NAVHDA NA II
What the heck do those initials stand for? Well, NAVHDA is North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association and NA II stands for Natural Ability Prize II. A couple of weeks ago Jill and I took Vada to a test in MN. Below describes the day. For more information about NAVHDA, visit www.navhda.org.
June 3, 2006
Today was the NAVHDA Natural Ability test for Vada. We spent the night at the Waltons, as the test was at Major Avenue Hunt Club near Glencoe. The dogs woke us up at about 5:30 and Jill took Ali on a walk around the neighborhood while I took Vada in the backyard to stretch her legs a bit. Jill, Vada, and I got to the Hunt Club around 7:15 and met with other owners. A guy that I have been training with near Baldwin (Gerry) was there with his Spinone (Gabe). Four of Gabes littermates and his mom were also there, so it was a Spinone reunion of sorts.
There were 19 dogs being tested today. 10 in one group, 9 in my group. Vada was scheduled to run 8th out of the 9 dogs. At 8am it was already getting warm. The forecast was for upper 80s and sunny. The judges gave us instructions about the day. The day would consist of a 20 minute field session, a swim, and a pheasant track. Our senior judge was Frank Spaeth, whom I had met a couple of months earlier up at his cabin while we were at our cabin near Tower. The second MN judge was named Jonathon and the third judge was from Illinois. The plan was to run all of the field sessions in the morning before it got too hot, break for lunch, then do the water work, followed by tracking. After instructions, we waited for our turn in the field.
Vada was visibly nervous and excited. She really enjoyed meeting all of the other dogs, but just would not sit still. I took her away from the crowds three separate times to sit in the shade and relax, but that didnt help much. I kept giving her water, as it was hot. At about 11am Jill and I took Vada in the car and turned on the air conditioning, hoping she would take a nap. After about 15 minutes, she did. She was asleep about 10 minutes, when a young man tapped on the car window and said we were up next.
So it was about 11:30, and it was probably 80 degrees and sunny with a decent wind out of the east. I was excited for the field search. I had trained Vada almost every week for the past several weeks on quail near Baldwin, and she always did very well. Now was the time for her to show her stuff. I tried giving her some more water, but she was too excited, and wouldnt take it. I walked to a staging area while Jill waited behind and waited a few minutes more. The field marshal (Joe) was there with the gunner (Cheryl?), whose responsibility was to shoot twice while we were in the field to make sure that Vada wasnt gun shy. We talked with them, trying to get any last minute tips. They advised to keep her hydrated. I had brought 3 bottles of water out, so I figured we would be fine.
As the judges approached after evaluating the previous dog, I was trying to get Vada to drink some more water. After seeing Vada refuse, the field marshal grabbed my water bottle and exclaimed Ill show you how you get a dog to drink, and lifted Vada's head straight up and dumped the bottle down her throat. She was struggling and choking and after a few seconds struggled free and vomited up the water and her breakfast. Needless to say, I wasnt happy. One of the judges commented about the marshal trying to drown my dog. Vada was shaken up a bit, as was I, but we had to go to work. The judges gave me some instructions, and we headed out in the field.
I was casually talking with the judges, because, again I had little concern about this stage of the test. In the first couple minutes, the gunner shot twice and Vada looked up, but kept hunting exactly what she is supposed to do. Within another minute, she was on point. Yes! The judges hurriedly walked toward Vada. I reassured them that Vada is a staunch pointer who doesnt move much. After about 2 minutes trying to produce a bird, nothing was there. I had Vada reset, and she sniffed around the area for a bit, but then moved on. Blast. Old scent, probably. Well, that didnt start out as intended. I tried to give Vada water, because she was panting very hard and not hunting in her usual way. She wouldnt take any. She was scared of the bottle. I dumped some on her, rubbed some on her belly and around her nose and ears, and she was off hunting again.
Within 2 or 3 minutes, she was on point again. But not a solid point. She was panting and her tail was wagging a bit. Another area of old scent no bird. So halfway through the field session, we had two false points or non productives as they are called, and Vada was not her usual spunky self. Judge Jonathan asked that I call her and try to give her some water. I called, and she came, but again wouldnt drink. Now I was getting anxious. She took a little water, and then continued hunting. A few minutes later she pointed again, not a solid point. We couldnt find the bird, I had Vada reset and she jumped ahead and grabbed the bird that was about 3 feet in front of her. Not good. With only about 5 minutes left, we were imploding. Is this really happening this way, I though to myself? This was not how I had envisioned it. The judges realized that Vada was overheating so we walked toward a tub of water by an old silo to see if we could cool her off. On our way, she pointed another quail pretty well. She even held through flush. When we got to the tub, she started drinking immediately. Then she jumped into the tub and I splashed water on her and she loved it. After a couple minutes, she looked a lot better.
The judges said, well we have a couple more minutes, lets work this way (as they pointed in the general direction back toward where we started). After the water break, Vada was hunting much better. She had a jump in her step again. Nearing the end of our time, she locked up on a beautiful point and held it solidly. She was working with the wind and caught the scent behind her and turned to her left and froze. I saw the bird about 10 yards in front of her nose. The judges acknowledged the point and asked that I just take Vada in the opposite direction; we wouldnt need to flush this one. And that was it. Field session done.
I met up with Jill who was waiting at the staging area and we walked back to the car. I told here about the water incident and how the first 15 minutes went horribly, but that I think she redeemed herself at the end. I also told her that I thought our chances at a Prize I were probably out of the question now based on this performance. She was even more upset about the water choking incident. As we approached the parking area, we talked to other handlers about how they did and they all said that it was tough going out in the heat.
By now, it was after noon, and well over 80 degrees. We had lunch while Vada took a nap in the air conditioned car. After lunch, our group drove about a mile down the road to the place where we were to do the water work. I wasnt at all worried about this, because Vada loves the water. As expected, she jumped right in both times, and would have loved to have stayed in the water longer. Most dogs did well in the water. One Vizsla did not go in. After everyone did the water, we drove back to the main area and prepared for the tracking session the most difficult part of the test.
For the tracking session, the dog is expected to track a wing clipped pheasant through the cover and find the bird. Being that it was hot and extremely dry this was going to be challenging. I had spoken to other handlers who had already done the tracking and all had done poorly. My friend Gerry whose Spinone had always done well in tracking during training, figured that he didnt earn any points in the tracking because it had gone so poorly. So, needless to say, I was nervous.
Since we were second to last to run, we stayed in the car for as long as we could while Vada napped. At about 3:15 someone said we needed to go down to the staging area, so we did. The staging area was a van parked in the middle of the field. We brought a big jug of water, but Vada didnt drink much. She was excited. Every few minutes while we waited, I rubbed some water on her nose and in her ears and on he belly to cool her off. After waiting about 20 minutes, we were up. I walked up to the judges, received some instructions about the general direction that the pheasant ran, and prepared Vada to track. I removed her leash, and grabbed her by her collar just as we had practiced several times. I walked her up to the feather pile and pointed to the feathers and motioned the direction of the track. She was immediately interested and I let her go. Amazingly, she followed the track perfectly with her nose to the ground for about 30 yards, then turned around and followed it back to the feather pile. She briefly looked up and then quickly followed the track the same distance and then started doing a general field search off in a different direction. Her nose was still down, but she was now in the wrong area. Youre not really allowed to give them commands, so all I could do was stand there, facing the direction the pheasant ran, hoping that Vada would pick up on that, but she didnt. After a few minutes, the judges asked me to call her back. She came back, and we tried it again. This time, she only half-heartedly followed the track for about 10 yards then gave up and looked at me. The judges said I could leash up the dog. It was done. I thanked the judges and dejectedly headed back to the staging area where Jill was waiting. Ed Erickson, a well-respected trainer from Isle was also there. I had talked with him throughout the day and I debriefed a bit with him. He was handling 2 dogs for clients. We talked about how difficult tracking is when it is hot. I told Jill that a Prize I was now out of the question, but that I really hoped for a Prize II. I told her that tracking is the most subjective to evaluate, but that I thought the best Vada could have earned was 2 points out of 4 (she needed at least a 3 to get a prize I). If she only earned 1 point in the track, the best she could do was a Prize III. So that was the end of the test.
We met up with most of the other handlers and compared experiences and swapped training tips and met a number of great folks. After about 20 minutes, Ed Erickson came back and said that his dog had done the exact same thing that Vada had done. Tracked for a few yards, then went off and hunted. It was so hot and dry that the scent just didnt stay on the ground well. After waiting for another half hour or so, the judges came back and read the scores for all of the dogs. The first dog earned a Prize III, the second no prize, and so on. By the time they got to Vada, no dog had earned a Prize I, only 2 other dogs had earned Prize II, and a couple did not prize at all making me even more nervous. The maximum number of points for each area of evaluation is 4, and different areas have a different index number, that is the number of points earned multiplied by a base number for the total score because different areas a weighted differently. Then Frank read Vadas scores (index score in parentheses):
Nose: 4 (x 6)
Search: 3 (x5)
Water: 4 (x5)
Pointing: 4 (x4)
Tracking: 2 (x2)
Desire to Work: 4 (x4)
Cooperation: 3 (x2)
Total score: 100, Prize II
So, she earned a 2 in tracking, which is what I expected and she lost a point in search probably because of the non productive points. I dont know why she lost a point in cooperation, she seemed to be listening to me pretty well. Maybe it was because she wasnt taking water. All in all, it was a good day. No dog in our group earned a Prize I today. Vada actually earned the second highest score. The conditions were just too difficult. Only one dog earned higher than a 2 on the tracking phase, and that dog also earned a 3 on the search. I dont know how my friend Gerrys dog Gabe did he was in the other group that was still finishing up when I left. Ill ask him how other dogs in his group did. I REALLY wanted a Prize I, but after the field work debacle, I was very happy that she earned a prize at all. I know that Vada is a great family dog and will be a great hunting dog, and in the end, that is all that matters.