# Scout's NAVDHA training weekend



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Friday Scout and I headed up the the Sandhills Gamelands in Hoffman, NC for her first training event. It's 60,000 acres of bird fields, ponds, and pine forests-very beautiful, but thanks to some rain, quite muddy in spots. So it was that we were almost there and in a hurry to find a campsite before dark. I was blindly following the GPS as it took me down a dirt/sand road in the middle of this vast property when I get to a slippery incline and get my little wagon thoroughly stuck. I try digging myself out, sticking firewood under the tires for traction, etc, but by myself there wasn't much I could do. So an hour later after lots of swearing at my stupidity and asking God for a hand I just sat there completely defeated. The sun is down and I hear some crashing in the woods. I think it's deer at first, but then four or five guys with full camo, guns, night vision scopes-the whole works-come out of the woods and say "we're going to get you out of here, ma'am." Turns out they were army guys doing role-play training stuff out there. They got some more guys out there and pushed my car out. The whole thing was just so ridiculous like it was out of a movie or something. Too great. We went on our way, set up camp and went to sleep ready for a long day in the field. 

We met up in the morning and broke into two groups: fieldwork and pheasant tracking. Scout hadn't done any tracking before, so we let her see the bird and then let her do a short track. A lot of air scenting and sight hunting first go around, but on her second track she kept her nose down and found it soon enough. Then we joined up with the other group and planted some quail for Scout. I'd already done her gun intro, so I had them shoot over her while she chased. She'd pause at the shot, but then would go right back to work. I didn't get a lot of feedback, but I thought she did well enough. The rest of the day we watched the duck search work. 

Next day there was a much smaller group-only five of us. It went much better in my opinion. We all seemed to click and there was some awesome work by the dogs. Scout's turn came up for the fieldwork and we planted some chukar and a quail for her. First time on chukar, but she had no problem finding them. She had her first bird shot for her. It took a bit of coaxing for the retrieve, but once she understood she was allowed to pick it up, she happily brought it back to me. The next bird they didn't shoot so we could see her reaction. The gunner flushed it and she held her point. He joked that she was already steady to wing and shot. It was just a one time thing so who knows if it's actually clicked with her, but I'd like to think she was waiting on us to shoot it for her. She also covered more ground than she had the day before. It was good to hear from people that have been doing this 30-40 years that she was doing a great job. It's all her breeding, so i can't take credit for it, but I was walking tall off that field! The rest of the day was duck work again, but in between the dogs, I threw bumpers for her. I'd said earlier that Scout wasn't doing too well with the water part. She'll swim, but not go very far. One guy was watching her retrieve the bumpers, and said, "Didn't you say your dog isn't too good with water. Well, what do you expect her to do? She's doing great!" 

Right before we left a guy that also does Deutsch Drahthaar tests laid down a rabbit track for his dog. His dog had brought it back already, but I looked over where the track was and there was Scout with her nose to ground following it. That just put a smile on my face. I haven't done any work on fur with her, but you can't keep those instincts from coming out. 

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Day to day life almost doesn't seem as real or saturated as a couple days in the woods does. Only 5 more days until the weekend and a mock test!


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of Scout at work, but here are a few of my favorite from the trip. Just pretend they're vizslas.


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## andallis (Mar 3, 2013)

Awesome story! We are thinking about trying to do the NAVHDA NA test sometime in may, unfortunately all the clubs are about 3-4 hours from us but oh well. I'm interested in anything that makes our girl happy and this seems to be the next step. Thanks for the info!!


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Wow and I thought the NAVADA test I did with Bailey set the hook in me deep! Your life just made a turn in those woods don't yah know. Not the wrong turn your GPS gave you, but the turn that Scout set you on.

Enjoy the ride. Maybe a picture like the one below may be you and Scout one day. This is my friend after her "Tony" finished his field championship run. Nothing is stopping you. You got the dog. 8)

RBD


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Andallis, whereabouts are you? It seems the norm for navdha and field trial folks to travel long distances to these things, but it is _so_ worth it. Give it a try! The ideal seems be to find a pointer club, or the like nearby for your day to day training and then travel to these training events once a month or so. It's exhausting, but in a good way. 


RBD, you said it well. I remember how cool I thought it was watching other people's dogs in the field, but it pales to seeing your own. Her joy was palpable. At first I was kind of like ok, we'll give this a try, see how she does...but there's no backing out now. I'd rather be stuck in this than stuck in the mud, though. 

Thanks for encouraging me to try it out, TR and others!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Great story with military to the rescue.
My kids pick at me because I like good old fashion maps.
Its not that I don't use a GPS sometimes, but I have already looked at the maps before I leave the house.


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## WillowyndRanch (Apr 3, 2012)

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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Ken,
haha, I know! Spinoni are such lumbering beasts, but that would be Scout in the pics. You're not the first to mistake her for a Spinone. I'll take that over a labradoodle any day!


TR,
I've learned my lesson. Trust my instincts and get a freaking map! *Facepalm*

The rescue was only the first interaction with the military that weekend. Ft. Bragg is 20 minutes away so they frequently use the grounds for training. The first day we were out in the field running someone's dog and we hear a loud whistling in the air. We look around trying to place it and then hear a big boom. Maybe 30 feet down the road from our cars there is a big mushroom cloud. A few minutes later some army guys come marching down the road and we're like "hey, could maybe not set off mortars right next to us." I can't imagine it was live, but it still gave us quite the scare!


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