We would like to welcome Keith Larson to our Board of Directors. Keith was appointed to the board to fill the position vacated by Mitch Carlson, and will serve in the role of Director of Training. We are looking forward to Keith helping our members with their training needs.
Here is a little information about Keith:
“In 2019, I started looking for a short-haired pointer with a goofy personality to match my late Springer. Research led me to the Braque D’Auvergne, an old French breed. A lack of breeders in the US led to many internet searches and a top breeder in France. Right before Labor Day that year, I picked up Ruckus at O’Hare. I did the bird and gun intro on my own, then hunted him for the season. I joined MN NAVHDA and did the winter positive reinforcement class, followed by field training during Covid in 2020. He earned a 112 NA in July, and then a 184 no prize UT at Labor Day. Going too fast, and not being an experienced trainer led to Ruckus refusing to go on the duck search. I’m still trying to fix it, but will try to do it the right way with the next dog. Even without a UT prize, I still have a high-end upland dog who finds game and retrieves to hand every time. I will try to help our members develop their training goals and connect them to the right help when possible. The goal is to take the right path and avoid common mistakes many of us make with our first versatile dog.”
Keith can be reached at training@mnnavhda.org
I also want to thank Mitch Carlson for his service as Director of Training for several years. During these years, the chapter experienced extreme growth in membership and faced the extra challenges brought on by the pandemic. Mitch was also instrumental in helping me modernize and re-shape the chapter’s training philosophy to better serve our members and their dogs.