What's next for my puppy?

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BigK75
Rank: Junior Hunter
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:38 pm

What's next for my puppy?

Post by BigK75 » Tue Sep 08, 2020 7:54 pm

Not sure if you guys saw in the bragging section but my wonderful 7 month old Brittany did very well in the NAVDHA Natural Ability Test scoring 110/112. Anyway I wanted to ask you guys what is expected of a finished dog. Here are my thoughts just from what I read but I am sure I am missing stuff, please help me fill anything I am missing. I am a very check mark kind of person and I need a list to work to so if I am missing something please let em know :)
1. Heel in the field without leash
2. Steady to wing and shot
3. Backing
4. Fetching and retrieve to handler

The next step in NAVDHA is Utility but I looked at the criteria and there is a lot of Waterfowl work something that my Brittany will never do. He is strictly an upland dog. Not sure if I should continue down the NAVDHA Utility road or refocus on something else. Any thoughts would be appreciated on this area as well. Perhaps I should start looking at CKC (in Canada). Confused on where to go from here. Ultimately my goal is to have an awesome upland hunting dog.

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deseeker
Rank: 5X Champion
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Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2010 1:38 pm
Location: Blair, Nebraska

Re: What's next for my puppy?

Post by deseeker » Tue Sep 08, 2020 8:37 pm

Since you are going to mainly be hunting upland, you might want to switch to AKC pointing dog hunting tests. They are broken into 3
levels -- junior hunter, senior hunter, and master hunter. If you go to AKC's web site and google their search engine for qualifications for each level it will give you the criteria for each level. I'll describe master level -- that level is the top level and includes: Hunting, bird finding ability, pointing, trainability, honoring, & retreiving. A master dog must point it's bird, let you flush it, shoot it. It has to stay put thru wing, shot, and fall. It has to wait for you to send it for the retreive. It then must return the bird back to your hand in good condition (no chewing it up). It must back it's bracemate
(with out being whoa'd into it) when on point and stay backed while that bird is shot and retreived back to it's handler. If it encounters a wild flushing bird it must stop to flush on it's own without being whoa'd into it(has to stay put thru a blank round). It must handle easily and not be hacked all the time. It must search likely objectives and point staunchly and intensely. It must handle EVERY bird it encounters properly--if it messes up on 1 bird it flunks the test. It gets graded on the 6 catagories mentioned earlier on a 1-10 scale. It must average a 7 or above on the total score of the 6 catagories
--it can NOT have a score lower than 5 on any of the 6 items or it flunks the test. It needs 6 qualifing scores to get a Master title (5 qualifing scores if
it has a Seniot title already). In hunting tests you are judged against a standard and not judged against the other dogs. Hunt tests are usually run in Spring & early Fall, so you still can hunt your dog during hunting season.

I don't compete in shoot to retreive events so someone else can describe those to you.
Good luck in what ever you try with you dog :D

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Sharon
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Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 4:46 pm
Location: Ontario,Canada

Re: What's next for my puppy?

Post by Sharon » Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:35 pm

Not sure where you live in Canada , but here is a list of pointing trial/test events:

rules and guidelines for tests:
https://www.ckc.ca/en/Files/Forms/Shows ... ations-for

...............................

rules and guidelines for competitive trials:

https://www.ckc.ca/en/Files/Forms/Shows ... tions.aspx

open or amateur ( blank gun, no retrieving)

I would consider the derby level maybe to start with. Many however jump right into the shooting dog level with a dog at your level. However
this level has experienced dogs up to age 10 + ; it is unlikely that you will place for a couple years at this level.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

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Sharon
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Posts: 9113
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 4:46 pm
Location: Ontario,Canada

Re: What's next for my puppy?

Post by Sharon » Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:57 pm

Only two urls can be posted in each post , so I am posting this here:

https://www.ckc.ca/en/Events/Events-Calendar-en
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

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