NSTRA dog

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JoshHaker
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NSTRA dog

Post by JoshHaker » Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:57 pm

Ok this is a very GENERAL question. How often does a dog of a certain breed have what it takes to be successful in NSTRA? Does this vary from breed to breed? Assuming the dog has been trained. Also assuming all dogs are from field lines. (I know that a great dog of any pointing breed can win) could one say for example that most EPs have what it takes to be successful or half of the GSPs have what it takes or 90% of Brits have what it takes. I am not talking about the dogs becoming champions just winning or placing occasionally.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by snips » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:14 am

The dog has to be trained but I also believe u need intelligence, cooperation, nose and style. A great nose is very important as there are times scenting conditions are tough and the dog that has the nose will excel..So any breed can excel, but lots of factors enter in as well.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Ruffshooter » Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:55 am

IMO any Pointing breed can play NSTRA and be successful. Obviously the dogs need the tools mentioned and you need to train your dog in a manner that is not over controlling but still responsive to your commands.

I think one of the reasons you see a certain high number of certain breeds winning is simply because the game started in areas where those breeds were more prevalent. But look at the diversity of the winners across the nation. (I hate that word)
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:30 pm

IMO it takes a big running, great nose and fairly well broke dog to be competitive in NSTRA. I have had setters, pointers and gsp and all 3 of these breeds with certain dogs were very competitive. It takes a very smart, bike tracking, one in a thousand dog to be a top player in NSTRA.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Sharon » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:46 pm

JoshHaker wrote:Ok this is a very GENERAL question. How often does a dog of a certain breed have what it takes to be successful in NSTRA? Does this vary from breed to breed? Assuming the dog has been trained. Also assuming all dogs are from field lines. (I know that a great dog of any pointing breed can win) could one say for example that most EPs have what it takes to be successful or half of the GSPs have what it takes or 90% of Brits have what it takes. I am not talking about the dogs becoming champions just winning or placing occasionally.
Any well trained, pointing hunting dog ,capable in the ways Snips said, can place at NSTRA. When we used to have NSTRA where I live , the placements travelled between a GSP, Brittany, Pudelpointer, vizsla and a setter.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by codym » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:23 am

Grousewing wrote:IMO it takes a big running, great nose and fairly well broke dog to be competitive in NSTRA. I have had setters, pointers and gsp and all 3 of these breeds with certain dogs were very competitive. It takes a very smart, bike tracking, one in a thousand dog to be a top player in NSTRA.


I've only run nstra trials in AZ and they plant off horseback which I really like. Do alot of dogs track the atv when birds are planted off it? I've heard that they do but like I said I've never seen it.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:25 am

codym wrote:
Grousewing wrote:IMO it takes a big running, great nose and fairly well broke dog to be competitive in NSTRA. I have had setters, pointers and gsp and all 3 of these breeds with certain dogs were very competitive. It takes a very smart, bike tracking, one in a thousand dog to be a top player in NSTRA.


I've only run nstra trials in AZ and they plant off horseback which I really like. Do alot of dogs track the atv when birds are planted off it? I've heard that they do but like I said I've never seen it.
Here in Michigan and many other states we use and plant birds from 4 wheelers and judge from them as well. Your really good dogs will learn to bike track and pick off birds in a hurry. NSTRA is a game and a smart dog with a great nose will learn this and do it very well more often then not. Scenting conditions play a role in this and bird finding in general. I currently have a 1 1/2 old gsp male I am starting to run in NSTRA trials and he is slowly picking up on the bike track. I have had some pointers that did a good job when they wanted at bike tracking. I bet you could train your dogs to follow the sent of the horse and end up with the same results as us with the bike tracking. You would just need to plant your birds off a horse when training.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by ultracarry » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:55 am

There is so much scent from horses in a field trial that the dogs would just run a loop with no birds.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:30 am

ultracarry wrote:There is so much scent from horses in a field trial that the dogs would just run a loop with no birds.
Well, same thing for the quads in the field. You take a bird planter every brace, 2 judges on quads every brace times 16 braces and you will get the same amount of scent as the horses. Its the fresh bike track they learn to track. I have had dogs and watched many over the years run the track the bird planter just made and clean the field in no time.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by ultracarry » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:40 am

Not the same as horses.... Don't want to argue but there are 4 horses between judges and handlers, then add the gallery, scouts, and bird planters...... Apples and oranges.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by snips » Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:35 pm

My old dog Rip could track bird planting from atv or horse. He was pretty darn smart.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Redfishkilla » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:54 pm

There is one trait that makes a good NSTRA dog....bird finding ability. It also helps to have a fast dog that covers the field 5 times in 30 minutes. This spring, Texas has had a lot of dry hot days of trialing. Here's a question for the NSTRA folks. Do you think it's poosible to train a dog to slow down and maybe hunt a little closer on days like these? I don't want to try with my one dog allowed to trial but I've thought about it. I'd be afraid to shorten up my dog's range or slow them down when they really need to run fast. The other reason i don't want to train for this is because after running hard in this heat for five or ten minutes they slow up anyway. We killed 4 rattlesnakes the last trial when it was hot. Dang I hate those things.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:05 pm

Redfishkilla wrote:There is one trait that makes a good NSTRA dog....bird finding ability. It also helps to have a fast dog that covers the field 5 times in 30 minutes. This spring, Texas has had a lot of dry hot days of trialing. Here's a question for the NSTRA folks. Do you think it's poosible to train a dog to slow down and maybe hunt a little closer on days like these? I don't want to try with my one dog allowed to trial but I've thought about it. I'd be afraid to shorten up my dog's range or slow them down when they really need to run fast. The other reason i don't want to train for this is because after running hard in this heat for five or ten minutes they slow up anyway. We killed 4 rattlesnakes the last trial when it was hot. Dang I hate those things.
I'm sure there is a way to train them but I personally don't. Now a smart dog will slow down and just hunt after 10-15 minutes. On the really hot dry days here in Michigan I have seen slow moving britney's go out and clean the field near the end of a trial. Both slow and fast dogs will shine on different days depending on scenting conditions.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by birddogger » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:13 pm





Grousewing wrote:IMO it takes a big running, great nose and fairly well broke dog to be competitive in NSTRA. I have had setters, pointers and gsp and all 3 of these breeds with certain dogs were very competitive. It takes a very smart, bike tracking, one in a thousand dog to be a top player in NSTRA.
I agree that it takes a good nose and a well trained dog to be competitive, but I don't think I agree on the big running part. I would say that rather than big running, a good NSTRA dog needs to be fast and cover a lot of ground in a hurry, but a big running dog may end up out of bounds a lot [JMO]. Also, as far as bike tracking, the question is asked how can they track a four wheeler when there is so much of that scent going in different directions. On this point, several of my NSTRA friends have suggested that the dog is actually tracking the fresh exhaust from the bike . Some people actually try to train their dogs to track the four wheeler, which to me seems to be kind of taking away from what the competition is all about but that is just my opinion.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by northern cajun » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:22 pm

ultracarry wrote:There is so much scent from horses in a field trial that the dogs would just run a loop with no birds.
Different game.

I believe your comparing apples to oranges.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by ultracarry » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:34 pm

Yep... I was referring to grousewings posts.in case anyone wanted to know.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by RayGubernat » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:19 pm

Way back... when NSTRA trials were reported in the American Field, I compiled the number of wins for the four major breeds, Pointer, E. Setter, Brittany and GSP. I then weighted the number of wins of each breed by the number of dogs of that breed entered in trials. For the two years I did the comparison, there was essentially no difference between the breeds when the wins were adjusted by the number of each breed competing.

Put another way, the data clearly showed that you were just as likely to place in a NSTRA trial with any of the four breeds I mentioned. the only reason I did not do any other breeds was that there simply were not enough other breeds entered to justify counting them.

I have no way of knowing whether the comparsion is still valid, but I suspect it may well be.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by volraider » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:08 am

Would you say a NSTRA dog needed a better nose than a broke trial dog? There would have to be a ton of scent in a field with all the killing on coarse.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Wildweeds » Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:23 am

Great post to use an example on............. Nope, as evidenced by FC/AFC/NAFC 1X Nstra CH Joe's little rowdy, the dog won his FC/AFC titles,before he started NSTRA then won his NSTRA CH and 2 weeks later won his NAFC title from horseback
volraider wrote:Would you say a NSTRA dog needed a better nose than a broke trial dog? There would have to be a ton of scent in a field with all the killing on coarse.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by AzDoggin » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:49 am

Wildweeds wrote:Great post to use an example on............. Nope, as evidenced by FC/AFC/NAFC 1X Nstra CH Joe's little rowdy, the dog won his FC/AFC titles,before he started NSTRA then won his NSTRA CH and 2 weeks later won his NAFC title from horseback
So a good dog is a good dog is a good dog. Betcha that dog hunts, too. :D

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by DonF » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:15 am

It really doesn't take a lot to be competative in NSTRA. That is on any given day, any dog can come up with enough finds to win. Take a dog that get's four finds and score's 90 on each find and 90 on each retrieve, forget the rest for now. Then take another dog that get's five finds at 75 points each. I don't recall ever seeing a dog score less than a 75 on finds or retrieves. Problem was, maybe they don't do this anymore, the judges would get together to determine what an average find and retrieve was, before to first brace. 90 times eight is 720. 75 times 10 is 750. The dffer has 30 points to play with. If the good dog doesn't get a back and the duffer does, even a crummy back, the duffer murders the good dog. Most the real duffers are over controled and many of the good dogs run to much for their own good so ground coverage can become a factor if either or both judges frown some on independence.

That is not all that far fetched a senairo! I know of one dog in the NSTRA Hall of Fame that seldom got mor4e than about 50 yds from it's handler. The handler spent a good amount of time looking for birds himself and would bring the dog back to those he found. If you want to win, those birds really help! The owner of that dog told me once that all that was needed to beat the dog was the same number of finds, great hunting dog though!

The bottom line is that any breed of pointing dog can win and place in NSTRA. The only reason that breeds other than those mentioned about don't seem to win as often is there just isn't enough of those breeds. You'd think that Wirehairs/D's would do better. They did well but there was so few of them running they appear weak, they are not weak, just under repsentatived. It is fun trial to get into an cheaper than horseback trials only because you don't need a horse, tack and trailer to pull the horse.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by birddogger » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:11 pm

RayGubernat wrote:Way back... when NSTRA trials were reported in the American Field, I compiled the number of wins for the four major breeds, Pointer, E. Setter, Brittany and GSP. I then weighted the number of wins of each breed by the number of dogs of that breed entered in trials. For the two years I did the comparison, there was essentially no difference between the breeds when the wins were adjusted by the number of each breed competing.

Put another way, the data clearly showed that you were just as likely to place in a NSTRA trial with any of the four breeds I mentioned. the only reason I did not do any other breeds was that there simply were not enough other breeds entered to justify counting them.

I have no way of knowing whether the comparsion is still valid, but I suspect it may well be.

RayG
I suspect so too.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by birddogger » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:21 pm

That is not all that far fetched a senairo! I know of one dog in the NSTRA Hall of Fame that seldom got mor4e than about 50 yds from it's handler. The handler spent a good amount of time looking for birds himself and would bring the dog back to those he found. If you want to win, those birds really help! The owner of that dog told me once that all that was needed to beat the dog was the same number of finds, great hunting dog though!
I think being successful in NSTRA depends as much on the experience and strategy of the handler as it does on the dog. Please don't take this wrong, you still need a well trained dog that handles well but strategy plays a big part. JMO.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by JoshHaker » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:05 pm

So would it be fair to say that of a well bred litter that most of the pups would have what it takes to compete or would you need to look for that special dog?

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by jcrook » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:03 pm

Charlie is right, it takes 20 percent dog 20 percent handler and 60 percent luck!!

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:05 am

birddogger wrote:
That is not all that far fetched a senairo! I know of one dog in the NSTRA Hall of Fame that seldom got mor4e than about 50 yds from it's handler. The handler spent a good amount of time looking for birds himself and would bring the dog back to those he found. If you want to win, those birds really help! The owner of that dog told me once that all that was needed to beat the dog was the same number of finds, great hunting dog though!
I think being successful in NSTRA depends as much on the experience and strategy of the handler as it does on the dog. Please don't take this wrong, you still need a well trained dog that handles well but strategy plays a big part. JMO.

Charlie
I bet I could guess who that handler was, did he run a brittney? The handler can play a big role in the out come of the brace but a great dog can do the same with a new handler. I am no expert in NSTRA buut am a judge and have judged and ran dogs in NSTRA for about 10 years. Luck does play a part of it but we have a dog here in Michigan that places almost every time he is ran. I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Redfishkilla » Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:31 am

"So would it be fair to say that of a well bred litter that most of the pups would have what it takes to compete or would you need to look for that special dog?"

Short answer...yes. A well bred dog helps put the odds in your favor, but you'll still need to pay your dues so to speak. It takes training and experience at the game before you give the dog the best chance to have success. Lots of practice birds. And I don't define success as placing all the time either. If you're finding three birds a brace and getting them on the card with good scores, that is success....the placements will come soon after. If you're buying a dog, for any reason, not just NSTRA but to just hunt or whatever. There is no reason not to find the best dog you can...even if you have to pay a little more for it. And make sure it has papers because you can't play games without them knowing who the parents of your dog are.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Ron R » Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:53 am

Grousewing wrote: I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
That's pretty funny....Thanks for the laugh.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by DonF » Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:24 am

birddogger wrote:
That is not all that far fetched a senairo! I know of one dog in the NSTRA Hall of Fame that seldom got mor4e than about 50 yds from it's handler. The handler spent a good amount of time looking for birds himself and would bring the dog back to those he found. If you want to win, those birds really help! The owner of that dog told me once that all that was needed to beat the dog was the same number of finds, great hunting dog though!
I think being successful in NSTRA depends as much on the experience and strategy of the handler as it does on the dog. Please don't take this wrong, you still need a well trained dog that handles well but strategy plays a big part. JMO.

Charlie
I think your right, in fact I know your right. One good thing about NSTRA is that they actually have rules about dog work that are really usefull to the hunter.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by DonF » Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:27 am

Grousewing wrote:
birddogger wrote:
That is not all that far fetched a senairo! I know of one dog in the NSTRA Hall of Fame that seldom got mor4e than about 50 yds from it's handler. The handler spent a good amount of time looking for birds himself and would bring the dog back to those he found. If you want to win, those birds really help! The owner of that dog told me once that all that was needed to beat the dog was the same number of finds, great hunting dog though!
I think being successful in NSTRA depends as much on the experience and strategy of the handler as it does on the dog. Please don't take this wrong, you still need a well trained dog that handles well but strategy plays a big part. JMO.

Charlie
I bet I could guess who that handler was, did he run a brittney? The handler can play a big role in the out come of the brace but a great dog can do the same with a new handler. I am no expert in NSTRA buut am a judge and have judged and ran dogs in NSTRA for about 10 years. Luck does play a part of it but we have a dog here in Michigan that places almost every time he is ran. I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
No he didn't! He is a great guy that had as good a hunting dog as I've ever seen. Just a bit haphazzard in how it went about things!
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:10 pm

Ron R wrote:
Grousewing wrote: I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
That's pretty funny....Thanks for the laugh.
So whats so funny????
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by ultracarry » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:16 pm

Because its funny...

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by snips » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:23 pm

It is funny that Michigan has dogs that are tough to place on..? I am missing the humor too.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Ron R » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:26 pm

Grousewing wrote:
Ron R wrote:
Grousewing wrote: I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
That's pretty funny....Thanks for the laugh.
So whats so funny????
Because that's a joke..."need to get lucky if you are to place on the AVERAGE michigan dog".....You really need to ask "what's so funny". :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Ron R » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:34 pm

Grousewing wrote: I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
Hold on now....didn't you guys loose a head to head trial against pointing labs at Towsends place :lol: :lol: :lol: .
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Ron R » Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:17 pm

Not alot of michigan dogs in the current standings...just saying.
http://www.nstra.org/current_standings_New.htm

You might want to ease up on the bragging and try not to insult other regions with comments like the ones previously made.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by ultracarry » Fri Apr 13, 2012 3:45 pm

I knew that one was coming.. you would have had a better chance at defending the statement if you would have grouped multiple states and said great dogs instead of "average".

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:06 pm

Ron R wrote:
Grousewing wrote: I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
Hold on now....didn't you guys loose a head to head trial against pointing labs at Towsends place :lol: :lol: :lol: .
Yea now this was pretty bad, still cant believe the labs won that one............ lol
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Grousewing » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:12 pm

Ron R wrote:Not alot of michigan dogs in the current standings...just saying.
http://www.nstra.org/current_standings_New.htm

You might want to ease up on the bragging and try not to insult other regions with comments like the ones previously made.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm bragging, don't mean to at all. Also not wanting to insult any other regions or people. I never said Michigan was the best region over any others just saying we have had and currently have some tough dogs here. As for the high point standings that's a money game, the more money you spend the more points you can earn. I am sure there are many other great dogs in other regions across the country.
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Ron R » Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:27 pm

Grousewing wrote:just saying we have had and currently have some tough dogs here. As for the high point standings that's a money game,
Agree 100% on both statements :D .
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by DonF » Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:26 pm

Grousewing wrote:
Ron R wrote:
Grousewing wrote: I know Michigan has some really tough dogs and you do need to get lucky if you are to place on the average Michigan dog.
Hold on now....didn't you guys loose a head to head trial against pointing labs at Towsends place :lol: :lol: :lol: .
Yea now this was pretty bad, still cant believe the labs won that one............ lol
I can believe it. Imagine you had a pointing dog that was never out of gun range and worked the field like a vacume. I didn't read where anyone said it was a thing of beauty. We had a guy come out to a fun day years ago and cleaned out clock with a springer. It hit the field and he took it up one way and back the other. Dog caught every bird. Really nice dog, AKC Fld CH! No it didn't point a thing!
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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by romeo212000 » Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:48 pm

That depends on what your definition of successful is. If you're definition of successful is be a top nstra dog then very few. Most people who get one will only have one or two. If your definition of successful is go out a few weekends a season and find a couple birds each time and maybe place a couple times then most well bred dogs with the proper training will be capable of that.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by romeo212000 » Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:01 pm

Redfishkilla wrote:There is one trait that makes a good NSTRA dog....bird finding ability. It also helps to have a fast dog that covers the field 5 times in 30 minutes. This spring, Texas has had a lot of dry hot days of trialing. Here's a question for the NSTRA folks. Do you think it's poosible to train a dog to slow down and maybe hunt a little closer on days like these? I don't want to try with my one dog allowed to trial but I've thought about it. I'd be afraid to shorten up my dog's range or slow them down when they really need to run fast. The other reason i don't want to train for this is because after running hard in this heat for five or ten minutes they slow up anyway. We killed 4 rattlesnakes the last trial when it was hot. Dang I hate those things.
I killed two of those. How'd your regionals go cy?

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Troy08er » Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:21 pm

+1
birddogger wrote:
That is not all that far fetched a senairo! I know of one dog in the NSTRA Hall of Fame that seldom got mor4e than about 50 yds from it's handler. The handler spent a good amount of time looking for birds himself and would bring the dog back to those he found. If you want to win, those birds really help! The owner of that dog told me once that all that was needed to beat the dog was the same number of finds, great hunting dog though!
I think being successful in NSTRA depends as much on the experience and strategy of the handler as it does on the dog. Please don't take this wrong, you still need a well trained dog that handles well but strategy plays a big part. JMO.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Redfishkilla » Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:27 am

Not well for me and Sandy......Sassy won with Davison's shorthair Rex as first runner up...Congrats on Gunner!! Sandy did win Derby Dog for the WTX region though.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by romeo212000 » Wed Apr 18, 2012 8:58 pm

Redfishkilla wrote:Not well for me and Sandy......Sassy won with Davison's shorthair Rex as first runner up...Congrats on Gunner!! Sandy did win Derby Dog for the WTX region though.
Thanks. Congrats on winning derby dog. Who'd you hear about Gunner from?

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by Redfishkilla » Thu Apr 19, 2012 5:50 am

saw it on pence's facebook

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by JoshHaker » Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:38 am

Thanks romeo! That is what I suspected. So Pointers have dominated the big running trials but when you shorten the area that needs to be covered it evens the playing field. Is that correct?

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by CowboyBirdDogs » Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:43 am

I don't know about Michigan but there are 10 dogs in the top
67. And Sunday I have the great honor of running against the 6th dog in the nation and the shorthair that won the national trial in Montana. Our Lone Star Region is pretty tough.

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Re: NSTRA dog

Post by scott townsend » Tue May 01, 2012 10:57 am

codym wrote:
Grousewing wrote:IMO it takes a big running, great nose and fairly well broke dog to be competitive in NSTRA. I have had setters, pointers and gsp and all 3 of these breeds with certain dogs were very competitive. It takes a very smart, bike tracking, one in a thousand dog to be a top player in NSTRA.


I've only run nstra trials in AZ and they plant off horseback which I really like. Do alot of dogs track the atv when birds are planted off it? I've heard that they do but like I said I've never seen it.
Being able to track the ATV or the horse actually has nothing to do with either the ATV or the horse. What is the one common denominator that both methods of planting share??????? Birds. Its the dander that comes of the birds while tranporting. That is what the dogs can follow. That is why they can follow a horse or an ATV.

As far as being competive in NSTRA it takes many different talents on both the owner/handler and the dog. The dog needs allot of nose, perferably allot speed, biddability is a huge help, as well a style, stamina and brains.
As for the handler, common sense, the ability to control your dog, and the ability to manuver around the field to play the chess match part of the game. Some stamina on the handlers end helps also. :D

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