I was aproached and asked to be a TAN Assessor on behalf of the French Kennel Club by The Barbet Club Committee .And to my delight i was accepted, so along with another trainer in Wales i carry out training days for the breed.

So far I have passed 10, Barbets for the T.A.N.(Eau). The completed test forms have been passed to the Club du Barbet, Lagotto et Autres Chiens d’Eau in France who pass the details on to the S.C.C (French Kennel Club) where the title T.A.N. is added to their pedigrees.

With future recognition of the breed in the U.K. in mind this ties in neatly with the Kennel Clubs "Fit for purpose" campaign aswell as providing a day of mental and physical stimulation for dogs and owners alike.

http://www.barbet.org.uk

Pronounced `bar bay`, with the `et` on the end as in ballet. The barbet is a medium/large dog with a thick shaggy, curly coat over its whole body. Its hair grows over its eyes and it has a pronounced beard from which its name is derived (`barbe' is the French word for beard). The coat is commonly solid black, solid brown in differing shades or either colour mixed with varying quantities of white

The T.A.N.(Eau) is made up of three sections -

Sociability

We started the test with the dog sociability section.

The owner and dog must weave through a line of 5 dogs, the same sex as the dog being tested.

The dogs should be placed 2 metres apart.

The dog being tested must show no sign of aggression.

GUNSHOT

For the second part, the gunshot test, we grouped at one end of the field while Mick started firing into the air from the far side of the field, and moving closer each time when none of the dogs showed any adverse reaction. This was a wise precaution given that this was a new experience for some of the youngsters in the group. Again all came through with flying colours.

The dogs show no reaction to gun fire.

Water Retrieve

 For the T.A.N the dogs are required to enter deep water from the bank and retrieve a dummy which they have seen being thrown several meters from the bank. The dogs must return the dummy back onto the bank and deliver to hand.

Novaforesta Eton.