It may only be September, but we are already planning for the next hunt test season.  We considered running Freighter in some tests in October, but the lure of hunting season was too much and hubby decided to put hunt testing on hold until next Spring.  Some things will change for us next year, but some will stay the same.

What Will Stay the Same

If you follow the blog, you know that about this time every year we stress about whether we will have training grounds available for the next hunt test season.

Freighter is running Master Hunter level tests and we simply cannot train for this level in the local parks.  We need fields and ponds where we can set up training scenarios with distance and difficulty.

The good news is that next hunt test season we do not have to worry about having access to training grounds.  Our retriever club has secured a long-term lease with the owner of the farm where we train and the grounds will be available for training and testing for the next few years.  Kudos to our club president for making this happen.

In addition to making the grounds available, the owner of the property has also made some improvements to some of the ponds.  One pond had an issue so the water drained out of it.  The issue was repaired, but while the pond was empty, it was dug deeper to hold more water.  This should help during times of drought to keep a decent amount of water in that pond.

Another pond was expanded and made into a technical pond.  A technical pond is an irregularly shaped pond with points and islands.  It allows us to train certain skills using these features.

The second series of Freighter’s last test was held in this pond.  This photo was taken the week before the test.  The water was still a bit low, but the pond was nice and full by the time Freighter ran his test.   For the test, the dogs were required to go over the closest island on the way to the blind at the far end of the pond.

What Will Change

The training group hubby and Freighter have been attending on Saturdays and Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the past two seasons has ended.

This group has helped hubby with Freighter’s training because they set up actual test scenarios with holding blinds and wingers and even live shot flyers before tests.  Freighter was able to practice as if he was at a test and hubby was able to work with Freighter on difficult scenarios similar to what he might see at a test.

Hubby and Freighter will miss this group.  Hopefully hubby can join up with another group next hunt test season as we work toward the last two passes Freighter needs for his Master Hunter title.  Freighter is at a point in his training where we can train him on our own, but to work on things like steadiness, training with other dogs is extremely helpful.

For now hunt test training has been put on the back burner, and we are getting ready for hunting season!