Last minute tips for hunt test?

[RichK]

Any last minute tips for our first JH test tomorrow?

[RoostersMom]

Get by yourself as much as you can - separate from the other handler, have fun, enjoy your dog...and know that your pup is the one you want to take home with you at the end of the day! Did I say have fun yet? It's a pretty low stress situation if you'll just relax and take your dog out there for a bird walk.

[SubMariner]

Any last minute tips for our first JH test tomorrow?

Go out & have fun. And don't take it too seriously. Because at JH it's all about you & your dog "doing what comes naturally".

Enjoy!

[RichK]

Any last minute tips for our first JH test tomorrow?

Go out & have fun. And don't take it too seriously. Because at JH it's all about you & your dog "doing what comes naturally".

Enjoy!

Easier said than done! He did excellent on his NA test three weeks ago. Locked up and pointed the three quail that were pointed, he still worries me though!

[Sharon]

LOL I was always a nervous wreck at trials , and I'd bet the Ames entrants are nervous too. That said , "just relax".

Let the dog show what he's got. Don't be after him unless absolutely essential . Be quiet.( Also hard to do when you are nervous.)

[RayGubernat]

When you get to the test grounds and set your dog out...REMEMBER THIS ABOVE ALL...

It is already too late. What training you have done...is done. It is too late to worry about any of it. What you brung, you brung.

Cut the dog loose and let the dog do what it knows how to do.

If that is enough... the dog will pass. If not...you have more training to do when you get home. no big deal.... There is always another test.

But, whatever happens, it is already too late to do anything about it except to watch and enjoy the day.

So, by all means do just that. Relax... Enjoy your dog... enjoy the day. This stuff is supposed to be fun.

RayG

[Neil]

All good advice, but let me add; put on your poker face, try to behave as calmly as you can, dogs pick up on nervousness. I am sure the guys at Ames are nervous, but they hide it well and you must, too.

Do as Ray says, know you have done all you can before the event, let it go and enjoy.

[RichK]

Thanks for the comments.

He'll probably do well, he did excellent with his pointing portion of his NA test. I'm sure I'm a lot more nervous than he is. He's already asleep and snoring next to me on the bed!

[Sharon]

Well, How did it go?

[RichK]

Bitter sweet.

His scores were 8,8,8, and a 5 in trainability.

His pointing, hunting, and bird finding ability were all quite well and he received 8s. I believe he found and pointed 4 birds during the 20 minute test.

We lost points in trainability because a chukar that flushed flew ~400 yards into the parking area and started to run. It ran under a camper and the dog was in hot pursuit! He chased it down and grabbed it and he brought it back toward me but a guy in the gallery grabbed it from him or my dog dropped it at his feet, I'm not sure what really happened as my dog was out of my sight at this distance.

I blew on the whistle for him to return but at 15 months old he is strong headed and his drive to retrieve, what he viewed as a crippled bird, was greater than his desire to return to my whistle. It took him about 5 minutes to capture the bird and return to me and I had to use the whistle more than I should had to. He's a big running dog and I guess that at this level of training I kind of expect that of him.

We received a passing score, barely! I am happy with the result but not happy with how we executed it. In reality, we both could had done better. This is our first hunt test and we have another one tomorrow, so let's hope we go 2/2 this weekend. Either way, today alone we learned a lot and know what we need to focus on to step our game up. If the bird hadn't flushed as far as it did, I'm sure our trainability score would had been higher!

[Sharon]

Congrats! That parking lot incident would challenge many a dog. ( I was on the dog wagon once when another spectator picked up a guy's dog, because he thought it was "exhausted". I can't repeat what the pro said to him.

[RichK]

We went 2/2 today. He handled a bit better and his scores in bird finding ability, desire to hunt, and pointing were all 9s. Trainability was a 6. I still had problems with him on the whistle recall when chasing down flushed birds. He found and pointed 2 of the 3 birds that were planted for his brace.



The Finger Lakes chapter of the GSPCA did an awesome job at hosting the event. The grounds were great and the entire event ran smooth and efficiently. Great groups of judges and everyone else who helped put the test on!

[aulrich]

Well done, and as long as there is progression we can call it a win.

One pointer I was given last year during a NAVHDA UTP test was that if the dog breaks on flush (steady to flush is the min in UTP) keep quiet/or one back command because if he runs the bird down and brings it back to you properly then it still counts. If you start giving more commands you start getting docked points.

I have been trying to discipline myself as much as the dog to only give one command per action.

[GunDogAdventures]

Congratulations - both of you are learning and it sounds like you took the advice of having fun!!

[Neil]

Congratulations.

I wont comment on the judging other than to say I value tenacity on retrieve highly. A dog that won't give up on a retrieve because a stupid human interfered should have scored a 10.

Risking giving unwanted advice, I would ditch the whistle for recall and just train "here" until he is foolproof, it could save his life. I even have a command to pull them off point.

Again, you should be very proud.

[RichK]

Congratulations.

I wont comment on the judging other than to say I value tenacity on retrieve highly. A dog that won't give up on a retrieve because a stupid human interfered should have scored a 10.

Risking giving unwanted advice, I would ditch the whistle for recall and just train "here" until he is foolproof, it could save his life. I even have a command to pull them off point.

Again, you should be very proud.

I'll always take advice, whether I ask for it or not!

He is trained to "here" and a whistle recall. He will respond to both but obviously won't when a bird is flushed. I verbally called for his return and used the whistle both days but he wouldn't do so until he had the bird in his mouth after it landed from the flush.

The results from both days were satisfactory and made it obvious where our training time needs to be spent.

[cjhills]

Very few Hunt Test handlers use a whistles. Pretty much says newby. And as stated before Let him come back on his own if he chases. If you can stop him from chasing it is better because it will haunt you in senior and master. Good job...........................Cj

[BellaSpinone]

Yea you passed...

Don't give a command when you know the dog will not obey. Like at at a dead run chasing a bird.

AKC hunt tests are pass fail. Don't get hung up on scores.

[Fun dog]

Pass/fail they may be, but I'd rather pass with an A then a C. If I get a C I will check the scores to see how I can improve for the next test. But then I'm a bit of an over achiever.

[ezzy333]

One of the things I never did was train for a JH test since I look at it as a natural ability test.

[cjhills]

Pass/fail they may be, but I'd rather pass with an A then a C. If I get a C I will check the scores to see how I can improve for the next test. But then I'm a bit of an over achiever.

The problem with this is one judge will give you a A and another might give you a C for the same run. It is only the judges' opinion. All that counts is a Q...........Cj

[Fun dog]

And then I'll be bumbled out :roll:

[RayGubernat]

Pass/fail they may be, but I'd rather pass with an A then a C. If I get a C I will check the scores to see how I can improve for the next test. But then I'm a bit of an over achiever.

I don't do hunt tests myself, just not my cup of tea. However, I appreciate feedback form anyone who has watched my dog(and myself also) perform. You need to temper that feedback with the knowledge that each person brings a different set of expectations(likes and dislikes) to the task of judging.

Cj is right about one judge giving the exact same performance different scores. The same thing happens in field trials, but you don't see the "scores", because they are in the judges' heads. Neil also made a statement about retrieving desire that gave you an insight into what kind of dog he probably likes.

Bottom line is this: Different folks like to see different things in a dog. What is MOST important is...What do YOU want to see?? You feed the dog... it should do what makes you happy. If someone else likes your dog....that is great.

But unless you are raising and training your dog to live up to someone else's expectations, the fact that someone else likes your dog... is not (or shouldn't be) so very important.

RayG

[ezzy333]

Anytime you compete under a judge you need to remember that all you are getting is the judges opinion.

[P&PGunsmith]

Thats great.
My first try with Anni went like this. She chased the horses, then she wouldnt listen and got into the bird field where she pointed but long distance and no way for me to get close. She then chased a bird that flew into someones truck right into the parked truck. Then she chased more birds and it was all i could do to get ahold of her. She didnt pass.
Next day, completely different dog. The judge who was a national caliber field trial guy says that was worth the price of admission. She got all 10s.

Your off to a good start.

[RichK]

Thats great.
My first try with Anni went like this. She chased the horses, then she wouldnt listen and got into the bird field where she pointed but long distance and no way for me to get close. She then chased a bird that flew into someones truck right into the parked truck. Then she chased more birds and it was all i could do to get ahold of her. She didnt pass.
Next day, completely different dog. The judge who was a national caliber field trial guy says that was worth the price of admission. She got all 10s.

Your off to a good start.

The first day the judges were on foot, the second day they were on horse. At the line my dog was very interested in the horses. I was sure that when I released him he was going to go and check out the horses and promptly receive a kick in the face for his efforts! Luckily he decided to go look for birds instead.

[Sharon]

Pass/fail they may be, but I'd rather pass with an A then a C. If I get a C I will check the scores to see how I can improve for the next test. But then I'm a bit of an over achiever.

I don't do hunt tests myself, just not my cup of tea. However, I appreciate feedback form anyone who has watched my dog(and myself also) perform. You need to temper that feedback with the knowledge that each person brings a different set of expectations(likes and dislikes) to the task of judging.

Cj is right about one judge giving the exact same performance different scores. The same thing happens in field trials, but you don't see the "scores", because they are in the judges' heads. Neil also made a statement about retrieving desire that gave you an insight into what kind of dog he probably likes.

Bottom line is this: Different folks like to see different things in a dog. What is MOST important is...What do YOU want to see?? You feed the dog... it should do what makes you happy. If someone else likes your dog....that is great.

But unless you are raising and training your dog to live up to someone else's expectations, the fact that someone else likes your dog... is not (or shouldn't be) so very important.

RayG

That's the common thought , but hey if Wayne Gretzy thought I had great potential asa future NHL star, or George Tracy thought my derby dog had what it takes to be a Champion someday, that would be very important to me- as it would be to most people. MOst judges' opinions of my dog I value. Am I training my dog to live up to someone else's expectations? Probably to some degree if I am in tests/trials. That doesn't mean I'm not happy with what my dog produces when hunting.

Having said that , it is two judge's opinion on one day only. The dog could have had a bad day or the Judge had a bad day.

[RichK]

I think the judges for both days were quite accurate with their scoring of my dog. His obedience went out the window as soon as birds flushed which made it obvious where we need to focus his training immediately.

[SubMariner]

Very few Hunt Test handlers use a whistles. Pretty much says newby. And as stated before Let him come back on his own if he chases. If you can stop him from chasing it is better because it will haunt you in senior and master. Good job...........................Cj

Where are you getting that idea? If you want the dog to change direction or come back to you, the whistle is much more "professional" than calling the dog's name or shouting "here!". It also shows trainability if your dog obeys whistle commands.

[cjhills]

Very few Hunt Test handlers use a whistles. Pretty much says newby. And as stated before Let him come back on his own if he chases. If you can stop him from chasing it is better because it will haunt you in senior and master. Good job...........................Cj

Where are you getting that idea? If you want the dog to change direction or come back to you, the whistle is much more "professional" than calling the dog's name or shouting "here!". It also shows trainability if your dog obeys whistle commands.

Mostly because in 15 years of testing All over the mid west, With some very big time trainers, I have only seen one handler use a whistle. Two if you count me in my first junior test. Everybody told me "lose the whistle". Which I did.
Many people train their dogs to run forward on the whistle and it gets really confusing for some of your bracemates .
My dogs change directions when I change directions and I very rarely want them to come back to me until the time is up. then I go get em ...............Cj

[Neil]

Every hunting test and field trial pro handler/trainer I know use the whistle for "GO". Everything else is done with direction of travel or voice.

Don't misunderstand, I don't deduct for attempted control with a whistle, just think it odd and ineffective. But then the whole trainability/control thing is of little importance to me. I want a dog that will find wild birds not one that constantly looks for direction. If I have to tell the dog where the birds might be, I will just go walk them up without him. The only control I need is for him to stay in front and come when called. Well that, and point, back and retrieve.