I'll take this one.

NSTRA = is the dog broke? Field seeded with poor birds about the size of a Walmart parking lot. Certianly a dog like Brenda Roe's Snips Ticked Off who can win 30 or some other ridiculous number is something special, but NSTRA does not impress me.

NAVHDA = I know a dog who scored a perfect in the Utility test and qualified for the invitational. She is by far the finest dog I have ever seen, and I have been around to some events for versatiles, pointers, and retrievers. I am working with the woman who trained her, and hopefully my own bearded prospect will qualify for the Invitational one day. A Utility dog is something special, make no doubt about it, they are truly versatile, and they can do it all.

NBDCA- I watched a couple of seasons on it on tv, but have never been to an event. After seeing it on tv, don't think I would be interested. Most of the dogs I saw were half-broke steady to flush, and the majority were not force broke to retrieve. Bad dog work and bad handlers. There was some entertainment to it all though.

DocE - I visit your pointing lab site (assume you are the same DocE) and you guys are really cutting your own throat as far as NAVHDA is concerned. If you guys would just declare yourselves a distinct breed, separate from the regular labs, put forth some breeding guideliens which restrict breedings to PL only, NAVHDA would probably let you test.

Your problem, as I see it, is you guys cannot decide if you want to have PL or field trial labs, so you try to mix and match. How many posts over there are "I havea PL bitch but want to breed to a FC non-pointing lab, is there point in his pedigree".

As Yoda would say, do or do not, there is no try. Make up your mind, establish some breeding criteria, and then the PL might be recognized.