Dr Fatguy,
There are a handful of DD's within 5 miles of where you live and the assumption that DD's are a very sharp dog maybe a little over the top. Over the past few years I have been around literally 100 or better DD's and sharpness is not an issue. I have been told that 10-15 years ago this may have been the case. I would agree they need a strong master but not much different than many of your high powered pointing breeds. "NAVHDA Lines" is somewhat of a phallicy. True it is consideralbly better than AKC, but it dosen't hold a candle to JGHV (Germany). Imo NAVHDA dosen't have any business being a breed club. They do an excellent job informing and helping hunters train their dogs to be stellar in the field. Without health standards andsome policing of breedings it would be too easy to slip a dog with great ability in to the gene pool that may turn out later in life to have a terrible genetic problem. In turn having a negative influence on the "line" over a longer period of time. I am an advocate of NAVHDA but I could live without the "Registered Litter" part of the club. At this pointit isbeing used to set the price of the puppies in the litter versustracking line breeding on ablity.

Huntermag