UK gundog working tests: dummy work and field-trial distinctions

Key facts

Authority

The Royal Kennel Club, United Kingdom

Retrieve material

Dummies under working-test regulations

A separate route within gundog activities

The Royal Kennel Club presents gundog working tests alongside field trials, training days and working certificates. Working tests provide structured exercises connected to gundog field abilities, using dummies for retrieves instead of treating an ordinary training session as a formal result. They are organised under their own part of the Field Trial and Gundog Working Test regulations. The distinction matters for an international reader because the word test is used differently by different organisations. A British working-test award should retain its programme name, rather than being translated automatically into an American hunt-test title or an Australian retrieving-trial qualification.

Subgroups and exercises shape the assessment

The programme’s gundog subgroups reflect different working traditions, so a spaniel’s exercise and a retriever’s exercise need to be interpreted within the appropriate rules. The Royal Kennel Club’s beginner material describes seen and hidden dummy work and links the separate working-certificate routes. Those references illustrate different information available to a dog: a seen fall can be remembered, whereas a hidden dummy requires another kind of search or cooperation. The event schedule identifies the class and subgroup offered. It is more precise to record those details than to compare two dogs solely through the word novice without establishing the system involved.

Awards are not interchangeable with titles

The organisation’s published regulatory changes effective in February 2026 explicitly state that titles are not to be used for working-test winners. Its current regulations also address acceptable dummies and the responsibility to avoid dangerous obstacles. For an event record, preserve the class, award and organiser rather than adding Field Trial Champion or another title that was not earned. Prospective participants can consult an approved society and the current regulations, then observe a test to understand the order of work. That provides a practical connection between training, assessment and the working heritage while keeping the formal award exactly as recorded.

Common questions

Sources & further reading

References for this guide. Rules and services can change; check the responsible organisation for current details.

• Royal Kennel Club — new to field trials and working tests (opens in a new tab)
• Royal Kennel Club — December 2025 journal, 2026 regulation amendments (opens in a new tab)

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