The weather (today) is beginning to get nice enough to do a little training. We are working our pup towards his NA test in mid May. How many of you train/test your versatile dogs through a NAVHDA chapter? ( http://www.navhda.org ) We have Small Munsterlanders. What breed of dog do you have/participate with?
At what age do you start with your pups on, lets say the formal type of training? It can be a little overwhelming performing in front of other people, Can you give us a few tips if we were interested in doing this for the first time.
What are a few things we should key in on to make a passing grade?
“At what age do you start with your pups on, lets say the formal type of training?”
I guess I would say that we just “socialize” our pups until they are over a year of age and then we start a little more formal training after their Natural Ability test. What I mean by socializing is to acclimate them to about everything around them. Take them places such as town, training days, parks, etc Get them around a lot of people and other “positive dogs. Play in the water, introduce birds and just let them hunt and learn life lessons by trial and error. No pressure but we do expect some form of obedience and respect.
“It can be a little overwhelming performing in front of other people, Can you give us a few tips if we were interested in doing this for the first time. What are a few things we should key in on to make a passing grade? “
The NAVHDA venue shouldn’t be intimidating to versatile dog owners as it is only an avenue for the average amateur handler to make his or her dog a great finished hunting dog. The NAVHDA program is not a competition but rather a training/ testing organization that sets up test standards for our training goals. If the average dog handler puts time into their dog the Natural Ability test should be relaxing and fun.
The NA test that we will run in may requires that the pup/dog is less than 16 months of age. They are judged on their field search, pointing, tracking and swimming. Through out the test the dog is also judged on their desire and cooperation. Basic puppy stuff if you are working on readying your bird dog for the fall hunting season. Just socializing and working your dog in a positive way on birds will ready most pups and handlers for the NA test.
If someone is interested in this NAVHDA you can check out their web site here. ( http://www.navhda.org ) You can also check out local chapters for training opportunities. http://www.scnavhda.org ; http://www.mnnavhda.com ; http://www.somnnavhda.com . These chapters are non-profit chapters that get together and provide training opportunities. It is fun to get together with other hunters that enjoy working with and training their hunting dogs. At many training days there are training birds available, free advice, and equipment to share. All in all a good time.
You can go from this..
To this and have fun doing it….
Great info. Thanks for sharing. Now is there a testing for older dogs that have not done any trails or hunt tests?
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Great info. Thanks for sharing. Now is there a testing for older dogs that have not done any trails or hunt tests?
The more advanced NAVHDA test, the Utility Test requires that the dog is steady to wing, shot and fall and retrieves to hand during a 30 minute field run. The dog also has to retrieve a duck from a drag to hand, do a marked retrieve on water and do an independent duck search. It also must be able to remain at a blind unattended while shots are fired and go through a heeling course.
If your dog receives a Prize I for it’s efforts tou will then be invited to the NAVHDA Invitation the following year. There the dog has to run the field with a brace mate. In the field the dog will have to be steady to wing, shot, fall and retrieve to hand. It also has to back/honor it’s bracemate. They also have to do a blind retrieve, retrieve a shackled duck and remain steady/honor another dog doing a water retrieve in front of them.
It is a fun process and in the end you have had a lot of fun training and a finished gun dog that you will enjoy hunting behind.
I run AKC Hunt Tests with my lab.
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