Senior Hunt Tests

[Bryce]

Hi-

I am new to the board. I have a 2 yr old brittany. She's a hard running, bird nuts, ball of energy. Have her steady to wing and shot and force fetched. She honors pretty naturally but I want to work on that more before the fall Hunt Test/FT season. I am training for MH but running in SH and finishing my SH title before moving on. Are there any handling recomendations or training senarios that I should prepare for? She never got to finish her JH, but I have run her in NAVHDA NAT, and derby FT stakes and she did great in those. Any handling advice or things that I should train for to better prepare her would be apprieciated!

Thanks,
Bryce

[tenbearsviz]

Bryce,

Good for you for training to a higher level. You sound like you are on the right track.

A couple things I have seen as a hunt test judge that you should at least think about if possible. I dont know about anyone one else but I tend to get tunnel vision in a HT or FT.

1. Remember the clock is ticking on you for working a bird. Once you get bird work in the back course or bird field, you can be called back for retrieving and honoring.

2. If your dog is not the best backer, you may have to "whoa" her into a back. This is OK as long as she has acknowledged the bracemate is pointing. I see nervous handlers whoa dogs into backs before the dog even sees the bracemate.

Relax and have fun. Ask your judges ANYTHING.

Where are you at and where are you testing?

Don

[Bryce]

I am in New Orleans, Louisiana. I will go to the South Louisiana Vizsla Club hunt test in November but plan to go to just about as many as I can. I think there is one near the Houston area that I plan on going to and one in Mississippi. There is also one in Arkansas that I want to go to. So that is about 4 of them. If any others come up that I can take advantage of, I will definately do them. I will do SH braces until my girl is showing MH manners in SH stakes and then I'll move up.

Can you whoa your dog into a back in adult stake FT like you can SH? My little girl seems to do a lot of things naturally, so training hasn't been hard at all. She is steady to wing and shot without reminder "whoas" during the flush and shot and she fetches to hand with one command. The only thing I am not sure about is honoring and I will start working on that this coming weekend. Since we do duck hunt her, she has two different deliveries based on how I stand. If I stand straight up, with my hands behind my back, she comes to sit at heel and holds until told otherwise. If I bend down to meet her, she delivers the bird straight in front of me without sitting. Which delivery should I use in a hunt test/field trial?

Also, on honoring. She honored naturally as a pup but hasn't been in a situation to need to honor since she was about 7-8 months old. Any advice on training her to honor? We have a pup living with us for the summer and I can work on honoring with him and proof her for the senario that the other dog busts the bird so that she will stay no matter what. How do you train honoring?

Thanks so much for your help!
Bryce

[Bryce]

Oh, and I forgot to ask. I know in JH the two handlers can split up and go their own ways. Do the SH handlers have to stay together or can they split up? What about MH?

Bryce

[tenbearsviz]

You will enjoy the SLVC.

Lets do the last question first.. With a single course with a bird field you hunt together until the bird field UNLESS you or your bracemate has birdwork that splits you up. Many times unless the dogs are at different ranges, you will end up together until the birdfield. Sometimes a judge may ask you to try and bring your dog in for a back if the situation seems to fit. Mostly, you should stay the course and let what happens happen.

As for honoring. The rules are reasonably similar when it comes to "whoa" ing into a back. The dog must have seen the dog before being commanded to back. The rules are very different in the requirement of honoring. In a SH/SH test you must demonstrate an honor. In a Field trial you only have to honor if the situation occurs. If you look like you are avoiding a situation, a judge may see it as low confidence in your dog.

Remember you are trying to impress the judges with your dog. If you have a dog that backs on auto-pilot versus one that needs a blood curddling whoa to stop, guess which will score higher in a hunt test.... Then which will get the blue in a field trial. All things equal, a bad back can hurt you in the eyes of a FT judge.

Training for honoring can be done easier if you have a rock solid dog to back or a silloette type backing device. I have used both. I use an auto-backer training alone.

Don

[grant]

Hi-
Have her steady to wing and shot and force fetched.

This was where I was at with Bell when doing her SH. If you train for MH, getting through SH isn't that bad, and it sounds like you are there besides the backing.

Bell refused to back because I hunted her alone all the time. The first two times I did some backing training it was ugly! In fact, I carried my video camera to show my progress, but I was so frustrated, I never did a video.

I basically made by plywood dog and would place it around a corner in a field. I had a quail in a launcher about 15 feet in front of the silhouette. I'd bring in Bell and around the corner she'd come. She didn't slow down, so I'd whoa! and walk over to the silhouette and pet it. (Just to make sure she saw it. Not sure if it did much, but it seemed to get her attention) I'd launch the bird and make sure she stood through it. I'd then walk up to her, heal her away from the situation, then release her. I made sure she didn't circle around and do a delayed chase.

The third time was when I was going to work, and I put the silhouette in the backyard to see if bell would back. I let her out the front and she took off around the corner and backed! Now, I just pull out the silhouette every so often to reinforce the backing.

[Bryce]

Well, I'll get a silhouette and work on backing that way. Sounds like it will work better and more easily available than having to work with another dog to teach it.

Thanks for all your help!

The SLVC is a great club. We have been members for a year now and it is full of really nice people. It's a little funny having one of the only Brittanys in the club, but they seem to like her even though she's only a spotted "red dog".

Thanks Again,
Bryce

[tenbearsviz]

Bryce,

Watch to see if the SLVC has a training day. It is a great way to reinforce backing.

The idea is to get your dog to understand that a standing dog means birds. I train with a launcher and one planted. I want to send the message to my dog that there are more then one out there so stay staunch.

Don

[snips]

I like to stay away from the other handler if possible. Too many mess-ups can happen when 2 dogs are together. Much better to be able to handle the situation. Stay away from bad areas, places you cannot see or you know coveys might congregate. I am sure you are doing this, but I always train a dog to stand thru a gunshot for Sr, then you know your dog will stand to the shot or not move for a blank on the back course. I do not like to back until I have foud a bird, your time can get taken up standing there for a loooong flush or retrieve when you should be looking for a bird.

[billy]

Bryce, These folks know what it takes to train & handle dogs in Hunt Test. Good Luck in the Fall & keep us informed on your success!

Added Notes:
If your brittany is small, have the dog on point in tall field. Bring another dog in to honor, you will be surprised on how close the backing dog will get before stoping. This pressure could make your dog break.

Soak birds & plant in thick grass! See how your dog handles on kicked wet tennis balls.

Plant a bird that can not fly only walk away when flushed. Will your dog hold for 60 yds flushing attempt?

Stop to flush, will your dog hold until you arrive?

Blind Retrieves, what happens when the dog does not mark the falling bird?