Tig's Seasoned Land Test

This video was made Saturday when I was a handler for my mother and father-in-laws dog Tig.  I was able to work with her as a pup on obedience training, but since she has been trained by Aliy.  I usually ship Tig out once or twice a season to hunt with me and she has turned into one heck of a dog.  She is running the Seasoned Trials this weekend and she successfully passed both days.  She needs one more pass to receive her Seasoned Title and start competing in the Finished Hunt Test.  This will also give you a look at many things that I will be working Tuvuk on in the next few months.  I will post Tig's water test in a few days.

Tuvuk's Video From Saturday

This is the test that was ran on Saturday for the Started Dogs.  In this stage of training you are looking for your dog to be able to Mark a single bird.  Once they are sent out for the bird the process of hunting it up is encouraged to teach the dog to use their nose.  Once found the dog is required to deliver the bird to hand. I know that this does not look like a very tough challenge, but when you bring a 9 month old dog (youngest in this category) to a place that is completely foreign it can be a challenge.  If you think about it Tuvuk has never even hunted around trees or cattails.  It is pretty funny on the very first run that if you watch Tuvuk he is a little freaked out by the guys that are manning the thrower station.  We normally train with visible throwers, but in this test the bird throwers are hidden behind blinds.  I will post the trial that I handled Tig on ASAP.  This will show you what we will be working for over the next 3-4 months with Tuvuk.

Successful Weekend

Well we have finished our first weekend of hunt tests.  Tuvuk and Tig both pasted their tests and moved further towards getting their titles.  Tuvuk will need to pass 2 more UKC test, which I will be running in August.  Our next trail is scheduled for June 17th which is an AKC Junior Hunter trial.  These two test are a little different.  Tig will need to pass only 1 more Seasoned Hunt Test to receive her title.  Aliy was the handler for Tig today and she had a great run.  Congrats to both dogs for receiving their passes.

Tuvuk's First Hunt Test

CONGRATS TO TUVUK AND TIG

Well today was the big day for Tuvuk.  To start we had to fly from Nome to Fairbanks on Thursday night. Once we arrived we had all day Friday to do some last minute work before the test on Saturday.  I was also going to be in charge of running Tig which is Aliy Zirkle's labrador retriever.  I will briefly explain the types of test that we were running and what had to be achieved to receive a pass.  I will first start with Tuvuk's test.

This test is called a UKC Started Hunt test.  It involves having to retrieve 2 single birds on dry land and 2 single birds in the water. I will post videos when I have a little more time to edit them.  He had to pass both segments today to get his first full pass.  To get his started title he will have to achieve 4 passes.  This weekend he has a chance of achieving 2 of these.  

Tig is in what is called the UKC Seasoned Hunt Test.  Tig is about 2.5 years old.  This involves again a dry land test and a water test.  On the land she has to mark and retreive a double mark, a blind, and a walk up bird.  There are also many small metrics that I will not go into right now that can fail a dog in this type of test.  I know that this may be a little foreign terminology for you but I will also try and post a video of Tig's test.  For the Seasoned Test you have to pass 4 times before you receive the Seasoned Title.  Tig now has 2 passes and will be going for her 3rd tomorrow.  I have had the privelage of helping in the early stages of her training on mainly obedience.  Aliy has done a great job with her since starting these test.  We have also shipped Tig out to Nome for several hunts with me in the past 2 years. She is a great dog and I love getting the chance to work her in a competition.  

Just so you know Tuvuk is on the lefthand side of the picture and Tig is on the right.  

Finally Water in Nome

Well it has been a long winter here in Nome.  We finally have water that Tuvuk can start working on water retrieves.  This video is only his second time introduced into the water.  He has really picked up on it quick, and he does not hesitate a bit.  We are doing some final preparations for his first hunt test which will be on May 28th and 29th.  I will try and video his hunt test and post to the blog.