Retriever Hunt Tests: A Handler's Guide to Success
This book can, for the most part, be used by those who run NAVHDA Test and AKC Hunt Tests for Pointing Breeds, in addition to those who run Retriever Hunt Tests.Jim breaks this book into three sections. The first two sections are designed for the novice or experienced handler with an overview of Hunt Tests; the who, what, where and whys; and successful handling. As a novice or a seasoned handler, mistakes are made; you freeze, unable to react to a situation or you react with the hope of simply eking through a test. This book offers some common sense guidelines as you go through your day of testing. The third section deals with Putting on a Hunt Test; what is required of the club to ensure a successfully run test. This section also discusses So You Want to Be a Judge; and becoming a judge for the right reason.The first part explains the nature of the various levels of hunt tests and their non-competitive nature, the organizations and their test (and history) and the different levels of testing. There are also a number of statistics on the hunt tests; the dramatic increase in the number of tests and along with test entries and passing ratios due to the non-competitiveness of hunt tests versus field trials.In the second section, the book covers in detail common sense training and successful handling - i.e. joining a training group, varying your training locations and training sessions, etc. In addition, attending a test prior to testing will give you an eye into exactly what is expected of you and your dog; how the test is laid out, watching various dogs perform, and at the end of the day, how the judges scored the dogs. Jim also walks you through a day of testing, from getting gear readied at home, traveling and guidelines and courtesy throughout the test. He also reviews the Mark and Blind Retrieve which are specific tot the Retriever Hunt Tests as well as setting the dog up for the blinds, diversion shots, diversion birds, poison birds and water blinds to name a few. Jim covers it all!For the final chapter regarding Putting on a Hunt Test, there are a number of check-lists of what is required of the Chapter and their Hunt Test Committee along with job descriptions (pros and cons included). It would be hard for a Chapter to not put on a successful test after reading this section and going through the various lists. Again, while the jobs are specific to th Retriever Hunt Tests, the job descriptions can be generalized for those of the pointing breed tests.So You Want to be a Judge goes through several reasons people want to become a judge and how the experience of training and testing dogs will give you the ground-up knowledge for becoming a good judge.I truly enjoyed this book as Jim hits the nail on the head when it comes to common sense. I believe it is truly A Handler's Guide to Success no matter what type of test you run. --Laura Picard - Versatile Hunting Dog magazine