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While we are all waiting out this cold spell, think about taking some time to do some “housekeeping”,  to make sure you and your dogs are ready for our upcoming Training & Testing Season.

#1-MEMBERSHIPS

NAVHDA is a two-tiered organization, and participation in our events requires membership in BOTH!

  • Make sure your NAVHDA International membership is current, and that you have set-up a USER LOGIN on the NAVHDA Member Portal. (If you are Testing this year, you will NOT be able to enter a Test without this). 
  • Make sure your local membership with the Minnesota Chapter is current.  You can check the most current Roster here.
    • 2026 Membership Renewals were due 12/31/25.  Per our Bylaws, 30 day grace period  ends next week 1/31/2026.  Please renew now if you are not current, or you will be cut from the Roster and miss any communications/emails going forward!  JOIN/RENEW HERE

#2-DOG REGISTRATIONS

All Dogs Testing in NAVHDA must have a valid NAVHDA Dog Registration #.   Registrations from other Registries are not valid.  When you login to your member are of the NAVHDA Portal, it will show dogs registered to you.  If you do not see your dog listed, check with NAVHDA main office about Dog Registration.

 

#3-2026 RAFFLE FUNDRAISER

Please consider helping out our Minnesota NAVHDA Chapter with our 2026 Raffle Fundraiser.    This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it is our primary means of generating revenue to offset the losses we incur from offering our members access to Grounds, Birds, Training & Testing opportunities.

  • 1st Place-$4000.00 Coupon for a custom fitted, custom built shotgun from  Upland Gun Company!  Winner can use the gift certificate towards a custom built Italian made shotgun and a FREE a gun fitting. 
  • 2nd Place-Free pair of CRISPI Boots of your choice  (Up to $530.00 retail value).
  • 3rd Place-One Year OnX Elite Membership ($100.00 value)

This year,  we are really hustling to get the 100 tickets SOLD by the end of January, so we can hold the drawing IN PERSON at our Annual Meeting & Fable Fest on February 7th in Blaine.

Please consider helping us out and giving the chapter this boost going into our 2026 Training & testing Season.

Follow this link for FULL details and to purchase tickets online using Paypal or Venmo.  *(Note, if you want to use Venmo, please open this link from a full computer browser, not your phone or mobile device.  It will then give you a QR code on your screen you can scan with your phone/mobile device.)

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE WITH PAYPAL OR VENMO

 

#4-ANNUAL MEETING & FABLE FEST

Join us on Saturday Feb 7th for our Banquet at Brookhall in Blaine, MN.

Must Pre-Register, and Registration Deadline is approaching FAST!

It’s that time again to get together and share great hunting stories as well as good food and fun!

FUNDRAISERS:

  • Raffle for $4,000 value Coupon for a custom shotgun from Upland Gun Company.  Only 100 tickets sold.
  • Other Raffles for Bird Dog, Hunting and Outdoor related items.

5:00pm-doors open. Social Hour-Free Keg beer (until it runs out) & Cash bar- Great Conversation:  Catch up with your fellow chapter members.  Share hunting stories and talk about your upcoming training plans.

5:30pm-Annual Business Meeting: A brief report from each board member on what’s happening in the chapter will be provided, as well as a report from our delegate to the NAVHDA annual meeting.

6:15pm-Catered Buffet Dinner by Brookhall Event Center

In addition to the meeting, banquet and raffle fundraisers, we will also have chapter apparel for sale.  Sweatshirts/Hoodies, T-shirts, hats, etc..

Full Details & Online Registration Here

We will again have access this 2025 season to a small residual portion of Kelley Farms on the East side of Manning Ave that has not yet been turned over to Washington County for the addition to the Big Marine Park Reserve. Training in these areas will start late April with an Open to All Free Training Day kickoff on Saturday April 26th.  All chapter members will be able to purchase a grounds pass for open access on Mondays & Thursdays.  (Passes are not available yet-will be by mid-April-see below.)

For the areas of Kelley Farms that have been turned over to the MN DNR for the new Keystone Woods WMA, we expect to have access starting April 15th to about 330 acres including multiple water sites. This access is through our membership and affiliation with the Minnesota Federation of Field Trial Clubs (MFFTC).   This organization is negotiating a Lease with the DNR to allow us special permissions for dog training that the general public does not have, similar to what we have at Four Brooks.

The final details and the fee structure for how it will all work is still not finalized, but we wanted to let you know what we know at this point in time.  As in the past, we will be sharing these grounds with many other dog clubs, but with dog training activities now being condensed into a smaller acreage, a more formal schedule is part of the planning, and it is unlikely that there will be “passes” for everyday open access as there had been in the past.

Once the MFFTC sets a fee schedule and calendar for the member clubs, MN NAVHDA will be selling passes to our members that will be good for BOTH the residual Kelley Farms area and Keystone Woods WMA Areas.  The good news is that the cost to our members for this access will be much more affordable than the $375.00 annual pass fee when it was private land.

2025 Test Entries will open on Saturday February 15th at 8:00am.

*IMPORTANT*-We will NOT have Owners/Handlers  use the new NAVHDA Portal to ENTER tests.   However, we HIGHLY ENCOURAGE all NAVHDA members to set up an account/login in the Portal, as it makes it easy to look up your membership details and your dog’s registration info, which you will need to submit test entry on our website.

2025 TESTING DATES and INFORMATION

*The September 6th & 7th Natural Ability Test will open for entries on Saturday April 12th.   This is to allow more time for newly born pups to obtain their NAVHDA registration numbers.*

 

Hello Minnesota NAVHDA chapter members!

Even though it is the middle of hunting season, your board of directors has been hard at work planning for the 2025 Training & Testing Season.  With 2025  MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS  now open, we wanted to give our members an idea of what we have planned so far for 2025.

ANNUAL MEETING/FABLE FEST

Our Annual Meeting and “Fable Fest” will be Saturday Feb 8th in Blaine.   We had over 100 members in attendance last year. Don’t miss out!   Follow this link for full information and registration.  Pre-Registration is required.

WINTER TRAINING

Please see our Training Page for details about our winter training and to complete a questionnaire if you are interested in these classes.   Things will kick off with all day informational events on Saturday January 11th at Hooley Hall in Stillwater.

NAVHDA AIMS & RULES CLINIC-(Tentative)

May 10-11 at Four Brooks.   (This date and location may be moved and the clinic hosted by the Minnesota Northwoods Chapter at Pineridge Grouse Camp.)

SUMMER TRAINING

We are again planning to have regular small group training at Four Brooks north of Milaca, Kelley/Keystone Woods in Hugo, and the Iron Range Retriever Club in Virginia/Eveleth.   More information is on our Training Pages.

2025 TESTING DATES (Tentative)

Test entries will open mid-February to chapter members only.  All Testing information is on our Testing Page

  • May 10-11 Natural Ability
  • June 21-22 Natural Ability, Utility Prep, Utility
  • July 19-20 Natural Ability
  • Aug 16-17 Natural Ability, Utility Prep, Utility
  • Aug 23-24  Utility Prep, Utility
  • Sep 6-7 Natural Ability

Joe Dolesji Memorial Youth/New Handler Scholarship

Applications for 2025 awards are now open.   Full information and online application is here.

2025 Raffle Fundraiser-win a $4,000 coupon to Upland Gun Company for a custom fitted, custom made shotgun.   Full details here.

Bird Dog of the Day Merchandise Program. We now have a fundraising arrangement with BDOD.  All merchandise purchased through our link will generate a 20% rebate back to MN NAVHDA.   These items make great Christmas gifts-order soon!  Full details here

 

Help support our Minnesota NAVHDA Chapter by purchasing amazing bird dog or gamebird gifts from Bird Dog of the Day.  They will donate 20% of full-priced merchandise totals back to our local chapter!  Just make sure to order through our chapter’s link and make sure the promo code MNV is applied at checkout, which will also give you Free Shipping on your entire order!

Follow the below link and SHARE with your friends!  All sales through this link will benefit Minnesota NAVHDA.

https://birddogoftheday.com/discount/MNV