mustad

I'm starting a thread on NAVHDA tests to give a bit more exposure to what they are. 4evr - you stated the following:

" Most Navhda trained dogs are much more thoroughly trained than any other group of dogs I have seen. I run mine in AKC hunt tests to prepare for the Navhda requirements. A dog can have his Master title in AKC and fail miserably in Navhda because while Yes, they find birds, hold point, are steady to shot, honor and retrieve. Most of that comes naturally for pointing breeds-some dogs have to be worked more in some areas than others. Alot of what I see In NAVHDA takes alot more work because they are now having to do all the above but within guidelines that the dog would not naturally do such as learning position direction from the handler instead of having their nose do all the directioning as in blind retrieves for instance and resending a dog into water or cover to search repeatedly after not finding the bird the first time or two. These dogs have to follow commands to a higher level than required by AKC."

NAVHDA is really broken down into two different types of tests.

1. Natural Ability - This test is offered for dogs under the age of 16 months. The purpose of the test is to evaluate the native hunting ability of the dog. It is broken down to three components: Field, Tracking, Water.

In the field portion, you take your pup for a 20 minute hunt. At the beginning of the hunt, 2 shots will be fired to evaluate the dog's reaction to gunfire. Other than that you are hunting your dog as you would on a real hunt. When the dog finds a bird, you let it establish point without influence from you. If possible, you will be asked to flush the bird to see the dog's reaction. What the judges are evaluating here is the dog's desire and cooperation to actively search for game with the purpose of producing that game for the gun as well as the dog's ability to point game convincingly and the manner in which it uses it's nose for these purposes.

In the tracking portion, the judges will take a pheasant, remove it's flight feathers and allow it to run off. You will bring your dog up; get him going on the track and allow the dog to track down the bird. Again, the judges are evaluating the dog's desire and cooperation to do the job you have asked it and how well it uses its' nose to track the bird.

In the water portion, you are asked to get your dog to swim twice by throwing bumpers into the water. The dog is not required to retrieve; only swim. The judges are evaluating the dog's desire to enter water and cooperation to come back.

2. Utility Test - The Utility test is offered to evaluate the level of which you have completed the necessary training for a finished bird dog. There are four components of this test: Field, Drag, Duck Search, Obedience

The field portion consists of a 30 minute hunt. Hunt the dog as you normally would. In this test, you will be carrying an empty shotgun and will have two other gunners coming in addition to the judging team. Once the dog establishes point, he is expected to remain steady until one of three things happen; 1. You relocate him or send him on in the event there is no bird. 2. You find the bird, flush the bird; the bird is shot and you send the dog for the retrieve (note steadiness to fall is required here) 3. You find the bird, flush the bird; the gunners mss the bird and you continue hunting. In addition to the components of the natural ability field portion, the dog is evaluated in it's steadiness and retrieve of shot bird.

The drag portion consists of a duck that is dragged out of sight (typically somewhere around 100 yards away). You ask the dog to fetch the bird. Here, the dog is not tested in it's tracking ability. Only the desire, obedience and cooperation to go get the duck and bring it back.

The water portion is broken down into two parts. First is the duck search. A flightless duck is placed a distance off downwind from where you will start in a pond (min 5 acres) You sit your dog next to you; fire a shot in a different direction from where the duck was placed and send your dog to get the duck. The objective is for him to search for at least 8 minutes without stopping and cover a significant amount of the pond. If the dog finds the duck, he is expected to deliver to hand.

Obedience - The last part of the Utility test is a series of obedience excercises. First, you walk the dog at heal through a heal track. The purpose is not to beat up over formalities here, but to evaluate the dog's general obedience. Next, you will place the dog near or inside a pseudo duck blind. You walk off 30 yards or so; out of sight from the dog and fire 2 shots 10 seconds apart; and then come back. The dog is expected to remain quietly by the blind. Finally is a series of events concluded by a marked retrieve. You place the dog outside the duck blind. You are in the duck blind. There is a distraction gunner off on one side a ways away. The distraction gunner fires a blank shot. You fire a blank shot. The distraction gunner fires a second blank shot. A dead duck is launched across from you into the water. While it is in the air; you swing on the duck and simulate shooting it with a blank. You send your dog for the retrieve which he is expected to deliver to hand.

There is also a Utility Prep Test, but it is roughly the same thing as a Utility test with lower level expectations.

I think the key here is that all of these things are what we expect; or at least should expect our dogs to do in a real hunting situation. Hope this clarifies what NAVHDA is about.

On another note; NAVHDA is based off another testing system called the Jagdgebrauchshundverband (JGHV) which has similar tests, but goes a bit further especially in the areas of bloodtracking. But that's another story.