4evrhtn

I was wondering how many other German Shorthair owners hunt waterfowl with their GSP. I have 2 GSP's little over a year old who absolutely love swimming and will retrieve a thousand times in water while their retrieve on land is anything but this consistent. They are from the same litter, the boy is an AKC JR. Hunter working toward his Sr. and his sister came from another ownerwho returned her to the kennel. I cannothunt the 2 of them together(yet)in the upland fields where it's all about being steady to shot and point without flushing so I figure I will take them Dove and Duck & Goose hunting where they can retrieve without the female ruining the males progress by flushing or chasing.

Any pics of your GSP'sin action would be great!

mustad

Go check out a NAVHDA event. You will see tons of shorthairs being used for waterfowl. This is one of the four primary functions of a shorthair... finding/pointing upland game, retrieve on both land and water, tracking fur, bloodtracking wounded big game.

A list of NAVHDA events in your area are on this website... www.navhda.org. There are a bunch of chapters in PA.

Good luck

4evrhtn

I had been told about NAVHDA by another GSP owner. I am currently doing the AKC hunt tests b/c of the AKC title being registered on their pedigree. I wish AKC would recognize the NAVHDA achievments on the pedigree as well for the purpose of bettering the breed. Thanks for the info, I will check it out.

mustad

I think you would enjoy NAVHDA a lot. The chapters make a huge difference as they will often host training days and other events outside of the tests to help you prepare your dog for the tests and the coming hunting season.

Good luck.

4evrhtn

I looked navhda up and like the fact that the dogs are run by themselves against a standard instead of against another dog. I have see judges who are friends with judges and who judge each other's dogs show preferential treatment and at times overlooking what should be grounds for disqualification. I don't like this clique type organization. I saw them give a guy straight 10's whose dog performed satisfactory at best and then heard the judges remark on how beautiful the dog was. They turned a hunt test into a beauty pageant contest. I am going to run mine in seniors and see how things go if I don't like what is going on I will be done with the AKC hunt tests.

JW

A score of 10 has never been used in NAVHDA - you have the wrong organization.

And your statement as far as judges is also not correct. Each dog is judged to a STD and the score 0 to 4 is arrived at by consensus of 3 judges. no matter who they are!
JW

4evrhtn

If you would have read this whole thread you would have seen I was refering to AKC Hunt Tests which I myself have qualified dogs through. But thanks anyway!

mustad

If you're interested, there's a NAVHDA test coming up in Wellsville, PA on 9/25-26. I'll be there judging and would be happy to explain more how it works.

Good luck.

JW

Sorry I did read the whole thread and took it the wrong way........

JW

4evrhtn

I am definitely interested in Navhda. Like I said the only thing that I don't like is that the AKC doesn't recognize the Navhda Titles on the AKC pedigree like they do for the Hunt Test Titles.

My plan is this... My dog came ffrom Stradivarius Baroque/ Hillhaven's Hustler bloodline and his Sire is hopefully going to earn his Sr. title, his Dam is a Jr. Hunter. I want to reach Master Hunter with mine so that when I breed him for the purpose of having another Male from him I want to better his pedigree and continue with that pup to hopefully have a Master so that eventually my present dog's Gr. Grandpup would have 3 generations of Master hunters in his pedigree. That is why I enter my dogs into hunt tests. I am not a breeder but I want to build an already strong bloodline into a stronger one so one day I may breed quality Shorthairs. I understand I will need quality Dam bloodlines as well an will be looking for such in about 3 years.