The Sans Laisse
French Dog Sport Magazine For the Working Dog
by Debbie Skinner, Sage Working Dog Club
Many of you I'm guessing
are like me in that you do not speak French,
however you are involved in the French Sport
of Ring and are therefore
interested in results, photos and other information
involving France and
the dogs there. There is a wonderful magazine
published in France
called the Sans Laisse. The stated goal of
Sans Laisse is that it is
the sport dog magazine for the working dog.
Even for those not able to
read French, this magazine contains a wealth
of information including
trials scheduled and trial results of many
French ring trials. In the
trial results the scores, breed, name of
dog and handler is listed for
every competitor which is interesting.
The Sans Laisse magazine
covers the French Ring Championship in great
detail and even publishes a "Special Championnat"
issue that includes a
write up and photos of every dog that competes
at the Championship.
The Sans Laisse covers
not only French Ring, but many other working dog
competitions including RCI (Schutzhund),
Pistage (Tracking Trials),
Campagne (Similar to French Ring, but done
in the field), Agility
Trials, Herding Events, MondioRing Trials
(Similar to French Ring in
that there is suit-work, jumps and obedience
done on a regulation
field), Sledding Events, Military Dogs, Endurance/Marathon
Running with
a dog, and much more. Many of the working
events are not available in
North America, but are very interesting to
working dog enthusiasts. The
closest publication to the Sans Laisse published
in the States is
DogSports Magazine, which the new owner is
modeling similar to the Sans
Laisse by covering a broader scope of the
working dog events. That the
Sans Laise covers so many different types
of dog events makes it very
fascinating. You will see your breed whether
it be Malinois, Beauceron
or German Shepherd, Dobie, etc competing
in numerous types of
disciplines throughout the year.
Through the Sans Laisse
Magazine one can contact the various breed
clubs in France and join and receive their
magazines as well. In this
way, breeders and enthusiasts of a particular
breed of working dog can
follow lines and keep up with which dogs
are winning in French Ring and
which lines are consistently producing working
dogs. I have been a
member of the French Beauceron Club "Club
des Amis du Beauceron" since
1989 and have learned a lot about the working
Beauceron as a result.
Also, the Sans Laisse has
a Book Library where breed books, French Ring
books, and videos can be purchased (videos
are in French format and need
to be transferred before viewing). There
is a particularly useful
handbook that lists all the Working Trial
Judges, Decoys, Clubs and
Contacts with phone numbers and address.
This book is fairly
inexpensive (about $15.00) and is valuable
for French Ring enthusiasts
here planning trips to France or planning
seminars and trials to be able
to correspond with French Ringers in France.
Information on how to subscribe to Sans Laisse:
