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NAVHDA
Interested in participating with your vizsla in hunting activities other than field trials or hunting tests? If so, you should check out if there is a NAVHDA group near you. NAVHDA complements well the activities of sporting dog breed clubs and field trial organizations. It provides a standard method of evaluating the performance of all versatile hunting dogs, consistent with North American hunting practices.
A versatile hunting dog is a dog that is bred and trained to reliably hunt and point game, to retrieve from both land and water, and to track wounded game on land and in water. With the intelligence, drive, and trainability of our vizslas they are well suited to being successful with the NAVHDA test.
Most local chapters of NAVHDA have monthly training days and have experienced members that are willing to help novices get started on the right path of being successful with their pointing breed. It is through these training days that I first got involved with NAVHDA and the testing program they offer. Training and testing are the two most important functions of a NAVHDA chapter.
The testing levels are Natural Ability, Utility Preparatory Test, Utility Test, and the ultimate Invitational Test. Natural Ability is for dogs up to 16 months of age and is designed to test the inherited hunting instincts of pups. In the field the pup must hunt and find game and point game. Blank shots are fired to evaluate gun sensitivity. At the water the pup is expected to enter the water twice. The dummies need not be retrieved but willingness to enter the water is evaluated. The third part of the test is the tracking of a live pheasant. The bird must be tracked but need not be retrieved. The pup is evaluated during the test on use of nose, cooperation and hunting desire. The field level of this test is similar to the AKC Junior Hunter.
The Utility Prep Test is used to evaluate dogs at the middle of training towards being a utility dog. The dog must find and point birds and should be steady to the shot. The dog should retrieve to within one step of the handler. The water test consists of heeling through heeling sticks to the water's edge where a 40 yard retrieve of a thrown duck must be completed. In addition to the water retrieve an independent water search is evaluated for a dead duck that has been concealed in vegetation.
The last portion is tracking and retrieving of a dead bird that has been dragged 50 yards out of sight of the dog. Again the dog is being evaluated for nose, desire, obedience and cooperation. The field part of this test is similar to AKC Senior Hunter but a "back" is not required.
The next test level is the Utility Test. This tests the finished hunting dog. The dog is required to search for , find and point game, and to retrieve shot birds to hand. It needs to be steady to wing, shot, and fall. A 100 to 200 drag must be tracked and retrieved. At the water test the dog must demonstrate heeling through a serpentine course to a blind and then remain steady at the blind while the handler goes out of sight and fires two blank shots. When the handler returns the dog must remain steady as a series of blanks are fired and then retrieve a thrown duck from the water. The duck search is the final test and involves a blind search for a live duck across water with emerging vegetation. The dog is scored on use of nose, desire, stamina, cooperation and obedience. The field is similar to AKC Master Hunter but again does not require "backing".
In each of these tests the dogs are judged against a standard of performance and awarded a Prize I, II, or III, according to the points accumulated. Prize I Utility dogs are eligible to run in the Invitational Test which is held yearly to be awarded the title Versatile Champion if successful. A Prize I Utility dog is truly a pleasure to watch as is an AKC Master Hunter dog in the field, but also in the water work and duck search. The handler and dog must work together as a team and many hours of work go into training a dog at this level.
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