(EP:21) Want to run a Junior Hunt Test with your dog? Listen to learn how!

In this episode we talk about the ins and outs of running a Junior Hunt Test through the AKC and what it takes to get your dog ready to run and what it takes to get a title.  Good hunting and testing everyone! 

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Hey everyone. Welcome to the bird dog podcast. My name is Ty Serikson and I will be your host this evening. Um, it's good to be with you guys and hope we can talk about, uh, some good information here for you and it will be beneficial to you guys that are listening. Um, just to kind of start off with things. If you're looking, uh, just some product overview, if you're looking for a gunner kennel, hit us up. We can help you out with that. Get you a discount on a gunner. Kennel, uh, if you're looking for ecos, we can help you out with that. Uh, we're affiliated with, uh, uh, Garmin Sport Dog, dog tray, the three brands that we really like and, and prefer, and we can kind of give you our opinion on those and, and give you a discount on those if you're interested. Also, NDA dog beds. We are, uh, hooked up with them. So if you're interested in a Corunda dog bed, um, and want to get one of those, uh, we can't get you a discount, but if you do go through our website, utahbirddogtraining. com, and click on the Corunda dog bed picture, and go get, uh, a cot or a dog bed through them. They're the best that we have found on the market so far, but feel free to DM us or shoot me an email. If you're wondering about sizes on those, um, typically with the Corenda dog beds, I'll look it up here on my phone. the size that we usually like, um, for a typical lab or like a golden retriever, just an average size dog, let's say, uh, anywhere from a 30 to, you know, 90 pound dog. They kind of have measurements on there and everything, but, um, we like the aluminum dog beds. Um, they have the silver aluminum dog bed, and the size I prefer is the 44 by 27 I feel is a great size for, um, an average sized working dog. So you can get on there, uh, you know, play with the measurements for your space or your dog run or whatever you're going to put it in or your, or your kitchen or. Wherever you may put that thing, uh, check out the measurements, but I like the 44 by 27 is the size I got for my golden retrievers and my Labradors. So anyhow, check them out. Curanda, um, com. Um, Is I believe their website. Let me just double check that for you guys. I should know that off my head, top of my head, but yes, Corunda K U R a N D a. com. Or just even better go through Utah bird, dog training. com. Tap on the logo picture, go through there. You'll see a link to the bed at the bottom. You can click on that. And, uh, that helps us out, um, if you go through there and, and get a bed, um, through that link. So, appreciate that in advance and, uh, that helps us out, helps, uh, with some of the time, you know, we, we put into these podcasts. It does take time to edit these and, and just, um, and obviously all the equipment and everything that goes into it. Anyhow, let's move on. Um, I think that's all the housekeeping things I need to talk about. But. Now that the hunting season is starting to wrap up for most of the waterfowl hunt, some of the upland game hunts are still going and some of the waterfowl hunts are, are, uh, going to, but we're getting down here towards the end of the season as spring approaches and in the springtime, uh, At least in my world is when a hunt test season starts. So we go out of hunting season and we start getting geared up for hunt test season. So, um, some of you may be familiar with hunt test. Some of you may not be familiar with hunt test, but in this episode, I just wanted to talk about hunt test in general. And we're going to start off with the first level, which is the junior hunter level. And, um, And we'll kind of discuss that and go a little in detail on that. And then you have the Senior Hunter and you have the Master Hunter, uh, titles. So, um, in future podcasts, I'll talk about the Senior Hunter and the Master Hunter. But in this podcast, I just wanted to talk about. What it takes to put a junior hunter title through the AKC, the American Kennel Club, on your dog. So, um, I've titled tons and tons of junior hunters. Um, it is the first level of testing. It's a fun level. It can be stressful, but also, um, it's Just fun to get the dog out and get some ribbons and get some titles on them. So, um, the dog, I believe needs to be at least six months of age or older. And the test is more of a marking test. So marking test is basically a retrieving test. So the dog sees the birds come out. Then you send the dog to go pick those birds up. Um, you can have two series, so two parts. And the first part generally is the land series. They can mix it up and run the water series first, but generally what they're going to do is they're going to run the land series. And the land series is again, two retrieves on land. And that's going to be, um, generally two ducks thrown. Um, one. So what they'll have is you'll have a line. I'll just kind of explain how it's typically set up. So you'll have a gallery. So there's people that are watching the test that's being done and you'll have judges. There's usually two judges, sometimes an apprentice judge and they'll have the line. The line is the location from where you run your dog from. So, and then they'll have holding blinds, which are basically these panels. Camel, usually they're made out of camouflage, but these panels that are kind of angled so you can kind of bring your dog in behind Um these holding blinds and there'll usually be a handful of them as you go towards the line so the part where the judges are Judging you from and also where the dog runs to go pick up the retrieves So you'll have this, these holding blinds in a line and you'll get there with your dog. And what you'll first do is you'll check in, you'll go find the marshal. And when you go to the hunt test, the testing grounds, there's going to be signs that generally say junior hunter this way, senior hunter this way, master hunter this way. And. If, as you kind of follow those signs, you'll see there'll be a big group of cars there generally, right? People with their dogs. And so once you find that, you can even ask someone, Hey, is this the junior hunter test? Yeah, this is the test. And then you'll walk up towards the line area. And usually you'll see someone with a clipboard or there'll be a white board and they'll, they're the Marshall. And what you're going to do is go ahead and check in. And, um, when you sign your dog up, we'll talk about also signing your dog up, there's going to be, um, there's going to be a running order that is put in place. You don't have to check, but I would highly recommend checking or at least making sure you get there. before the test starts in case you are signed up to run number one or in the beginning of the test. Just make it easier on your life and just go ahead and check the running order online before you show up to the test. Anyways, you'll go ahead and you'll find the marshal and say, Hey, I'm Joe Schmo. Um, my dog, Sally, we're here to run the test. And the marshal will say, thank you. And they'll check you in. And at that point, There used to be a, a running order pamphlet that would be a paper booklet that they would give you. Um, I think they're pretty much going away with those. It seemed like as of last year and, um, they just stopped printing those and you basically go all online or you can print it off online to see. where you run or your running order. So, um, let's kind of, uh, backtrack real quick. So before we get too much into the test, um, to sign your dog up for an AKC hunt test, the dog has to be a purebred lab. Um, and AKC. It can, it can run as a non. Purebred, but I believe it has to be, it has to look like a purebred and in order to sign your dog up, I believe it has to have an AKC number. I had a friend that had a lab that didn't have papers and the dog had to be neutered or I believe spayed. Again, check, double check these facts. I didn't double check them, but I haven't had to deal with this personally because all our dogs have been purebred that we've ran into, into these hunt tests. Um, and really the only reason. Per se, you would run them if they were non purebred. It's just strictly to see if your dog can do the work and also to get some ribbons. But a lot of people will run their dogs in hunt tests, um, one for self accomplishment. Hey, my dog is this level of a dog and, and we've been training on these things and kind of just. give yourself some confidence. Hey, you know, this is pretty cool. My dog can is trained at this level, but then to a lot of people do it for breeding purposes. Um, and so you can say, Hey, this is a junior dog. This is a junior dog or, Hey, my dog's a junior dog. Here's a master. Let's breed these together. And it just shows that they've been trained to a certain level. So when someone buys a dog from you or you buy a dog from someone across a state lines or wherever it may be from, There's titles there and there's a standard to reach that. level of work. Um, and you know, okay. Or you can look at a generation pedigree and look at the generations. And so, okay, there's master hunters, senior hunters and junior hunters mixed in. Okay. These dogs are all come from good hunting lines because They have these titles or they should have the ability to reach at least the junior hunter level or some of these levels instead of just seeing names in a pedigree and have no clue if there were show lines, if they were hunting dogs or if they were whatever. So that's kind of why it can be beneficial to, um, uh, run hunt tests. Another thing kind of on the sideline of talking this, another benefit is. One is if you go to hunt tests and you run, it allows you to see the potential that your dog can become. So if you run and you watch the junior dogs and you're, and maybe you run your dog in the junior in the beginning, then while you're there, you go ahead and look over the senior dogs and whoa, I see the, this is a pretty big step here. And then you see the master dogs. Whoa, this is even a bigger step. But it just allows you to see the potential that your dog could possibly reach. Um, through training and time and obviously good breeding. And then also it allows you to watch other, um, you know, especially in the, maybe the senior and the master, um, professional handlers, handling dogs. It allows you to see good handlers. See things you like, see things you don't like and, and helps you become a better handler, right? Watching other dogs handle, especially dogs at a higher level. And you can see how they work as a team and things and pick up on stuff like that. So it's really cool. Plus you're in an environment where you're with your like minded individuals. They all love their dogs. They're generally into hunting. Um, and so you can build some really good relationships just attending hunt. Test and going and watching them. Um, and if you're thinking about attending a hunt test, then, uh, you know, it never hurts to just go and watch one, see what they're all about. And then be like, yeah, I can, my dog can do this or, or I, well, my dog's far from that, or this is the thing, these are the things I need to work on. Most places hunt tests are free to watch. You just drive in and you know, you can kind of stand off. They'll have like an area called the gallery again, where you can stand off and watch the dogs, um, you know, work and see how they do and see maybe the mistakes that, that maybe a handler makes or the dogs make. And it's just fun. It's a, it's a, it's a. It's a learning game. So anyhow, let's say you want to get your dog signed up. You kind of, you think, Hey, my dog has potential to run, um, a certain level of tests. If you want to sign up, go to entry express. net, um, entry express. net. That is how you will. Um, sign your dog up. I'm just double checking. It's just a habit of me to have signed up for so long. But yeah, EntryExpress. net. I was making sure it wasn't an org, but. And yeah, once you go to EntryExpress. net, you're going to have to create a login. You're going to have to register. And it's pretty self explanatory. You create a, you log in, you register, you put your dog's information in, your personal information in. And then on the left side, it'll say AKC hunt test. You're going to click on that. And basically it's going to pull up all the different locations of the hunt test. And what I usually do is I'll on the top, right, I'll click the location by state and it'll put all the States in alphabetical order. Cause when you first look at it, it's kind of just jumbled. I think it's the, it's dated from like the, the, the last test to happen to the. Last future test. And if you just want to, if you're looking, Hey, do I have any in my state of California, click on it, and then you can go down and all the California tests are going to be together, all the Utah tests or whatever state you live in, and then you can look at neighboring states and stuff like that. Um, generally it's, I think 10 days before the test. happens is when the test will close. And then before that, I think it's usually a week or 10 days before that it'll open up to register your dog for the hunt test. It'll have the opening times, like when that opens up. And you're going to want to jump on there, especially if you're running a master level dog, those generally will fill up very fast, um, because dogs are qualifying, not only for master hunter, but they're trying to get passes for master nationals. And so if you're running junior, senior, generally There's not a cap on those, um, because it's usually a two series test per day and they can get through all the dogs that are going to run a junior senior where they usually will cap them as in master. It just, there's just not enough time in, um, the two days or whatever to run them. And so sometimes, especially in a double master, just be really prepared. If you're trying to run master that. If there's a double master, so that would be like four days of testing. So the, the opportunity to get two master passes in one weekend, a lot of pros will travel to those tests because, um, there's the opportunity again for two passes. And so it's kind of like, it just gives you more, more opportunity where a lot of tests are just one past one opportunity to get a master pass. It usually takes two days of testing to get one master pass or three series. Um, to get a master pass. A junior and a senior, you can get a pass in, um, generally each day. So there'll be two series or two parts in a day. And if the dog passes those, it can get a pass. And so maybe the test, they'll generally run a Saturday and a Sunday. So you get technically get a junior pass or a senior pass on a Saturday. And same thing the next day, but on a master, you would run Saturday and Sunday to only get one pass. And so lots of times there's only a one pass weekend. Um, or if they have a double master, what they'll sometimes do is run a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And so you have two options to get that. But We're just talking to me again about junior here. So you go to entry express. net, um, that it's kind of weird. You don't go to the AKC website to sign up, but entry express. net AKC hunt test, put all your information in register for the test. And then what will happen is that that will. Um, shoot out after the test closes, or the sign up for the test closes, and it'll have that close date. Again, it's usually 10 days before the test starts. It'll propagate a running order. And then you're going to want to get on there, look at the running order. Okay, I run number 5 out of 50 dogs. So you're going to want to be there pretty early. Um, if you run number 5 40 out of 50 dogs, obviously you're going to run at the end. So if it's your first test, I would for sure always encourage you to be on time. Um, what will happen when let's kind of just go to the beginning again. Um, again, encourage you to be on time to the test, but what will happen when you show up to that test again, like talked about earlier, get there before the test starts, usually they're going to start at seven 30 to eight 30 in the morning, they'll have. On entry express and you sign up, they'll actually have a start time. Let's say. Test starts at 8 a. m. So make sure you're there before that go ahead and get your dog aired You can either air on the grounds go away from people let the dog out go to the bathroom Kind of do its thing. So it's not doing that during the test. Don't show up And, uh, your dog has not been out all night, you go to run the test and the dog has to go to the bathroom during the test. Um, they're not going to fail you for that, but it can affect the dog's running abilities, it can lose focus. Um, if a dog uses the restroom, goes specifically, takes a poop. Then might tempt other dogs to do the same thing, or lots of times you'll see males mark a bush and then everyone has to mark the bush. It's just kind of the dog stuff, but do your best to get the poop and pee out. So that's not even an issue, um, while you're running the test. So once your dog's aired, go ahead, talk to the Marshall, check in. You're there. And then what they're going to do is they're going to say, Hey, everyone, go ahead and gather around before they run the test. And they're going to say, and the judges are going to say, hi, I'm Sally and I'm Joe. Um, we're both from wherever and what they'll usually do. And you're on the junior level. They're going to say, is any, is this anyone's first time running a hunt test? And they'll say, raise your hand. And if it's your first time, go ahead and just raise your hand. And they'll say, do you have any questions? And. Um, if you don't have any questions, then they'll say okay, or they'll say, hey, watch these things, and maybe if you do make a handle or mistake, at least they know, okay, this guy, it's his first time. And typically, it is a test, so you are being tested, so the judges technically don't need to help you out in any way, but at the junior level, they, they want you to be successful. They want you to have a good time, a good experience. Your dog still needs to play by the rules. But there's generally a little more leniency depending on the judges. So, um, lots of times what they'll say is, have you read the rules and that's what you're going to want to go ahead and, I'll talk about the basic rules, but again, with any hunt tests or anything, when you're testing your dog, it's always good just to, and you can go and Google search AKC hunt test. Rules and it'll pull up, you'll be able to find it. There's it's kind of a pamphlet that's PDF online and you can, it'll go through like junior hunter or senior hunter. and you know, your master hunter. So, okay. So let's go back to the test. So, okay. If there's any, if you have any questions, go ahead and ask the judges. They're usually pretty cool, uh, to help you out. If is, as the test is running, if you see a pro or someone there that Maybe it looks like they know what they're talking about. You can ask him a question too, but safest thing is always to revert back to just reading the rules for you show up. So you know what's going on and you get there. So what they'll do is like, if they're like, okay, no one has any questions, then what they'll do is they'll run the test dog. So the test dog is basically a dog that's going to run and show you how the test goes down or show it, show you how it happens. Now typically what they'll have is, One of the retrieves is going to be a dead duck. That's already been killed. It's dead, obviously. And, there'll be a holding blind typically out in the, out in the field in front of you, and there'll be one or two people behind it. And typically a couple, um, young kids that are helping out or might not be young kids, just people. They're either going to have a winger or they're going to hand throw the bird. But what they're going to do is you're going to walk your dog up to the line and. Let's just say the test dog, but we'll just talk about it. You're going to walk your dog up to the line, and then you're going to sit the dog down. And when you're ready, you're going to signal to the judges that you're ready. And at that point, the judges are going to signal to the people out in the blind that you're ready. And then that person is going to blow a duck call, shoot a gunshot, and then they're going to throw a dead duck for you. It's usually a three second count after that bird hits the ground for about three seconds. The judge is gonna release you and they're gonna usually release you on the word dog or they're gonna say your number, if your number 20, 20, dog. They usually don't try to say it real loud because they don't want to interfere obviously with you and your dog working. But then, you're going to send the dog out to go make that retrieve once they release you. The dog has to go out, has to get the bird, has to bring it back, and it has to deliver to hand. If you start trying to Um, you know, tell the dog where the bird is. Hey, back or over or something if the dog runs out there and he can't find it. Um, that's going to start into handling and they're going to judge you for starting to handle the dog. So typically, you just want to release the dog on what you usually release it on. Most people use its name. The dog runs out there, finds the bird, brings it back, puts it in your hand, and then you hand it to the judges. You can't touch your dog until the bird is in your hand. So you don't want to, like, grab the dog and pull it to you and then pull the bird out. That's a no no. That's against the rule. So, I'm going to backtrack a little bit. Like I was saying, is you get started the test, they're going to run a test dog. A test dog is just, they're going to throw the birds out. They're going to run the test. They're basically giving you an example of how it's going to go down. They're going to explain any, any. The judges sometimes have opinions, like, hey, I like to see all four feet of the dog on the ground when they're coming from the holding blind to the line. Um, they may mention things they are kind of looking for. So just pay attention to those. And again, the judge is judging you. There's a lot of discretion when it comes to judging, even though there are rules. So try to do what The judge kind of wants you to do it with your dog, and that's going to look better. So, anyhow, let's go back to, you're running your dog, okay, you're, you're, you're turns up, and you're, you're in, you're in line going through the holding blinds. As the next person runs, you'll slowly move up to the next holding blind, to the next holding blind, until you're at the last holding blind, until you go to the line, the line where you run your dog. A judge will usually say, what's your name? Or they'll say, what's your number? And they have a booklet where they can judge the dog from, or they have all the information of the dog. They have your name and everything like that. And you'll say, Hey, I'm number, you know, let's say you're number 20. I'm number 20. And they'll say, okay. And when they're ready, they'll say, usually a dog to the line. And at that point, when you come out of that holding blind, they're going to be judging you. So in a junior hunter. At the junior hunter level, you can run the dog with a flat buckle collar. And so in the senior and the master, the dog is naked. So when it comes out at the last holding blind, there's no leash. There is no collar. There's nothing on it. The dog is just under command verbally. And so, but in the junior level, they actually allow you to. Um, hook a leash to the collar and you can actually walk the dog up to the line at heel. So at your side, um, using a leash. You cannot use a slip leash or a choke chain or something that restricts the dog's airway. And so it can just be hooked up. leash. Something you can also do is slide the leash under the collar. And so it's just kind of, you know, and then when you get to the line, you can let go of one side and take the leash out from underneath the collar. But again, no like pinch collars, choke chains, slip leads, stuff like that. Um, you can run a slip lead in the holding blinds or a choke chain up to the last line and then hook your, hook your, uh, um, choke chain, um, Up like a leash to the collar. But again, nothing that's, um, nothing that's kind of like training them is you come out of that last. holding blind. So, um, so you're going to run the dog. Um, so they're going to call you to the line. You're going to come out of the holding blind. At that point, you're being judged. Now at the junior hunter level, a lot of these dogs are so excited. They're kind of dragging the owner. up to the line. Hopefully you've done your obedience. The dog heals good. You know, take control, heal. You can talk to your dog as much as you want as you walk your dog up to the line, heal, heal, whatever you need to do. Take your time. It's not, there's not a per se time limit. Walk your dog. under control, ideally up to the line. Then once you get at the line, you're going to go ahead and sit your dog at that point, disconnect the leash, um, from the dog's collar and put it in your pocket. It can't be hanging out. It needs to be away because otherwise the judges think that could be intimidating the dog. Um, you know, maybe use your leash to give them a correction on the rear end or something like that. There, that should not be out anywhere. So make sure that's put in your pocket. And then what I like to do is I like to sit the dog at the line for a minute, let it get comfortable with its surroundings. If you just go up there, sit the dog real quick, raise your hand, Hey, I'm ready. And the dog's like, wait, where am I? Like, and then all of a sudden duck call starts going off. It's not going to get its bearing straight. So when you get up there, sit the dog, give it, you know, 1, 2, 6, I don't know, 5 to 10 seconds. Just let it kind of sit, chill. Okay. Maybe I see a bird boy over there. Okay. There's some bushes over here. Just like as you get up there, you don't just want to run them real quick. So let them get a visual look and then go ahead and you can talk to your dog all to this point. And then when you're ready for that bird to come out and you raise your hand to the judges, you can't talk to your dog anymore. So you can tell the dog, hey, sit, mark, or whatever you might say, and then raise your hand. At that point, you have to be quiet. Then the bird boy is going to quack, shoot, throw the bird. It's usually going to be a three second count. The judge is going to say, you know, something to release you. At that point, you can talk to your dog again as much as you want. But generally, the dog's gonna see the bird go down and you're just gonna release them on their name or fetch or whatever you go, say. The dog's gonna go out there, hopefully, you know, find the bird. And then once the dog grabs the bird, then you can use whatever obedience commands you want to bring the bird in. Most of the times, uh, people will just blow a whistle, doo doo doo doo doo, which means Here means come back to, it's just a recall. And then the dog, as it gets closer, they can do a here. He'll sit, drop, or if the dog's not force fetched, you can just. Try to grab it as the bird's coming in. Um, but you have to deliver to hand that dog. You cannot pick the bird up from the ground or you will not pass. So make sure your dog delivers to hand consistently. If you need to do the trained retrieve or force fetch beforehand, make sure that happens or make sure your dog just reliably delivers to hand. If the dog does drop the bird when it gets close to you, um, then Encourage the dog to pick it up if you need to back up a little bit and move your feet to get the dog to come in and where you can get the dog to grab the bird and kind of bring it towards you and then you can hurry and grab it again. You do what you can to try to get the dog to get that bird and put it in your hand, but it has to deliver to hand. So the, some of the common mistakes that I see is people, um, one, you know, the dog drops the bird, they pick it up off the ground. Or when the dog comes in, they grab the dog and then grab the bird. That's a no, no. The dog has to come in, deliver to hand. And only after that point, and then you can grab, give the bird to the judges for evaluation. Then you can grab the dog's collar and get ready for the next, um, retrieve. But make sure they deliver the hand first. Another very common mistake is people releasing their dog before the judge releases them. You get up there, you're at the line, you might be really nervous, you're like, Oh, everything, the bird starts quacking, or the person starts quacking, and they throw the bird shoot. As soon as the bird hits, you send the dog. It's not your game when you get to send the dog, it's the judge releasing you. So just make sure you wait and then, and, and then you can send the dog. Now, I don't know if I mentioned this, but in the junior hunter, you can hold the collar. So if the dog tries to break or tries to go early, you can actually hold your dog back. Now, if you've raised your hand. You can't keep talking to the dog, so if your dog stands up from the sit position, don't, don't tell him to sit or don't give him any commands until the judge releases you. Once the bird hits the ground, after those three seconds, if your dog has stood up, feel free to tell it sit or whatever. And then reward it with the retrieve after that. So, um, so again, common mistakes are, um, talking to the dog after the judge, or after you've raised your hand. And then that would also be, that could include also releasing your dog before the judge's you or tell you to send the dog on the retrieve. And then a lot of times people sometimes will make the mistake of grabbing the dog before they grab the bird. Um, and then, and, and, uh, and maybe picking the bird up off the ground. So don't do those things. Um, so let's say your dog runs out, hopefully successfully grabs. The first bird comes back, delivers the hand. Once it gets, delivers the hand, you can go ahead and grab the collar on the dog, um, and then, and guide the dog facing the direction. Generally, you bring them at heel and face the direction of of the next holding blind where the next bird is going to come out. So you will run the marks generally from the same spot. So one may be out to the right and then one may be out to the left. One of those birds is going to be called, which is a live flyer, which is they actually have live ducks out there in a crate. They're going to throw the duck into the air and they're going to usually have at least generally two shooters. And they're actually going to throw the duck and shoot that duck for you. So. Depending on the shooters, that bird can be fully alive. They can barely put a pellet in it. So when your dog runs out there, the bird just running around, the bird can obviously be very dead. It can be sometimes shot up really bad. Um, if the bird gets shot where it actually opens it up. Um, hopefully they're not using a choke that does that. The judges and your, let's say your dog runs out there and like, Oh, and your dog blinks the bird. It doesn't pick it up and comes back because it, because maybe the bird is hamburger or the guts are coming out and the dog does not like the taste of that in its mouth. Most of the time, your judges are going to notice that. Oh, that bird was shot really close. They're going to go out and evaluate it. And they may give you a rerun, which allows you to basically redo that, um, to rerun the dog. Um, but if, um, so, anyhow, they're going to shoot that bird, the bird's going to land most of the time in a general area. But again, because it is a live bird that is being thrown into the air and then shot, it's going to vary on the location where it hits. Anyhow, you're going to go up to the, you're already going to be at the line, grab the dog by the collar again. You know, give the dog a steady command. Raise your hand. Okay, I'm ready. They're going to blow a duck call. They're going to throw that live duck in the air and they're going to shoot it. And then after it hits the ground for three seconds again, the judge will release you. The dog will run out there, go ahead and hopefully pick up your duck for you again, bring it in, make sure it delivers to hand and then, and then after that, you're going to hand the bird to the judge. The judge is supposed to look at the duck and say, yes, this dog has a good mouth. It's, you know, the bird is fit for consumption. Um, generally the only way a dog is going to pass if that dog drops that bird and starts eating the duck in front of the judges and tears into it. The dog, um, cannot pass the test generally for that. If it's too destructive on the bird, your dog is supposed to be trained to go get the bird, bring it back. And it's supposed to still be fit for the table. So, um, if your dog, you, you hold your dog, you wait till the judge is sending you, the dog goes out there, gets the birds, um, brings the birds in, delivers the hand. And your dog does that on both birds. And then you'll advance to what is called the water series. And the water series is basically the same thing that you just did on land, but it's going to be on water. Now, typically they're only going to shoot one live flyer in the four series. So the two land retrieves and the two water retrieves, they're only going to shoot, um, one live flyer. They can do more of it. Ducks do cost money, and so typically they're not going to do it just for fun unless maybe they have extra birds. The live flyer, it doesn't matter. It could be the very first retrieve that your dog goes on. It could be the live flyer. It could be the second retrieve on the land series. They could hold. the live flyer for the water series and do two dead birds on land and then one live flyer on water and one dead bird on water it they can do it however they want so just kind of be a just kind of heads up on that but they will have a live flyer in the test. Now, for some reason, the club can't get live flying, can't get ducks, they can use pheasants. And so they can throw a live pheasant up and shoot it or they can throw a dead pheasants up instead of ducks. 90 percent of the time 95 percent of the time, probably higher, it's always going to be ducks because it's more of a waterfowl type setup. But That being said, it never hurts to train your dog to retrieve pheasants. And so if your dogs only had ducks and all of a sudden they can't get ducks in or something like that, and they use a pheasant and your dog runs out there and has never smelled a pheasant, then you want to be. prepared for that. These tests, because they are a hunt test, they can, they usually will always put out decoys. So a certain amount of decoys. Some tests I've had very few decoys. Um, some have had no decoys. Some have had lots of decoys. Some have had snow goose decoys. Some have had, um, you know, a mojo decoy out there spinning around. It's a hunt. tests. So it's kind of set up for hunting. So if you've hunted your dog on a lot of decoys, it's probably going to do fine. You know, lots of times there's goose decoys on the land series because most people have, you know, full body goose decoys. So make sure your dog's comfortable, you know, running through decoys. Um, so, uh, let's talk about the water, the water series. So the water series, you're going to again, have two retrieves on water. Um, Dogs are going to have to get wet, generally, at least on one retrieve. So, work your dog on not ideally cheating the bank. If there's a pond and, you know, they throw a duck on the other side of the pond and your dog runs all the way around the pond and grabs the bird and runs all the way back around, it's a water series and if your dog doesn't get wet, it's going to go out. So, your dog needs to enter the water and go get that bird. Typically because of junior hunter level, they're not, they're going to square the dog up to the water level to the water edge. At some point, they're not going to encourage the dog to cheat, which is very common for a young dog. They see a faster route or, Oh, it's easier to run around the pond on land. I'm just going to go ahead and do that. So they're going to square that dog up to the water edge. Typically, and you're going to be pretty close to the edge. They're not going to typically be far back from the edge because if you're far back from the edge, it gives the dog an opportunity to kind of, Oh, I can just run around. So, but if you're right on the edge of the water within, let's say six feet, you know, or less than the dog, the bird comes out, the dogs can be excited and just jump in the water and go and go get your bird for you. Um, not all birds are going to be in the water with a splash. Um, Most of the time, sometimes they'll have one with a splash. A lot of time judges will set them up where the dog has to swim, you know, go down, cross a body of water, get up onto the land, and then pick up a duck that's on the shore on the, on the wa on the edge of the water, and then come back across the water with a bird in its mouth. So make sure you train. Your dog, not only just to swim in the water and grab a bird because dogs sometimes will just get used to that. If you just throw your bumper, your birds, every time in the water, the dogs are just going to think, Oh, the birds are only in the water. And you want that dog to be able to drive across the water, get up on land and grab that bird and bring it in. So train for that, train your dog to drive. into the water, across the water, up on land and maybe drive a certain amount of yardage anywhere. It never hurts to train for a junior dog from 10 yards to, I don't think I've seen many more than 50 or 60 yards. Um, past the water. Um, you know, generally there's going to be some retrieves in that sense. Make sure your dog obviously can swim. Not all tests are running water. So you're going to need, um, or yeah, running water. You're going to need swimming water. So make sure your dog's comfortable and can swim and is retrieved in the water. And then also the test, the retrieves are supposed to be a hundred yards and in. So they can technically, I think, be at a hundred yards and throw the bird a little further. Um, I've seen hunt tests where there are marks or retrieves out there to that a hundred yard range. I would say on average most of them are going to vary from 60 to that, you know, I've had, um, sometimes you'll have a shorter one in that 40, 50 yard range out to, you know, 80, 90, maybe 100 yards. So generally a little closer one and maybe a little further one. Um, but AKC real estate, 100 yards is kind of the distance for junior and senior. Um, so kind of just a heads up on how far to train your dog, but so don't make sure you train your dog to run, you know, 150 yards, I would say at least. And, but don't always don't train for everything long, do some shorters, do some longer, mix it up. And also, you know, there's a variety of cover. If you know what your hunt test grounds are like, you can try to train in that type of habitat. So when the dog encounters. you know, that type of terrain or habitat, it's going to be comfortable with it. Um, some areas are private, so you can't go on and train. Um, but most areas will allow, if you want to travel there, they'll allow you to come in and train. a day or two or they're public and they're open up for training a day or two before the hunt test. During hunt test you can't train your dog. Don't go out and start training your dog with an e caller on test grounds. They're usually, the test grounds are usually closed to all training while a hunt test is in place. So if you need to do any training work, make sure it's off the test grounds. Um, and not, you're not training, doing training. Why, while a test is going, um, that is, that's a no, no. So, um, that's kind of a general overview of hunt test. And let's talk about now again, how many passes you need to get a title. So to get a junior hunter, Um, you have to get four, um, passes at the junior hunter level to get a junior hunter title. If you want a senior hunter title, you need five. If you need a master hunter, you need six. Now, if you have a junior hunter title and you go to run senior, they actually, if you have a previous title, they'll actually take away a pass. So you, if you go. You have a junior and you want to run senior, you actually need four. If you have a senior and you want to run master, you need five. But if you skip any previous titles and go directly into them, you'll need four for a junior, five for a senior, and six for a master if you skip, you know, the previous title. Obviously, there's not a title before junior, so there's nothing to skip, so you're going to need four passes. So, let's say your dog goes out, runs the land series, does great, picks up both the birds, brings them in, delivers a hand, passes, that once all the dogs run, they will do what is called as callbacks. I didn't mention this, so after the land series runs, the marshal will meet with the judges and the judges will look through their books and they'll say, okay, dog number 10, 15, whatever. Um, are all called back. That means you get to be called back to run the water series. And then you're going to go ahead and run the water series part. And all the dogs are going to go ahead and run through it to make it back. And then at the end, they're usually going to go to An area where everyone meets up. Usually it's, there's a trailer or something. These are, these tests are usually kind of in the middle of nowhere, but a club that sponsors the test so the people that are putting on the test, they'll have a trailer in it. That, that area, they'll keep the ribbons. So once the test is over, the water series is done, you'll go over to the trailer. Usually people will start circling around and the judges will say, or the marshal will say, hey everyone that ran the junior test, come over to the trailer here. And at that point they'll do an award ceremony. So they'll say, okay, dog, number one, Joey's blue goose. Um, you know, he got a pass and then people clap their hands and they'll say your name and you'll walk up there. and the marshal will usually give you a ribbon. At that point, you can shake the judge's hand, say, Hey, thank you so much for putting your time and putting on this test. I really appreciate it. And, you'll grab your ribbon and you'll head back to your truck or head back into the group of people. Usually you'll stay there, applause for everyone that gets their ribbons. And then after that, you can take a picture with your. ribbon on your dog and show that off to all your friends and stuff like that. Um, so that'll be day one. Okay. We got our first ribbon. And then the second day it's just going to be basically a repeat of that, but the test is going to be in a new location on the grounds and you'll run the same thing. If the dog passes again, you'll get another ribbon, and then you'll have to sign your dog up for another weekend to get two more passes. Once you get those four passes, what they'll say is it. the line they'll say if this is a title let us know so when they're doing the ribbon ceremony you're going to say title you know and they'll be like everyone will cheer extra loud woohoo and they'll usually give you that ribbon sometimes they'll give you a title ribbon or a title band lots of time with the ribbons they'll give you a duck band or a goose band that kind of just says like You know, AKC junior hunt test with whatever club. It just has some information on it. Just kind of a little memento. Um, but then they'll mark in their books that you also got a title. And then what happens is that that Marshall at the end of the test, they're going to take all that information and send it to the AKC that your dog, you know, got a pass, they'll make a note of it, that you got a title. And then the AKC, it'll go into their records and say, okay, hey, Joe Schmo has now four junior passes. He is now awarded a title. And at that point, you don't have to do anything, but the AKC is going to go ahead and mail you a title certificate that has your dog's name with Junior Hunter at the end of it. And it'll say, congratulations, your dog has received the Junior Hunter. And so at that point, Junior Hunter is now, now officially becomes part of your dog's name. So you'll have your dog's registered name, which is maybe like I say, whatever's Swamp Master Blue Goose comma Junior Hunter, you know? So anytime you fill out his name, you can go ahead. If they're asking for titles, go ahead and put his Junior Hunter at the end. But that kind of. Just becomes again, part of the dog's name. So it's kind of cool. And you're going to have four ribbons that you can put up in your office or put by your dog's picture. And your dog is now a junior hunter. And, and from that time forth, if a, if an official AKC pedigree is printed off, it's going to show your dog's name with junior hunter after the dog's name. And so people, as they look back three, four generations, they're going to see your dog there with that title on it that you put on it. So it's kind of cool, but always be there forever. And again, any junior, any senior hunter master hunters are going to show up there too. So anyhow, hopefully that kind of gave you a brief overview of, uh, the junior hunter and what it takes. Um, again, there are, Something kind of some tips when it comes to training, it's going to be people out there behind these holding blinds and they'll either have a winger or they'll hand throw those birds. And so when they do throw those retrieves or marks for you, I've seen dogs that have not had someone out there behind a holding blind. throwing birds, you know, in practice for that dog. And that little dog runs out there and maybe it's only hunted, uh, or no one's throwing birds for it runs out there. And all of a sudden it sees this guy crouch down behind this blind, you know, hiding, cause they're going to retire or basically hide behind that blind. Once they throw that bird, they're supposed to kind of go out of sight. And if that little dog runs out there and he sees this person over there, sometimes they'll just start barking at that person. And they'll forget that. Oh, there's actually a bird out here. What I'm, what am I supposed to be doing? You know, so train for that, set it, get a holding blind or get a piece of fabric or something like that, that your dog, that someone can hide behind and just kind of set it up like a test, you know, quack with the duck call, shoot a shot, throw the bird, send the dog to go out and get it. Basically just again, like anything trained for the hunt or. Train for the test. So basically set stuff up, um, that it's going to be your training scenarios that are basically really close to a hunt test. And then when your dog goes and runs the hunt test, he's going to be like, I've seen this. I've been there. I've done that. You can even use some of the verbiage that a judge may see, like, Hey, dog to the line. Hey, what's your number? You know, before you send your dog, you may say dog, or have someone, you know, practice like they're a judge. I've seen some dogs go up to the line and like, Who's this person standing here watching me? They get so nervous they can't even pay attention to the marks because they're more worried about the judges that are standing there around them. So again, the more you can kind of set it up like a test. Um, the more successful your dog is, is going to be. So anyhow, it's a fun thing to do in the off season. A lot of people, what do I do now that hunting season's over? Obviously you can continue to train, but you can also run hunt tests. Um, typically they're going to run from, uh, you know, they pretty much run kind of year round, but I would say hunt test season is typically spring, summer, fall. Um, not as much, they don't do as much or many in the fall during hunting seasons cause they expect your dog to be out hunting. So it's kind of an off season is when hunt tests will run. Most states in general are going to run anywhere from two to four tests. Um, sometimes more, sometimes less. It just depends on the clubs that sponsor the test. Um, they usually don't, um, it's usually all volunteer help on these clubs. And so, just be really grateful for the people that do help out and put these tests on, because they're usually taking time off and they're being paid pretty much nothing. To run these tests so again, I'd encourage you when it comes to hunt test. It's going to help you become a better handler. It's going to give you something to focus on with your dog and it's going to help support the community. And it's just fun to do and kind of to see what you can train your dog to be able to do and also get it ready for the hunt. So anyhow, I think that's pretty much it for this podcast. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Hopefully you learned something. Maybe it motivated you. Uh, to get out and get, get some titles on your dog. Um, something you can do is get involved with your local clubs around you. Lots of times there's a retriever club in your area and you can reach out to them, sign up to become part of their club. And a lot of times people will get together like minded individuals that get together on a weekend. You can work your dogs together. And a lot of clubs will have, holding blinds and they'll have hunt test, equipment. So you can basically set up your tests and train together and help each other out and get ready for those tests. Those are a great. place to meet some new friends, learn more about how to handle your dog and, kind of go from there. So again, most of the time you can find those on Facebook, just kind of search your area. Hey, retriever clubs in your state and you can find if there's some close by user, there's a fee to, become part of it, but it allows you to meet some good people and you have some resources to be able to. Train your dog. So anyhow, that's it for tonight. Hope everyone has a great evening. Hopefully your hunts were awesome this year and we will see it in the next show.