There are some other requirements should you want your dog to be certified breedable. First off, your dog must be certified Hip Dysplasia (HD) and OCD (Osteochondritis Dessicans of the shoulder) free. This is done by submitting X-rays (very rigorous X-ray criteria must me met), to Germany. Your dog will be given ratings off of these X-rays. As a side note, Elbow Dysplasia evaluations can also be performed, but currently are not required. Secondly your dog must be entered in and complete a Breed Show with no disqualifying faults. The Breed Show is a fun event where your dog will be judged to see how well they fit the coat/hair, and conformation standards of the VDD. It takes about 1/2 hour for your dog to be judged. This is not like any dog show you would see on TV. This show is a fun place to meet a bunch of other guys, and talk about your dog. The final requirement is that your dog is free of bleeding disorders, currently this can be done off of the pedigree, however genetic testing for von Willebrand can be done as well.
There are other optional tests that can be done in the German testing system. I have not had the chance to run all of these tests (yet), but I do have plans to try a couple of them in the future. They are as follows.
The Btr or retrieving reliability test. This test is quite short, a maximum of 20 minutes per dog, and can be difficult to complete. Two judges with 1 fox for each dog go into the forest about 150 meters deep, and about 100 yards apart. Your dog is then sent into the forest on a search command, and when the dog runs across any one of the foxes (whichever is found first), the dog must pick up the fox and retrieve it to the handler. If the dog moves on without retrieving the fox, the test is failed.
The Vbr or Certificate for retrieve on natural wounded track. This test is much harder to complete, and to my knowledge is done while hunting. If you happen to have a judge with you, and you happen to wound a rabbit or fox while hunting, the dog is placed on the track, and must cover a certain distance before producing the game for the handler. I do not know anyone who has this certificate.
The AH or Armbruster Halt award. This award is named after Leonard Armbruster, and is another difficult test to train towards. While being judged, if your dog flushes game (usually a rabbit), you must use some form of "Halt" command, wherein your dog immediately stops, gets into a down position, then on command gets up and calmly tracks the game.
The VSwP or the 20/40 hour blood track. This is another fun, but time intensive test. This test involves blood tracking on a track that has sat it's respective 20+ to 40+ hours. The real trick to this test is not only how long the blood has aged, but that the 250 ml (about 8 oz) of blood is spread across 1000 meters (about 2/3 of a mile)! Your dog must have the mental capability to work out this track, as well as have the stamina to stay with it until the end. This is the hardest single test I have had the chance to do. It was very mentally challenging for both me and the dog.
There are other optional tests that can be done in the German testing system. I have not had the chance to run all of these tests (yet), but I do have plans to try a couple of them in the future. They are as follows.
The Btr or retrieving reliability test. This test is quite short, a maximum of 20 minutes per dog, and can be difficult to complete. Two judges with 1 fox for each dog go into the forest about 150 meters deep, and about 100 yards apart. Your dog is then sent into the forest on a search command, and when the dog runs across any one of the foxes (whichever is found first), the dog must pick up the fox and retrieve it to the handler. If the dog moves on without retrieving the fox, the test is failed.
The Vbr or Certificate for retrieve on natural wounded track. This test is much harder to complete, and to my knowledge is done while hunting. If you happen to have a judge with you, and you happen to wound a rabbit or fox while hunting, the dog is placed on the track, and must cover a certain distance before producing the game for the handler. I do not know anyone who has this certificate.
The AH or Armbruster Halt award. This award is named after Leonard Armbruster, and is another difficult test to train towards. While being judged, if your dog flushes game (usually a rabbit), you must use some form of "Halt" command, wherein your dog immediately stops, gets into a down position, then on command gets up and calmly tracks the game.
The VSwP or the 20/40 hour blood track. This is another fun, but time intensive test. This test involves blood tracking on a track that has sat it's respective 20+ to 40+ hours. The real trick to this test is not only how long the blood has aged, but that the 250 ml (about 8 oz) of blood is spread across 1000 meters (about 2/3 of a mile)! Your dog must have the mental capability to work out this track, as well as have the stamina to stay with it until the end. This is the hardest single test I have had the chance to do. It was very mentally challenging for both me and the dog.