 Next year: The Greatland Chapter will meet toward the end of this year to set test dates for 2008, along with clinics and training sessions. If you have a new pup, or you haven't run your dog in a NAVHDA test before, please make sure your dog is registered with NAVHDA. And don't forget to renew your Chapter membership! |
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| Alaska Chapter of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association |
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2007 Training Season The Greatland Chapter started the training season with a general membership meeting on Saturday, 14 April, at Peggy’s Restaurant. We had a fair amount of interest in training over the summer and a fall test. However, as we got close to "decision time" for the test, there weren't enough handlers who had actually signed up for a test, or indicated a real interest in running a dog to enable us to break even on the cost of a test, we decided to postpone until next year. Remember that it costs the chapter about $580 each year for insurance, a $400 fee to run a test, and several hundred bucks to pay expenses for out-of-state judges. That means that we need to take in enough money revenue from test fees or other fund raisers (like clinics and training days) through the year to cover those costs. We did hold several training days, both in Anchorage and at Falcon Ridge, but the turnout was pretty low. We send out event announcements to
everyone we have an eMail address for … current and past members
of the chapter, people who have expressed an interest, people
who have asked dog training questions on our web discussion
site, and names from the Alaska roster from NAVHDA Headquarters.
If any of you know other people who might be interested in our
Chapter training and testing activities, please extend the
invitation to them as well. A big crowd would be a good thing at
all of our events,
and anyone is welcome. Sometime this winter, we'll hold another
organizational meeting where we’ll discuss
the training schedule for the year (typically running from
mid-April through August), elect chapter officers for the year,
see what interest there is in a NAVHDA-sanctioned test
next year (typically held in August), discuss training sites,
look at potential fund raisers for the Chapter, and generally
get acquainted and socialize. Membership in the Chapter is
not required to participate in our training activities, but we’d
sure appreciate your joining. If you run a dog in our test, the
entry fee is cheaper for members. Likewise, membership in the
international NAVHDA organization is not required unless you run
in the Invitational or want to be a judge. Last year, we had a limited
number of people who joined the Chapter, and only 3-4 people who
signed up to run dogs in the test we had scheduled. Since it
takes about a dozen dogs to break even on the cost of a test, we
decided to cancel the test last year. With luck, we’ll have
plenty of pent-up demand for a test next year that will result
in a good turn-out. Our primary focus is on
training, rather than testing. We want to provide the
opportunity for people to share training ideas, techniques and
solutions to problems. We have a broad range of experience among
our members (and would-be members). We have experienced folks
with new pups, new pups with new handlers, and seasoned dogs
with seasoned handlers looking for some additional finishing
prior to hunting season or a Utility Test. We’d like to cater to
all of those combinations. Our chapter members also own a
wide variety of VHD breeds, so if you are looking for a good
hunting dog but haven’t settled on just the right breed, you
might just find an “example” of the breed here in the area to
take a look at, or watch work in the field. The Chapter doesn’t own any
training equipment, but our members have scads of launchers,
training tables, decoys, heeling stakes, Zinger-Wingers and
books/videos to share. The most important resource we have to
share is time. Getting several people together on a training
weekend to swap off planting birds with running dogs is a great
way to get the most out of a day, especially when the training
is sandwiched between two long drives to and from whatever
training area we use for the day. We’d sure appreciate hearing from you if
you’d like to be part of the Chapter next year. Just call me or send an eMail either to me at
rogerhull@gci.net or to
Jeff and Judy Deaver at
jeffanjudy@worldnet.att.net . Contact me ahead of time if
you have any ideas or suggestions on how to make this Chapter a
more attractive deal for you, or if you have any ideas on better
ways to run the organization (especially if you’d like to help
run it as a Chapter officer). Thanks, and good hunting,
Roger
President, Greatland NAVHDA
10140 Kasilof Blvd
Anchorage, AK 99507
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(907) 223-8000 (cell) |
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