AKC C Course vs. the German HGH

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding the AKC C Course. On one side are the people who want it run with less required style elements, more like a farm style. On the other side, there are those who want it run more like the German HGH. In the middle, are those who think it should be run like the regulation book says. Interestingly, certain AKC reps insist that C course be run more like the HGH rather than like the regulation book.

The first committee that drew up C course, drew it up like a farm course. But somewhere between the committee and the publication of the regulations, it got changed into a stylized course. So you see, the purple book fiasco has precedence.

Many people refer to the C course as a miniature HGH and claim their dogs are doing the work the GSD was developed for (and have even insisted that they deserve extra credit for this). These are the same people who refer to 20 sheep as being a “large flock.” All three of these claims are quite wrong. German style was developed to work 700-1500 heavy breed sheep in very tight spaces in close proximity to areas in which the sheep must not trespass. The dynamics of a flock of several hundred sheep is nothing like the dynamics of several sheep. It takes a lot more diligence, power and endurance to cover a flock of several hundred sheep than it does a very small flock of twenty. Many dogs that do ok on C course lack the temperament and build to make it on true large flocks in real situations.

Now, don’t get me wrong. C course does take talent and it does take training and I do not scorn those who choose to run it. Indeed, for many individual dogs, it is a much better use of the dog than A course type stuff. I just take exception to it being equated with the HGH.

The German style makes a lot of sense for the situation in which it was developed. So, much of the style was developed specifically to deal with the dynamics of large flocks. The dynamics of a sheep flock is different for 5 head than for 20, than for 50, than for 200, than for 1000. You must adjust the working style to match the dynamics of the flock!! You can’t fetch a thousand sheep with one dog; the power does not transmit through enough of the group to get the leaders to move. And even if it did work, they would be fanned out in a shape too wide to travel the routes the Germans needed to take their sheep along. However, a lot of the style does not make much sense when working a small group of sheep. Having a dog jump into a pen of 200 sheep, wakes them up and gets them on their feet. Having a dog jump into a pen of 20 sheep, startles the hell out of them and makes them crash around wildly. To try to impose even more German style elements on C course is ridiculous unless you also increase the flock size to make the style elements make sense. The minimum size flock allowed at a German hof (farm)/HGH trial is 200 for local level and 300 for regional and national levels. They often use much larger than the minimum.

To make matters even worse, C Course trials are often conducted with sheep of temperaments quite different that that which German style was developed for. Light sheep, sheep with poor flock instinct or sheep unconditioned to C style are all inappropriate for the course. Yet, they are all perfectly legal to use by AKC regulations. With light sheep conditioned only to bc type style, it is not possible to accomplish all of the style required by the rules. A dog must be positioned far off the stock and away from the required position in order for sheep trained to a dynametically opposite style to work properly. And with sheep with poor flock instinct or not trained to follow the handler, then the dog must fetch the sheep, because working the sides won’t progress this type of stock along the road very well. Working behind the flock is not forbidden by the Regulation book, despite claims by the purists and certain AKC reps. There are those who want dogs NQ’d for fetching despite the Regulation book stating: “Trial livestock should flock adequately when pressured by the dog and… and should accept driving as easily as fetching.”

With 20 sheep, the dog’s instinct is not going to kick in for it to work the sides. The dog must be made to mechanically do it. With larger numbers of stock, the dog will naturally do it, because it makes sense for the dog to work the stock that way with larger numbers, but not with smaller numbers. Also, with 20 light sheep, it can be hard to not push them off the road when a dog is working along a side. And they don’t even have the benefit of a second dog on the other side of the road to help balance out the pressure, as they would have in Germany.

Another thing that got corrupted when the C Course was made from the HGH was the scoring. Germans use a very lenient scoring system. They look at the overall picture and ask whether the dog is doing an adequate job or not. They would never NQ a dog because of an accumulation of minor imperfections. Whereas, AKC scoring nickels and dimes a dog to death and puts excessive weight on minor things. Many AKC judges don’t even truly understand the style they are judging and hit dogs for things they really shouldn’t, such as things it was impossible for the dog to prevent. Many a well scoring German run would NQ under the AKC system.

Most people don’t realize that the Germans train their dogs to do more typical tasks in addition to running the boundary. The C purist school only trains in the strict style elements. Thus, their dogs are lacking the big picture and will often stall out when faced with a non-sterotyped situation.

In summary, C course is unquestionably controversial and IMO quite screwed up. However, it can be fun to participate in it. Many high power, ultra keen, trotting dogs will benefit greatly from being worked in this style especially if one is smart enough to use goodly numbers (way, way above 20) of heavy, strongly flocking sheep.

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