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Requirements for Field Trial Recognition

March 10, 2022

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Minimum Standards

All clubs hosting trials where placements may qualify a dog for championship competition are to publicize that trial with a suitable announcement advertisement showing the following particulars: date & place of trial, location & time of drawing, stakes being sponsored and the contact person (name, city and state) for entry.

  • The second requirement highlights the ages of dogs for competing in specific stakes. For this fall season (July 1-December 31, 2014), dogs to compete in Puppy Stakes must have been whelped on or after June 1, 2013; for the second half of the season (January 1-June 30, 2015), dogs competing in Puppy Stakes must have been whelped on or after January 1, 2014.

    Dogs eligible to compete in Derby stakes this season (fall 2014) must have been whelped on or after January 1, 2013. Any placements awarded to over-age dogs will be voided.

  • When owners and/or professional handlers enter dogs in a trial, they should provide full particulars for their entries on the entry form (name of dog, registration number, breed and sex, color, name of sire and dam). Club officials are charged with the responsibility of forwarding complete particulars on the winners; owners and handlers can help them greatly by providing particulars on each of their entries.

    The number of dogs competing in a stake determines how many placements the judges may award. In stakes with three dogs entered and competing, one placement may be awarded; in stakes with four or five dogs entered and competing, the judges may award two placements, and in stakes with six or more dogs, three placements may be awarded. [In a few select events (the American Field Quail Futurity, for example) a fourth place dog is named.]

  • For dogs to receive credit for their field trial placements, they must be registered with the Field Dog Stud Book.
  • When a club announces its trial in the advertising columns of The American Field, the "order of running" is the prescribed format to be followed. Clubs are to adhere to the published "order of running".
  • Following the conclusion of the trial particulars on the winners (name, number, breed, sex, etc.) should be forwarded to The American Field Publishing Company as soon as possible within thirty days. Clubs whose advertising account is unpaid will not have their results published or the dogs' wins credited until such accounts are brought up to date.

Any violation of the Minimum Requirements will result in the voiding of the trial and the placements awarded.

The first addressed the most recent technology available to the pure bred dogs -- DNA. The Field Dog Stud Book informed of the determination that all dogs winning a championship placement, Open or Amateur (winner or runner-up), shall be required to have DNA on file with the FDSB. That requirement is now extended to all dogs winning open stakes earning points toward the Top Shooting Dog and All-Age Dog of the Year Awards. DNA kits (instruction sheet, swab to collect cell samples, and an application form) are available at no cost to owners and handlers and will be sent on request.

Dogs earning Derby placements shall not receive credit for that win unless that dog is registered with the FDSB at the time the win is awarded.

Minimum Requirements for Field Trials for ALL Pointing Breeds

As adopted by Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America, The American Field Publishing Company and the Field Dog Stud Book.

Wins will not be recognized and recorded unless the trial and/or each stake in which such win is made conforms to the following conditions:

  1. The name of the club, place and date of the trial and the club official's name, address and phone number must be announced in the Fixtures listing of upcoming trials on the American Field web site a minimum of fourteen (14) days before the trials are to be run. [Information should be submitted at least three weeks prior to the start of the trial to ensure that this requirement is met.]
  2. Recognized stakes are:
    • Puppy Stakes: From January 1 to June 30 of each year for dogs whelped on or after January 1 of the year preceding, and from July 1 to December 31 of each year for dogs whelped on or after June 1 of the year preceding.
    • Derby Stakes: From July 1 to December 31 of each year for dogs whelped on or after January 1 of the year preceding, and from January 1 to June 30 of each year for dogs whelped on or after January 1 of two years preceding.
    • All-Age: For dogs of any age. An "open" stake is one in which there are no limitations with respect to either dogs or handlers.
    • An "amateur" stake is one in which all handlers are amateurs as defined by the By-Laws of the Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America.

    Winners in Members' and Shooting Dog All-Age Stakes will be recorded but winners of Children, Ladies', Brace and other stakes not conforming to the foregoing definitions will not be recognized.

    Championship, Winners' Stakes and Futurities: Wins will be recorded only in such amateur events of this character as are recognized by the Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America and in such open events as are recognized by The American Field Publishing Company and the Field Dog Stud Book.

  3. The minimum length of heats for all stakes other than Puppy Stakes shall be thirty (30) minutes on the basis of the time that an average brace takes to negotiate the course. In the case of one-course trials, no more than eight (8) minutes of the thirty (30) shall be spent in the birdfield. Minimum length of heats for Puppy Stakes shall be fifteen (15) minutes.
  4. A stake must be drawn no later than the night before the day the stake is advertised to be run.
  5. Dogs shall not be substituted after the draw.
  6. Braces shall be run, and handled, as drawn, unless given prior consent of the judges, which consent must not be given for the purpose of accommodating owners, handlers or dogs that are not available when reached in the regular order of the draw. In the case of withdrawals, the bracemates of such withdrawn dogs may be run together at the discretion of the judges. Bitches which come in season, braced with a male, are scratched.
  7. No entry shall be accepted after a stake is drawn.
  8. No more than one brace of dogs shall be run on a course or any part of a course at the same time, irrespective of whether the dogs are in the same stake or in different stakes.
  9. Stakes shall be run only on recognized game birds whose flight shall not be impaired by caging, hobbling, wing clipping, brailling or in any other manner.
  10. Bitches in season shall not be permitted to run in one-course trials. In multiple course trials they may start only if, in the opinion of the judges, it can be accomplished under conditions which will ensure absolute fairness to other entries. Bitches in multiple course trials must be drawn in season and braced with a female.

Guided by the belief that dogs make a difference by being the best partner a human can have in the field, on the job, or in a competition event, UKC is a community for people and dogs to pursue excellence together. Founded in 1898, UKC has been dedicated to enhancing the lives of Dogs That Do More, and their owners, by providing essential resources to help owners and breeders make informed decisions. The dog-human bond is celebrated through family-friendly programs highlighting the instincts and heritage of purebred and mixed-breed dogs alike at over 15,000 licensed events annually.

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