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: Is the 3 hour dog passe'? With the change in
: the ffa format to one and a half hours,
: there is only the National Ch at 3 hours.
: The Continental is 1 hour and 50 minutes
: now. Many dogs don't finish at grand
: junction, handlers picking up if they don't
: feel they aren't in the race. So where is
: the Big incentive to breed or condition for
: 3 hours? Plus a dog needs to recover from a
: 3 hour heat.

I don't understand the mystique of three hour heats. When I was hunting, I commonly used a dog for half a day which for me was closer to four hours. If I'm judging a field trial, I don't want to look at two dogs for three hours, one is enough for me to make up my mind. Plus for an amateur, 30 or 40 hours in the saddle is more than enough, I'm not interested in 180 or more, or even 90 for that matter.
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