stranger" test will be repeated a second time with this other person. The dog must meet the same criteria for both friendly strangers.
B) Protection test. On a separate field (or a different place on the original field), in the open, the dog will do a few appraisal bites using either a sleeve or suit. The purpose of the appraisal bite is to avoid chasing dogs off the field during the attack on handler bite that follows. The dog must take at least two moderate stick hits in the appraisal bite. The stick will be a standard padded baton. The dog must also face a noisy stick threat in the appraisal bite. If the judge feels the dog's appraisal bite was satisfactory, then it is eligible to do the next bite, which is an attack on handler out of a blind that fully conceals the decoy. The blind should ideally be an unexpected object like a tree, car or outhouse. The dog must not see the decoy enter the blind. The dog and handler will move (at the Judge's signal) toward the blind. On Judge's signal, the decoy will spring from behind the barrier, attack the approaching handler and drive the dog for roughly 3 seconds after the bite. The decoy will administer two or more stick threats with an unexpected object like a small tree branch covered in dry leaves, a bamboo clatter stick, a plastic jug partially filled with rocks or a starter's pistol. The dog must engage the attacking decoy courageously and withstand the drive/stick threat. If the dog comes off the bite for a reason other than lack of courage the judge will instruct the decoy to continue driving and administering stick threats until it is obvious the dog can withstand the pressure courageously. After the drive the decoy will lock up. The handler will then give an out command without touching the dog but he may stand anywhere he wants. The handler has three tries to out his dog. As soon as the dog disengages the handler may pick the dog up and drag or heel him away. If the dog does not fully re-engage between the time when he lets go of the decoy and is picked up, then he has outed successfully and passes the test.
Pentathlon / Triathlon
Your dog will be scored on five events for a Pentathlon but there is a menu of six events to choose from: 100 Meter Sprint Race, Hardest Hitting, Weight Pull, Tug of War, High Jump, and 20-km Endurance Test. Your dog will be scored on three events for the Triathlon, but there is a menu of four events to chose from: 100 Meter Sprint Race, Hardest Hitting, Weight Pull, and 20-km Endurance Test.
The 20-km Endurance Test is optional for the Pentathlon and the Triathlon. the MAX temperature for this test should be not morethan 22C If you enter and finish all six events in the Pentathlon and all four events in the Triathlon we will throw out your lowest score among the mandatory events and replace it with the ten points you earned by completing the optional 20-km Endurance Test, with this exception: we will not throw out your score in Hardest Hitting. Each event is worth ten points if you take first place, nine points if you take second place and so forth. All the scores are added together and the highest score wins. Endurance Test is worth ten points if your dog runs it in the allotted time and zero points if he does not. If there is a tie score the Hardest Hitting event will be a tiebreaker. The order that dogs will run the events in will be determined by drawing names from a hat during the handler's meeting or some other random selection process. Dogs must be crated near the field when not competing. Dogs must not be given corrections. Events are run back to back in rapid succession. If a handler and dog are not ready when their turn is up they will be ejected from the trial. An assistant judge will make sure there is a dog on deck at all times to expedite the trial. Contestants must provide their own tug toy with snaps and their own weight pull harness. Each dog must have two handlers.
Sprint Race - Dogs will run against a stopwatch, one at a time, on a straight 100-meter course. One handler will hold the dog at the start line and the second handler will bait the dog past the finish line. The stopwatch starts when an assistant judge near the start line fires a starter's pistol after yelling, "On your mark, get set," BANG! If no starter's pistol is available the assistant judge will yell, "On your mark, get set, GO!" and throw his raised arm down after saying the word, "GO." The stopwatch will start on the word, "GO" and the assistant judge's arm signal. The assistant judge will watch the handler on the start line and disqualify him if he releases the dog before the gun or before the word, "GO." The handler on the starting line must throw his hands fully overhead as he releases the dog. Bait may be protection equipment or nonliving food.
Hardest Hitting - Decoy may wear either a suit or a sleeve depending on the dog's training. Each dog will be given a warm up bite from a short distance and then the competition bite will be done from a longer distance of at least 15 meters. Each dog will start from the same spot, which must be marked. The Decoy will hide behind a blind (ideally an unexpected barrier as in the GDT). The dog must be blocked so it does not see the decoy hiding. On the Judge's signal the Decoy will run out of the blind, across the field, perpendicular to the dog and suddenly charge toward him at a designated spot, making an "L" pattern. The dog is released as the decoy starts his charge into the dog. The decoy will continue charging with a raised stick (either a clatter stick or padded baton) until impact. The decoy may shout, scream or use any traditional method to pressure the dog. The judge has the option of including gunfire in the Hardest Hitting bite. In this case the decoy would not carry a stick, but a starter's pistol and would fire one time immediately before impact. After impact the decoy will drive the dog very briefly, then lockup. The drive must include at least one stick threat with the padded baton or clatter stick if the decoy did not use gunfire. The dog must stick to his bite during the brief drive to complete this event. Dogs will be judged on impact, how hard they hit the decoy, i.e. how much pain they were able to inflict through the equipment. After each bite the decoy will give the judge a number from one to ten, ten being the greatest impact, to rank the dogs. Contestants may attempt to out their dog after the decoy locks up. A successful
"out" adds 1 point to the HH score. A successful "out" is defined as the dog not fully re-engaging and not leaving the protection field before the handler picks him up, i.e., the dog must be under control until it is picked up. Only one out command is allowed; it must come from the dog's handler. The handler must be standing at the marked start point when he gives the out command. The dog has three seconds to obey the out command. After the dog outs the handler may run to the dog to pick it up.
Weight Pull - May be done with a Sled, a Cart or a Rail system (Pull: 15 Meters) . Each dog is given 5 turns in a row with the Cart or Sled. There is a 60-second time limit for each of the 5 pulls. One foul or tangle is allowed per pull. Baiting is allowed with nonliving food or protection equipment. Handler may stand anywhere on the pull track but may not touch the dog. (Leashes are not allowed) There is a minimum permissible increment of 12 kg. for a Sled and 112 kg. for a Cart. The judge may increase the minimum increment within reason, but he may not decrease it. Handlers will tell the judge and his assistants how much weight to put on the sled or cart for each pull, but must abide by the minimum increment standard. The weight added to the sled or cart must go from lighter to heavier. Each turn the dog takes with the sled or cart must be heavier than the previous turn. The FASTEST Pull with the Maximum weight wins. First Pull 60% of the dogs body weight, Second pull +10% and so on. There are NO weight classes.
Tug of War - Dogs will tug from behind an upright plywood barrier with a hole drilled in it for the rope to pass through. Handlers must have a leash on the dog at all times but may not issue corrections. Two assistant judges will be watching either dog at all times during the pull. The assistant judges may disqualify a contestant for giving corrections. The rope is 9 meters long and is marked in the center and at four feet from both ends. A dog wins when it has pulled his opponent past the outer rope mark. Each pair of tugging dogs will go against each other only one time. A round robin elimination system will be used. A coin flip or other random method will determine which side of the barrier a dog will pull from. To complete this event a dog must grab the tug toy and pull backwards, i.e., it must tug against its opponent. It must grab the tug toy and begin pulling within 20 seconds of the start of the Tug of War or it automatically loses. There are no weight classes, One Test pull per dog is allowed.
High-Jump - Jump over a Wall, Barrier etc. On both sides should be a soft foundation/flooring, The Jump will start with 1 meter and will be 10 cm higher by each jump. The highest jump wins with 10 points, 2nd 9 points etc..... There are NO Size/Weight classes.
12-mile Endurance Test -This event must be done before the five core Pentathlon events (or the three core Triathlon events) and in cool weather. Max 22c. The dog must run 20-km at a pace between 8-16 km/h. The dog must have a fast trotting pace but NOT running. Handler may be on a bike, on foot, roller blades or a small all terrain vehicle. The dog will rest briefly after 5, 10 and 15 km so the judge can inspect the dog's feet and general condition, if either is questionable the dog is disqualified and receives zero points. If the dog passes the inspection it may continue the next 5 km. This event is optional for the Pentathlon and Triathlon.
Irondog Europe Titles
GDT - Guard Dog Temperament. This title allows your dog to participate in the Triathlon or Pentathlon if you do not already have a recognized sport protection title.
IDE-T3 - Irondog Triathlon completion. This title means your dog has completed an Irondog Triathlon.
IDE-T5 - Irondog Pentathlon completion. This title means your dog has completed an Irondog Pentathlon.
AD - This title means your dog has completed a 20-km Endurance Test.
IDWP - View Irondog Weight pull rules page for more information by CLICKING HERE, This is a NO-BAIT event
Irondog ranking system
Your dog is considered a ranked Irondog if it finishes first, second or third in a trial consisting of five or more dogs (5 dogs must complete the entire Triathlon/Pentathlon). The ranking system is designed to help make breed selections. Ranked IDE-T3 and ranked IDE-T5 are different titles than non-ranked IDE-T3 or non-ranked IDE-T5.
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