The situation was new for "Cassie vom Jakobsfeld": Together with Sophia Kocher (14), the German Shepherd started in the youth championship.
The bitch was quite impressed with the surroundings, but still managed to do her job.
Polling / Heilbronn - It was a special situation for “Cassie vom Jakobsfeld” - in several ways. For the first time, the bitch competed in a major championship, also in a spacious sports stadium and after a year in which no competitions had taken place due to Corona. But "Cassie", a three-year-old German Shepherd, mastered the challenge. At the side of Sophia Kocher (14) she did all the tasks of the International Working Dog Examination Regulations (IGP). In the end, the duo from Polling even won stage one of the IGP at the German youth and junior championships. "Cassie" and Sophia Kocher got 258 points and received the grade "Good".
"A great success," says Andrea Kocher, Sophia's mother, happily.
“We are very satisfied and also happy that a championship took place at all.” Dog athletes were also affected by the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic last year.
A lack of training opportunities as well as the cancellation of exams and competitions are a major problem for the animals.
“That totally throws a dog back,” says Andrea Kocher.
The family runs a farm, and she also breeds German Shepherds, which then also serve as working dogs in various areas.
Andrea Kocher describes her work with dogs as a "small hobby" - in reality it is time-consuming.
Daily training with the dogs
"We actually train every day, often several short units," reports the pollinger. It is important "that the dog has fun doing what one should see while working". Championships run throughout the day, start times are drawn. This means that a dog should be willing to work at different times and even at high temperatures. And then the dog handler also has to bring a certain level of fitness, the Kochers do “cycling, swimming and the like”. Since championships usually take place in stadiums, the dog should be familiar with such scenarios in advance. Because of Corona there was practically no possibility to train in stadiums. Immediately “Cassie” in Heilbronn was “very impressed with the surroundings”, reported Andrea Kocher.
In the third discipline, the “protection service”, this had an impact: Sophia Kocher and “Cassie” received only 70 points out of a possible 100.
However, they passed the department anyway.
The 14-year-old and her dog were close to perfection in the “Tracking” (97 points) and “Obedience” (91 points) departments.
The championship was specially advertised for young dog handlers;
in Sophia Kocher's class the maximum age was 16 years.
Due to the corona, the field of participants was significantly smaller than usual. This time there were 37 young people and juniors at the start, the qualification for the DM took place this year not through state championships, but through sightings.
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A successful team: Sophia Kocher (14) with "Cassie vom Jakobsfeld".
The photo shows the two at the award ceremony of the youth championship.
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Andrea Kocher has been practicing dog sports for many years and has been breeding German Shepherds since 2015. A litter is planned around every two years. German shepherds “are so versatile,” says the Pollinger. On the one hand, they are suitable for various areas of application and, on the other hand, they are also suitable for families. Dogs from Polling work, among other things, for the federal police, at the airport as explosives detection dogs and for mountain rescue. Dogs went as far as America and Finland from breeding. Bitches from three generations live in Polling, "Elfriede" (grandma, so to speak), "Fee" (mother) and "Cassie" (grandchildren). Daughter Sophia passed her first companion dog test at the age of eight.In 2019 she won the IPG-3 for young people in the Bavarian South regional group with “Elfriede” (then eight years old) and was ninth in the subsequent junior and youth championship. The younger sister will also soon get into the sport. This is only possible from a certain age: Before a dog handler can take part in an examination, he must provide proof of competence, which must be answered in writing.
In addition to the “Kennel vom Jakobsfeld”, there are two other breeding sites for German Shepherds in the district: one in Peißenberg and one in Wildsteig.
All three are members of the "Association for German Shepherd Dogs" (SV).
This was founded on April 22nd, 1899 in Karlsruhe.
Four of the 1800 local groups in Germany are located in the region: in Peiting, Herrsching, Kaufering and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
By the way: All developments and results for the upcoming federal election from your region as well as all other important stories from the Weilheim-Penzberg region are now also available in our regular Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.
