Here are the results of the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Spring Test, held August 18-20 at Cobb Lake State Wildlife Area in Wellington, CO. Our thanks to the handlers who presented their dogs, the judges who assessed their performance – and our volunteer corps, who are the heart of our chapter.

Following up on this week’s post: Here’s some additional information about the intent and meaning of the language in the proposed changes to Chapter 8 of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife regulations involving hunting dog training.

Like you, I was concerned about how the intent to exclude “exercise and conditioning” from the definition of training would affect us. So I called Tom Kroening, Deputy Regional Manager for the Northeast Region ( and my last supervisor while I was working at CPW).

To recap – the proposed language reads:

“Training means the act of a person instructing a hunting dog to follow scent, point, flush, retrieve “and respond to related commands to improve the dog’s performance in hunting wildlife or for field trials.” ( emphasis mine)

CPW has long struggled to manage non-hunting dog use of some state wildlife areas. In 2011, the then-Division of Wildlife wrestled with excessive use of two Loveland state wildlife areas by dog walkers. It was a messy public process and generated a lot of ill-will by non-hunters who had come to view these wildlife properties – bought with hunting license fees – as their local parks. So this is not a new issue for Colorado’s wildlife managers.

Tom said the language for this proposed revision to the regs was selected with our needs in mind. It allows handlers to train their dogs to be responsive in the field – which is a necessary skill for a finished hunting dog. The key, he said, is the regs would allow training  a dog to respond to … commands to improve the dog’s performance in hunting wildlife or for field trials.”

In practice, what that means is a handler needs to be commanding his or her dog while it is in the field.

I specifically asked Tom how District Wildlife Managers and Wildlife Techs would apply the language to the training we do for cooperation while hunting – and specifically to encourage a dog to actively and productively search while remaining in range of the gun. Tom said so long as a handler is commanding the dog, such as with voice, whistle or collar, they are within the scope of “training” as contemplated by the proposed revision.

Tom added that CPW recognizes that young dogs may not actually respond to commands. The test for law enforcement will be whether the handler is actively commanding the dog or using other training techniques to establish cooperation.

Bottom line – If you’re just letting your dog run around, uncontrolled, not caring where it goes or how far out it goes, allowing it to chase wildlife without attempting to call it off,  then you may not be within the scope of “training.”

So don’t do that. Bring a whistle, fit your dog with an e-collar, use them to keep your dog in sight while you teach it that the two of you are a team and it needs to pay attention to you and respond to your commands.

We’re lucky to have state properties where we can train our dogs. In some other states, chapters spend thousands of dollars every year to lease training grounds.

It’s pretty clear to me that the intent of the language is to permit the training activities that we use to train our versatile hunting dogs. The key is to be controlling your dog in the field. Which is what you should be doing anyway.

As always, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.
Email them to [email protected].

Thanks

Theo Stein
President
RMC NAVHDA

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is proposing to change regulations involving dog training. These changes will be discussed at the September Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting in Steamboat and would be finalized at the Commission meeting in Yuma in November.

The key changes appear to be:

• You will need to be actively training your dog for hunting. “Exercising” and “conditioning” will not qualify as training. The language of the regulation does not specify whether training for “search” and “range” is covered.
• Permits will be issued on an individual basis, though permit holders may train with up to 9 friends. “Subpermittees” are eliminated. If you will be releasing birds on your own, you’ll need to have your own permit.
• The annual reporting requirement is dropped.

  I’ve posted below the letter from CPW outlining the proposed changes, and the actual language in Chapter 8 of state wildlife regs.

  While the changes may appear to be minor, it’s unfortunate CPW did not reach out to us or to any other dog club that I’ve spoken with in the past few months to notify us about potential changes to dog training rules, let alone solicit input.

  We will seek to get some clarity from CPW on the impact of these regulations. In order that the RMC chapter can best represent our shared interests, let’s please get information before we respond to CPW or the Commission, and we’ll take it from there.

  Thanks and stay tuned,

  Theo Stein
  President
  RMC NAVHDA
  Dogs with Altitude

  Chapter W-8 Letter

  REDLINE CHPTR08

All
Due to recent churn in the test roster, the Rocky Mountain Chapter has a very few Fall Test slots available.

• Two NA slots are available for Friday August 18.
• One UT slot available for Saturday August 19.

Don’t wait! Contact Testing Director Phil Goodwin: [email protected]

Theo Stein
RMC President

RMC members

RMC tests usually have a long wait list. So as you may have heard by now, the RMC Board decided this year to expand our fall test to 3 days – to give our members a better chance to test their hunting companion close to home. With our final training day now behind us, it’s time to get ready for our test.

Test days are Friday Aug 18, Sat Aug 19 and Sunday Aug 20 at Cobb Lake State Wildlife Area in Wellington.

Our chapter is known for hosting smooth-running tests, but these three days will test us, for a change. Friday is all Natural Ability. Saturday has a mix of NA and utility dogs, so we will need to set up and support the maximum number of test events. Sunday is all UT, so it will feature the maximum run time.

We need help setting up and packing up, bird planters, pheasant runners, someone to manage lunch for judges and volunteers and good-will ambassadors who can make sure handers’ questions get answered quickly. In short, we need your help.

For those who have volunteered before – please see if you can pitch in on at least one day. If you are testing with us in two weeks, please consider volunteering on days you are not running. If you have not volunteered before, here are several reasons to come out and help.

• Volunteering gives you a great opportunity to watch other dogs and learn from other handlers.
• You’ll hang out with experienced chapter members – and pick up valuable observations about dog behavior and tips on handling skills while you build friendships with fellow chapter members that you’ll be training with in the years to come.
• By watching dogs in the field and later hearing their scores, you’ll better understand judging criteria.
• Chapter events you’ve participated in have been run by volunteers. Pay it forward.

If you’ve volunteered before, please indicate your experience. Don’t worry if you haven’t volunteered before – you can learn on assignment!

Click on the Signup Genius link to help us give a bunch of handlers just like you a day they’ll always remember.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044fa4aa2ba5f85-call

Thanks and hope to see you there!

Theo Stein
RMC President

Director of Testing Phil Goodwin waits with Milburn Markle and his Pudelpointer Levon before the NA water event.

Running a volunteer organization like the Rocky Mountain Chapter of NAVHDA takes – you guessed it – volunteers who are willing to give their time and their energy to help others succeed in training the hunting dog and companion that will be with them for years in the field, and give them memories for a lifetime.

RMC NAVHDA’s tests are always full. We feel a responsibility to run NAVHDA tests that take the pressure off handlers and give their dogs the best chance to perform. And we could not do it without the selfless help of volunteers. So thank you Rick Huber, Dan Sprague, Jake & Sara Heesacker, Don Andrews, Michael Autrey, Ross Sibley, Andrew Hoezel, boatman Allen Kidd and Tom Swezey.

Judges prepare the drag event for Sunday’s UT handlers with the snowy Front Range foothills in the background.

A special thanks to:

• Test Secretary Phil Goodwin, for doing all the hard work behind the scenes that make a test run smoothly,
• Colin Hornbeck, for taking photos on Saturday and
• Sheryl Dierenfield, for throwing down two absolutely scrumptious lunches for the judges and volunteers.

And a puppy picture, just because.

Ridiculously adorable German wirehaired pointer.

Here are the results of the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Spring Test. Our thanks to the handlers who presented their dogs and the judges who assessed their performance.

Thanks in advance for helping us run another great test!

The RMC board is excited to announce two summer training clinics for you and your dog.

Forced retrieve clinic – June 10

Tom Swezey, one of Colorado’s most respected trainers and owner of Indian Brook Kennels in Wellington, will host a hands-on training clinic to help up to 10 handlers understand the theory and practice of force-fetch training. Participation is limited to give Tom time to work with you and your dog.

The cost for the clinic is $75 and includes lunch and snacks. The clinic will be held at Tom’s property.

Training Skills Clinic – July 8 and 9

Blaine Carter, whose family owns Merrymeeting Kennels and runs NAVHDA’s Yankee Chapter, has agreed to help us host a two-day training skills clinic at Cobb Lake SWA on July 8 and 9. This is a hands-on training skills clinic for up to 20 handlers and their dogs.
This seminar will include foundational obedience up and through finishing your gun dog.  For the more advanced dogs, we will tackle steadiness, search for the duck, force fetch, drags and tracks.  For the younger dogs we will cover topics such as building confidence and control in the field and how to start your dog’s fetching habits more effectively.  The seminar will also provide an opportunity to have professional help in assessing you and your dog’s training weaknesses to get you where you want to be.  This will be a hands-on seminar so you are encouraged to bring your dog as we will have one-on-one time with Blaine and Jason to tackle any specific issues you might be having.

Blaine has been a NAVHDA judge since early 1980’s and has trained and tested dogs at various levels successfully in the NAVHDA and German systems. He and his family have bred and trained some of the top German Shorthairs in the country and for the past 25 years, he has hosted training clinics to pass on his knowledge and experience to other versatile hunting dog owners.

The cost for the clinic is $150 and includes lunch and snacks both days. The clinic will be held at Cobb Lake SWA.

Because there are only 30 total slots available, we are asking that you register for either Tom’s force-fetch clinic or Blaine’s training skills clinic. Email [email protected] if you’d like to register. Slots will be assigned in the order that clinic fees are received.

Thanks!

Theo Stein
President, RMC NAVHDA