1. Trials are carried out exclusively on wild game (rabbits) and are divided into:
a. trials shooting over game
b. trials without guns
The Italian Work Championship requires 2 CACs in either of the two types of trial, or one CAC in each type.
2. Cirnechi registered in the LOI book or LIR book may be entered for the trials.
3. Trials for unregistered dogs may be held at the same time as the official trials but without awarding the CAC.
4. The organisers may decide to programme trials where the dogs work individually or in a brace, as long as in the latter case, the judge's assessment, and consequently its placing, is expressed individually for each dog in the brace. The order of running shall be decided by draw.
5. The turn will last for a minimum time of 20 minutes to a maximum of half an hour.
6. The trials may be judged by a single judge or by a multiple jury. The judge may require the help of an assistant, after approval by the organising committee. In trials shooting over game, the judge may be the gun himself or be accompanied by an official shooter.
7. Dogs that do not make a tenacious effort in their work; that hesitate on a scent trail; that are distracted and do not cover the ground designated for their turn within the first 5 minutes, will be eliminated from the trial.
8. The highest award will be given to a dog which has demonstrated work which is perfectly in line with the work standard, as long as this work is performed in the most fluid and spontaneous way with relative speed.
9. The highest award will not be given, even though the various stages of work are in line with the desired behaviour, to a dog which does not give tongue on fresh scent near the rabbit's temporary shelter; a dog that does not give tongue at the rabbit's temporary shelter; a dog that on reaching the entrance to the burrow does not demonstrate zeal and pertinacity; a dog that has indicated the temporary shelter but it was not possible to verify the flushing out of the rabbit by using the ferret; a dog that abandons a scent trail to pick up another even if afterwards it returns to the first and concludes positively; a dog that is not able to pick up the scent of the rabbit that has left its shelter and where it was possible to see it or sense its hiding place; a dog that continually hunts out of range of its handler and shows no contact or does not respond to the recall; a dog that gives tongue unnecessarily and insistently during the search.
10. In each case the judge will assess to what extent the standard was not adhered to and will award by degrees a lower qualification, also taking into the utmost consideration the intelligence, intensity of the action, method of search, resistance to fatigue, courage in facing obstacles, autonomy in contact, instinct for game, pace.
11. Faults and errors which always cause the elimination of a dog:
i. Lack of drive
ii. Ignoring game that spontaneously appears in front of the judge, the handler, or on the dog's ground, or for any other reason.
iii. Not able to pick up the scent of game seen by the judge
iv. Flush out game by chance which had not been duly detected
v. Give tongue insistently during the various stages of the search
vi. Hesitate from the start of the turn on a scent trail for more than 5 minutes and go back several times to the same trial without coming to any conclusion.
vii. Gun or game shyness
12. Reference should be made to the General Rules for Canine Events and Work Trials authorised by ENCI for anything else that is outside the specific criteria of the work trials for Cirnechi and comes under the General Rules which govern "Canine Events".
Translation from the Italian by Jane Moore
