This should probably be a thread about "I wonder what he is up to now!" since he got into my wallet big time last week after eating something that made it appear like he had a blocked bowel. No fun having a dog that is going at both ends... Thankfully, he was OK with some rehydration and a bit of care, so today we went out to a NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association) training day.
The training was for 3 skills, and I should really be honest and say that the training is for the handlers, not the dog. They already have the skills, it's just learning how we owners can take best advantage of it. We did a search for planted birds, then a tracking exercise with a pheasant scent trail and lastly retrieving from water. Fritz was outstanding in all three.
Here's a photo of him on point.
Here with an experienced NAVHDA member showing me how it's done...
In the tracking, Fritz immediately picked up the scent trail then worked back and forth across it until he found the bird. I was most impressed with his water retrieve, a skill to which I had not yet introduced him. A couple of shallow tosses of the bumper and he retrieved perfectly. A couple of longer throws where he had to swim and there was no hesitation. He went in and started swimming strongly, no thrashing at all. The worst thing was me losing my footing when taking a bumper, and landing on my butt in the mud.
I'm pretty proud of this pup.
The training was for 3 skills, and I should really be honest and say that the training is for the handlers, not the dog. They already have the skills, it's just learning how we owners can take best advantage of it. We did a search for planted birds, then a tracking exercise with a pheasant scent trail and lastly retrieving from water. Fritz was outstanding in all three.
Here's a photo of him on point.
Here with an experienced NAVHDA member showing me how it's done...
In the tracking, Fritz immediately picked up the scent trail then worked back and forth across it until he found the bird. I was most impressed with his water retrieve, a skill to which I had not yet introduced him. A couple of shallow tosses of the bumper and he retrieved perfectly. A couple of longer throws where he had to swim and there was no hesitation. He went in and started swimming strongly, no thrashing at all. The worst thing was me losing my footing when taking a bumper, and landing on my butt in the mud.
I'm pretty proud of this pup.
