IPO, Mondio or French Ring? e challenges of cross-over

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IPO, Mondio or French Ring?
The challenges of cross-over
In this issue:
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Mondioring, by
Daniela Bedenice
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Aida Flick
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Endeavor Working Dog
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by Terry Miller
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Special thanks to Lloyd and Shawna
and their SoCal Mondioring
Club for hosting this 6th National
Championship for USMRA. By
all accounts, the field was a huge
success! It is quite a challenge
for a young, inexperienced club.
Congratulations on your efforts!
Historically, Mondio Ring Sport
is described to have evolved as a
combination of French Ring Sport,
Belgian Ring Sport, Dutch KNPV,
and the German Schutzhund
discipline. It is therefore not
surprising that it attracts handlers
and trainers of many different dog
sports. As an active competitor in
IPO, French Ring and Mondio Ring
Sport, I have always questioned:
What are the most significant
challenges of each discipline? Is one
really harder than the other?
Plain and simple, each sport has
its specific difficulty. The precision
and work ethic required for IPO,
the clarity, mental stability and
intelligence needed for Mondio Ring
and the dog’s tenacity to succeed
in French Ring are among the
most challenging. I do believe that
we can learn from aspects of each
discipline in order to improve our
training and success in Mondio Ring
Sport. For example, although focus
based obedience is not required
for either of the ring sports, it may
allow for better control and a strong
connection between the dog and its
handler. Team work is an essential
foundation for any discipline, no
matter which direction we take.
IPO is associated with a high level
of obedience in all three phases
of the sport (tracking, obedience,
FIG 1: Focused IPO heeling
protection). It requires precision and
a positive working attitude from the
dog, which is expected to remain
attentive and spirited throughout
the exercise routines. A dog can
be successfully pattern trained for
IPO, as the order of exercises never
changes. The IPO “blind search” is a
specific example of “pattern training”,
as it requires the dog to investigate
6 blinds by diagonally crossing
the field from one to another. This
routine is considered an obedience
exercise and the dog is rated
according to the accuracy, tightness
and speed of the search as well as
the power and consistency while
FIG 2: Similar behavior during IPO vs. Mondio Ring guarding (photo on right by
Anna Kasho)
guarding the decoy. Although not
required, I personally prefer seeing
a strong, consistent alert during the
“bark and hold” phase of the ring
sport search, as well. The search
exercise of Mondio Ring may
pose a significant challenge for the
“cross trained dog”, as it now has to
deviate from the imprinted “pattern
training” of both IPO and French
Ring. For the first 4 ½ years of his
life, my personal dog was imprinted
to search blinds diagonally across
the field for IPO and perform a
perimeter search for French Ring.
Technically, both of these routines
were mere obedience exercises
and occasionally performed with
the decoy in direct sight, while
the dog was still expected to run a
“pattern”. I therefore had to revert
to the concept of a true search
(scent based) of Mondio Ring by
introducing my dog to building
searches.
Technique and tenacity appear
to be two of the most important
traits of the successful French
Ring dog. The protection phase of
French Ring is known for strong
stick work and a high athletic
ability of the decoy who attempts
to evade or counter the dog’s entry
to bite. Strong drive, excellent
biting technique and targeting
are therefore needed for the dog
to overcome these challenges.
Some trainers would argue that
the highest pressure phase for the
French Ring dog occurs while on
the bite, while the Mondio Ring
dog is most challenged just prior
biting, based on the environmental
challenges and the need to problem
solve.
The routine of French Ring is
more complex than IPO and may
require the highest level of agility.
The maximum length of the long
jump is set at 4.5 meters for level
3 (4 meters for Mondio Ring 3)
and the palisade consists of a
straight 2.3 meter wall (without a
ramp) that requires a return jump.
The physical demand on the dog
therefore seems highest under these
conditions.
Although not immediately
apparent, the scent discrimination
exercise of Mondio Ring may
also pose a challenge for the
“cross trained dog”. This exercise
requires the dog to identify the
handler’s scent on one of multiple
small wooden dowels. However,
many IPO trainers will use a
dowel to imprint a calm hold
and fast retrieve. If the basis of
this imprinting involves a form
of “forced retrieve”, the dog’s the
FIG 3: Manifestation of commitment during IPO and Mondio Ring Sport (photo on right by
Anna Kasho)
FIG 4: French Ring palisade (photo by “American Ring Federation”)
desire to quickly retrieve any one of
the offered dowels may be stronger
than his desire to discriminate
scent on the object.
All three sports include a “send
out” exercise, but the level of
difficulty increases from IPO to
French Ring to Mondio Ring. The
direction of the “send out” is always
known to the IPO handler while
the French Ring “send out” can
occur into either direction along
the length of the field. The “send
out” is commonly taught by placing
a target or reward at the end of the
field for IPO or French Ring dogs
during training. However, Mondio
Ring sport incorporates a true
“directed send out” towards any of
the field boundaries and therefore
requires significant practice and
retraining for the “cross trained
dog”.
Only minor conceptual differences
exist between the “object guard” of
French and Mondio Ring, although
these can still pose a challenge
to cross-trained dogs. First and
foremost, the type of object the
dog is expected to guard will vary
for Mondio Ring dogs, while
a basket is always used during
French Ring trials. Therefore,
if the French Ring dog is not
accustomed to maintaining contact
to variably shaped objects, cannot
secure a moving object or counter
distractions (accessories), he may
be less effective in the prevention
of the decoys’ attempts to steal the
FIG 5: French Ring object guard
article. On the contrary, it has been
my experience that the spectrum
of techniques used by French Ring
decoys to distract or evade the
dog’s bite is greatest in the latter
discipline.
A “stopped attack” is required for
both level 3 Mondio and French
Ring dogs. The former requires
the dog to be called back within 3
meters, the latter within 2 meters
of reaching the decoy, in order
of obtain full points. Since the
‘stopped attack’ for Mondio Ring
is performed during a flee of the
decoy rather than during a frontal
attack as seen in French Ring,
both exercises have to be trained
independently.
This being said, if I had to choose
the most difficult exercise of
Mondio Ring sport, especially for
IPO and French Ring trained dogs,
it would be the defense of handler.
Although a similar routine (in
name) exists in French Ring, the
concepts of the exercise are very
distinct. In French Ring, a single
decoy is present on the field, will
greet the dog and handler and
subsequently walk in the opposite
direction before turning back to
challenges imposed on the dog
necessitate a high level of training,
adaptability and K-9 intelligence in
order to adequately problem solve
the ever changing test scenarios on
the trial field.
I would like to clarify that I am
merely presenting a personal
perspective as I am a novice trainer
who enjoys the challenges of raising
my own working dogs, which
are foremost my companions.
Therefore, dog sports are my
hobby and not my profession. I
have been fortunately to work with
several great groups of trainers and
handlers over the years that have
taught me all that I practice today.
My current competition dog, a
five year old Belgian Malinois, is
titled at level 3 in IPO, Schutzhund,
French Ring and Mondio Ring
and still actively competes at
the national level in all sports
concurrently. Our latest endeavors
have involved the plunge into the
Mondio Ring world, with all its
challenges. I hope to see you all
again on the trial and training fields
soon. Thank you for the warm
welcome that we have received as a
“cross-over” team!
Yours in the sport
FIG 6: Mondio Ring vs. French Ring “defense of handler” (photo by “American
Ring Federation”)
approach the team from the rear
to pursue a single handed “hit”
of the handler. The decoy’s goal is
to evade the bite or draw the dog
away from the handler. However,
the pattern of the exercise is highly
predictable and conceptually less
difficult to train than the related
Mondio Ring problem set. The
true challenge of the latter exercise
lies is the necessity for the dog to
switch over focus between two or
more attending decoys, amidst
a plethora on environmental
distractions. Both dog and handler
have to problem solve throughout
the exercise and make correct
decisions based on the foundation
of their training. All in all, the level
of distraction and environmental
Daniela Bedenice
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The 2012 USMRA Nationals drew
a nice mix of crowd from various
backgrounds, Mondio and French
Ring, but also folks who started in
IPO and PSA. The commaraderie is
always great, the hosts were really
nice folks who worked very hard to
make it happen, seeing old friends
and making new ones. William
Langlois and his lovely wife were
very nice. He made everyone feel
comfortable, took the time to really
talk about the sport, the work,
answer questions, etc. The decoys
were paying close attention to all
the good advice Mr Langlois was
giving them. His background as a
decoy and judge provided lots of
hands on experience for Josh, Jake
and Sean.
Saturday the day was dedicated to
the Level 3 competitors, Sunday
morning Level 1, (unfortunately
no Level 2 competitors), followed
by decoy certification sunday
afternoon.
The field was a large, beautiful park
setting, with lots of trees, shrubs
and a little hill landscape. The judge
used the natural landscape of the
field for many of the exercises.
The theme was ‘A children’s
Playground’. The trial was fair.
Difficulty appropriate for a national
championship.
For Level 3 competitors success
came down to finding the decoy in
the search relatively quickly so the
dog was not cooked for the rest of
the exercises (decoy was about a
foot off the ground in the shrubs...
not in the blinds), not falling for
a neutral first entry on the Object
Guard (nice work on the part of
Josh reading the dogs), and a clean
performance on the part of the dog
and the handler. Lisa Geller and the
incredible Mongouse Du Loups de
Soleil had the skill and experience
to make a beautiful showing. But
all the dogs poured their hearts
into the work. Key takeaways:
ensure dog has good techinique in
jumping, eliminate handler help
especially in heeling and DOH,
and teach dog good technique (e.g.
bite arms, legs, see strong stick and
accessory work). A special note to
Steve Garvin who could not have
been more proud of his Bogan son
Ace, who made a nice showing. Level 1 competitors also performed
very nicely. Experienced handling,
training for a variety of distractions,
and good technique once again
proved most valuable.
Mondio ring is a fun sport, always
challenges the dog and handler. The
level of work continues to get more
difficult so train hard, smart, and
have fun! Submitted by Aida Flick,
USMRA Judge
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skills, here Marsha Boggs animates a wolf and howls
to scare the dog on the long down (Absence) exercise.
Judge Keith added difficulty by stopping all distractions
way before the stop time. We watched as almost every
dog took the stopped distraction as a cue for handler to
return. But nothing happened and the dogs got antsy
looking around for handler to pick them up or distraction
to continue.
Over the river and through the woods handlers
and their dogs did their heeling, food refusal and
defense of handler. Little piggies adorning the trees
reminding us something from Lord of the Flies.
Nice but creepy touch from Judge Keith Jobe.
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theatrical skills, here Marsha Boggs animates a
wolf and howls to scare the dog on the long down
(Absence) exercise. Judge Keith added difficulty by
stopping all distractions way before the stop time.
We watched as almost every dog took the stopped
distraction as a cue for handler to return. But
nothing happened and the dogs got antsy looking
around for handler to pick them up or distraction
to continue.
Little Piggy balloons were attractive to most to
most the dogs, guess they all like bacon! Here a
little piggy peaks around his house of straw.
Positions were unusual, with the handler laying on
the ground, here Ann calls positions for Nacho.
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The defense of handler on Saturday involved knocking
on the homes of the three little pigs. The knocking
created some distraction for some of the dogs
who thought this was a signal to sniff and look for
something on the wall. But Vegas only had eyes for
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The three little pig homes and construction tube
were also used for the escort as shown here by
Todd Dunlap.
On Sunday the defense of handler took the teams
through the woods, past the creepy pig masks, and
into the lair of the big bad wolf. Here Don Lee and
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The hit for defense of handler occurred as the
handler sat on a stool in front of the big bad wolf.
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handler. The issue of sitting and moving the cape
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fooled.
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who came to play. Some did not
pass, but came close and put on
a good show and had fun. We
were most pleased of our club’s
Schutzhund cross-overs. Elane
Flower and LWee SchH3 earned
their Brevet. Amanda and her GSD
Qaysar SchH3 quickly learned
what they needed and earned their
first leg for MR1. We have to give
a lot of credit to the decoys who
trained these dogs who saw legs
and bite suits for the first time and
learned the techniques they needed.
Special thank you to Michael Ellis,
JJ Belcher and Todd Dunlap for
visiting our club and cross-training
our dogs and our local decoy
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in multiple sports.
The visitors had impressive
performances and provided great
entertainment. New mondio
convert Todd Dunlap with Vegas
finished both legs of his MR1, and
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also worked the trial as talented
decoys in addition to showing their
dogs. First time visitor Alfredo
earned their MR1 leg. We were
proud to have long time trainers
Ann and Don who showed us
professional work and exceptional
courtesy. Ann did a great job
managing Nacho and surprised
herself with a passing score for
MR2. Ann and Rich have been
chasing titles together for awhile,
this time working on their MR2’s.
Rich and Ace came up with a very
nice passing routine, with Ann and
Tina a nervous wreck by the end. I
heard something about a pact to get
roadrunner tattoos; did any of you
get them?
The weekend ended with our
traditional raffle which help fund
our trials. Thank you to Diane
Wray who always finds lots of cool
stuff to raffle, and our local Pet
Pangaea store for donating gift
bags. As always, the event was made
enjoyable by the wonderful people
who came to work, participate, and
to watch. Hope to see you all at our
next annual Halloween weekend
trial!
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This exercise is common to the
various ring sports, with subtle
variations in each.
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The exercise will take place with
the dog on the ground. The dog
and the handler must be able to see
each other from a distance of 5, 10
and 15m, depending on the level.
It is permitted to call the dog by
name before giving the positioning
command, but it must be spoken
only once along with the command.
If not, it is a double command.
For each position, the handler is
entitled to 2 additional commands.
If the dog has not executed the
position after the 2 additional
commands, the exercise is ended
and all points already awarded are
kept. Also for the initial position,
if the dog changes it, handler must
re-command the dog (2 extra
commands allowed) The dog that
anticipates the position, at one
position at least (that which it
has just left), may eventually lose
another one, if it takes the following
position. To avoid a situation where
the dog obeys the Deputy Judge’s
signal, we propose a “triangle”
system of signals (the dog faces
away from the Judges and each of
the three positions are illustrated
on a moveable three sided board ).
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*Handler seated
*Handler w/back to dog
using mirror.
*Handler behind bottle wall.
*Handler lying down.
*Handler peeking out
window.
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Exercises”.
The handler positions himself
with his dog sitting at the line of
departure. He commands the initial
position upon the Judge’s signal,
and then leaves his dog after a stay
command.
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to see his dog during the execution
of the exercise.
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placed in a stand, sit or down, at the
direction of the
Judge. *****see editor’s note at end
of article.
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once. In Level II and III each
position will be taken twice, at the
signal given by the Deputy Judge.
The exercise will take place with
the dog on the ground. The dog
and the handler must be able to see
each other from a distance of 5, 10
and 15m, depending on the level.
It is permitted to call the dog by
name before giving the positioning
command, but it must be spoken
only once along with the command.
If not, it is a double command.
For each position, the handler is
entitled to 2 additional commands.
If the dog has not executed the
position after the 2 additional
commands, the exercise is ended
and all points already awarded are
kept. Also for the initial position,
if the dog changes it, handler must
re-command the dog (2 extra
commands allowed) The dog that
anticipates the position, at one
position at least (that which it
has just left), may eventually lose
another one, if it takes the following
position. To avoid a situation where
the dog obeys the Deputy Judge’s
signal, we propose a “triangle”
system of signals (the dog faces
away from the Judges and each of
the three positions are illustrated
on a moveable three sided board
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There are some new variations to
this exercise.
*First, when you approach the line
of departure, you must arrive at
the line and tell your dog to SIT.
Then, look at the judge and the
judge will authorize you to give
your dog the position that it will be
left in. (Ex….down or stand. ) IF
the position is a sit, you MAY give
your dog another command to sit/
stay. Failure to sit dog and wait for
judge’s indication will result in a
loss of general allure points.
*It is becoming increasingly
common for the judge to have the
handler move laterally during each
position change. For example,
dog left in a sit, handler positions
himself with Deputy judge behind.
First position given, then handler
must MOVE laterally to side and
give next position. Often, with
a series of persons in a line that
handler must stop in front of.
Another variation is that handler
may have to move laterally from
one chair to another.
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Andrew and Fusel in the Boxes.
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The handler and both decoys
moved a series of boxes from one
place to another, about 10 meters
away. The handler had to move the
boxes three different times. On the
third time one decoy stayed at the
boxes. The other decoy took the
handler to get a new box. When
the handler was about 3 meters, the
handler had to turn around so the
decoy could take a picture of the
work. The handler had to back up
into the hit.
I was testing both the dog and the
handler. The handler had to handle
the dog for an extended period of
time on this task. The dog had to
stay with the handler for a long
time even when the handler had
to walk backwards. All of this was
taking place about 5 meters from
the spectators.
Boxes trial
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Themes, scenarios, props,
retrieve items, accessories………
and on and on and on! Your first
trial, as a new club of enthusiastic
mondioringers, can be a daunting
prospect. It seems like there is
so much to do, so much to plan!
The idea of creating scenarios, or
building props, does not come
naturally to some folks. Just the
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sends chills down the spines of
many people!
This article will attempt to give
you ideas and allay your fears
just a bit. Providing props for a
mondioring trial does not need
to break the bank. Nor does it
take a set designer for a Broadway
production. There are clubs in
the organization that have gotten
crazy with the props, creating
elaborate scenarios that any theatre
aficionado would drool over.
However, those same clubs have
had trials that simply used things
on hand. That is the focus of this
article……..using what you or
the club as a whole have in their
garages, sheds or back pastures.
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has probably done this the best.
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trial, a Farm Equipment trial
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southwest), and an Indian Village
trial – to name a few. Included
are some photos of those events.
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done both ends of the spectrum.
Elaborate beyond words, and super
basic, using what we have. We
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Photos of these included. Endeavor
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for their incredible scenarios and
elaborate props, had one trial that
was in the ‘frugal’ venue. They had
a Garage Sale trial, and then when
it was over, conducted a garage sale
on the field for the community.
One other that comes to mind was
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who had a Tornado Alley trial.
That was easy. Lots of twisted
stuff!!
Mexico recently came into the
Mondioring scene. As their judge,
I can tell you that when I arrived
there was not a shred of equipment
on the field to create scenarios,
etc. Despite assurances from my
host, I was worried. I located the
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Between the two of us, we created
a field that was basically a beach
scenario, constructed of the bits
and pieces of equipment stored in
their storeroom. By the second
day, I had convinced people to
contribute and the field looked
more like a real beach scene.
From the judge’s perspective, I
would advise clubs to plan some
sort of scenarios and establish
some focal points on the field
using those props. If you leave it
ENTIRELY to the judge, you may
get some surprises that you were
not counting on. The rules say that
the organizing club sets up the field.
The more you have in place, the
less is left to the judge. Get your
retrieve items set and in a row. Get
your accessories and your guard
of the object items established. If
you wait, and let the judge poke
around…….you may not like the
results!
There are many clubs around
that have hosted a couple of dozen
trials. Feel free to contact them,
or others for help. This is a village,
and there are many in the village
that are talented scenario builders.
Reach out! Someone will answer!!
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