First Dog to Earn MHA -- 'Battue' On March 17th, 2012 Battue completed the final leg of his MHA, Master Hunter Advanced, hunting title at the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Northern Sacramento Valley test in Rio Vista, CA to become the first pointing dog to accomplish this title. Battue is a five-year-old Vizsla bred […]

Growing Up In A GSP Family Ten-year-old Brandon Novoa, a 5th grader at Boston Valley Elementary in Boston, NY, has reason to feel proud: He recently put a Junior Hunter title on one of his parents' German Shorthaired Pointers. Active in school extracurricular activities such as the school newspaper, orchestra (playing violin), chorus and various […]

By: Emily Easton For the Eastons of Dallas, PA, dogs are a true family affair. Starting with their first Vizsla, Dallas, in 1996, the Easton family -- Ralph, Diana and daughters Laura, now 20, and Emily -- has participated in conformation, field trials and hunting tests. Emily is a 6th grader with academic goals to […]

Starting last year at the Eastern German Shorthaired Pointer Club's Hunt Test, Kaitlyn has scored a "leg" at almost every Hunt Test, finishing Sage's JH title in Delaware this past January. With guidance from her father, Carl Walsh, and also Mal Decker, Eastern Director of the German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America, Kaitlyn has impressed […]

Luis Neves and Betinho do Choupal -- Our Road to Master Hunter -- July 30, 2012 I was born in Portugal and spent my youth hunting with my father and our dogs. It was there that I developed my life-long love of hunting. I moved to America when I was 18 years old. I continued […]

Hunting Tests for Pointing Breeds were developed so people would have an opportunity to demonstrate a dogs ability to perform under actual hunting conditions. Judges should evaluate a dog's natural abilities as well as those traits obtained through training. Hunting Tests are for people of all ages, male and female and for dogs at least […]

By: Zach Simpson Zach Simpson is a16-year-old from Wadsworth, IL, who knows exactly what he wants for his future. An All Honors or Advanced Placement student, this Junior is heavily involved in competitive shooting as well as his Hunting Test activities with his Vizsla, Otis, who Zach trained and handled to his Master Hunter title. […]

By Lyle Johnson, AKC Executive Field Representative In Pointing Breed Field Trials, the gun dog stake is probably one of the most fun stakes for the judges to choose the winners. While the Open All-Age dog might be the prototypical "big running dog," the Gun Dog should be more in tune with the handler and […]

By Milton S. Holcombe On the weekend of April 18-19, 2009, the first revised edition of the AKC Advanced Judges and Handlers Seminar was held at Forest Lake, Minnesota. This seminar was sponsored by the Northern Flight Hunting Retriever Association and the Lake Country Retriever Club. Chuck Stokes was the lead person for Northern Flight […]

By Wayne Bleazard, Executive Field Representative Most ten year old girls are interested in the latest styles and fashions and Justin Bieber! Kelsey Deuth's ideas about important things focuses on the animal kingdom. She LOVES all animals, especially dogs, and enjoys helping Kim and Doug Shade, a professional trainer from Oregon, at their kennels. She […]

by Senior Field Rep Tom Meyer January 1st, 2012 marked the entry of the Flat-Coat Retriever into the Spaniel Hunting Test program. The Spaniel Hunting test program is a demonstration of a breed's usefulness in finding, flushing and retrieving upland game. This is one of the functions for which the Flat-Coats were bred. This is […]

Once in a lifetime you may be lucky enough to share your life with a simply amazing dog that nature has smiled on and who excels in every way.  I am incredibly fortunate to share my life with such a dog, CH Rosewood Little Giant UDX VER RA MHU SH MXP MJP T2BP XFP DJ, […]

Sunday, July 12, 2009 -- Beaver Dam, WI History was made today as the first Airedales to ever enter a Spaniel Hunting Test got the breed off to a successful start. Airedales became eligible to enter the Spaniel Hunting Test program on July 1, 2009. It didn't take long for Mark and Karen Werner of […]

by Elissa Kirkegard Ch. Realta's Galileo CD TD SH MHU QAA CGC (IWSCA ALL AROUND RETRIEVER AND IWSCA WCX) Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? Nine year old veteran retriever and hunting dog, Gali, owned and handled by Elissa Kirkegard, took to the spaniel hunt test game with gusto. This is the […]

First NAVHDA based club to host an AKC Hunt Test By Bonnie Hidalgo, Executive Field Representative A reciprocal agreement for dog registration between the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) and the American Kennel Club (AKC) was announced in July 2007. The reciprocal agreement makes it easier to register a dog with AKC if […]

By Jerry D. Mann, Field Director -- Sporting Breeds As I entered the grounds for the Mid-South Hunting Retriever Club fall hunt test near Bruce, Mississippi I hurriedly approached the contestants' sign-up area to obtain a copy of the event catalog and locate the running site of the Master test. It was with anxious anticipation […]

By Don Paltani, AKC Senior Executive Field Representative Dennis Pierce started in German Shorthaired Pointers in 1993, having no knowledge of formal dog training. Dennis became involved in NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Assn), which has a strong training program for new handlers. Dennis ran his dogs through the NAVHDA programs including natural ability […]

I first became interesting training dogs from duck hunting! I met Mr. Tyler Kohen owner of Southern Duck Dogs when I was in the process of looking for a great duck dog/pup. Mr. Tyler took me under his wing teaching me all dog training and obedience abilities and how to have my dog AKC Hunt […]

Ever hesitate to bring up a hard-to-pronounce foreign name because you’re afraid you’ll pull a Travolta and totally butcher it? To help you avoid these uncomfortable moments, WOOFipedia presents this handy pronunciation guide to five breeds whose names you’re embarrassed to say aloud at the dog park. Entlebucher Mountain Dog ENT-leh-boo-cur This Swiss herder’s name […]