You’ve been training hard, and your number in the running order is up.  It’s time for the field portion of your test.

“Handler, do you have water?”  As much as the judges would hate to lose a handler to heat prostration, what they’re really concerned about is your dog.  Some water for yourself is nice, but did you bring plenty of water for your dog?

You’re thinking that it’s not so hot – a nice mid-morning temp of about 78 degrees.  There’s even a little breeze.  You have the better part of a water bottle from the Super America.  He won’t drink from the squirt top, but you can always dribble a little in your hand if he needs it, right?  Then there’s that little pond in the back corner of the bird field, and besides, he doesn’t like to stop to drink while hunting anyway.

The reality is, on a sunny day the ground temperature can be up to 30 degrees higher, so that nice temp of 78˚ by your head might be 90˚-100˚ or more where your dog is working, and he’s not feeling that gentle breeze like you.  For every mile that you walk wearing a light shirt, your dog is running 3 or more miles wearing a fur coat, and while you walk the easier trail, perhaps in knee deep grass, he’s pushing with his shoulders and chest through cover.  Oh yeah, and that little back pond?   No cooling there since it has the temperature of warm bath water, with the potential for cyanobacteria, otherwise known as blue-green algae.

As for, “he can’t drink from a bottle” or “he won’t stop to drink” …  Training your dog to drink from a water bottle will be the easiest thing you teach all summer, and can save his life.  And even if he doesn’t want it, sometimes you might have to just hook him by the collar, squirt some water into the corner of his mouth, behind his ears, in his armpits and groin (areas for cooling where there are major arteries close to the surface).  This also gives you a chance to settle him a bit, refocus and reconnect to go and hunt some more.

The South Dakota pheasant opener of 2003 was notable for the fact that upwards of 100 dogs died those first few days from heatstroke.  Opening day temps were in the 80s (kind of like many test days…).  Granted, many of these dogs were likely overweight and out of condition, but not all fit this description.  Their owners simply didn’t know better and probably had plenty of water waiting back at the truck.

Am I painting a picture here for you?

Unlike humans, dogs don’t sweat, except through the pads of their feet.  They cool by panting, and an excessively panting dog will have difficulty collecting scent.  When the panting isn’t cooling enough, the body temperature rises.  Your dog’s normal temperature is 101-102˚.  His working temperature could be 104˚.  As his temperature approaches 107-108˚, organ damage can occur as he’s cooking his own insides.  Owning a good thermometer and knowing your dog’s baseline (working) temperature can keep him out of trouble.

Dr. Joe Spoo of Sioux Falls, SD, is a veterinarian and active with the Tri-State NAVHDA chapter, and authors the blog “Gundog Doc.”  He writes “I would recommend taking your dog’s temp after a day of hunting or while out training when you are not even close to crossing the overheating line. This will give you an idea at what temp your pup typically runs while at work and will allow some sort of baseline if you get into trouble out in the field.”  Take a moment to read the rest of this fine article at  http://www.bestcarepethospital.com/avoiding-heat-stroke/.

Know the symptoms.  Heat stress symptoms include aggravated panting, heavy salivation, dark red gums, and poor coordination. Test for dehydration by pinching a roll of skin on the back of your dog’s lower neck. If it “sticks” up, the dog may need hydration. Flush his mouth with cool water, remove saliva, give him or her small drinks of water, and, if possible, immerse the dog in cool water.  As it progresses, there can be ataxia – stumbling around – confusion or glassy eyes, trembling or weakness.

Even better is to prevent the symptoms from ever occurring.  As the dog’s internal temperature rises and organ damage occurs, death or permanent damage are possible.  Learn how to address the symptoms and gradually cool your dog down.

For treatment in the field, the biggest thing is to get them cooled down and bring down that internal temperature.  Gradual cooling is key.  Use cool water, not cold, as ice water can cause capillaries to constrict, thereby inhibiting internal cooling.  You can walk them around in cool water or spray them down.  Put them into a vehicle with the A/C on high, blowing on them.  Stop when their temperature reaches 103.  Their internal thermostat is messed up, and you don’t want their temperature to drop too far, causing hypothermia.

There are many options for carrying plenty of water afield, from hunting vests slotted to carry 50-100 ounces of water in bottles, to camelback versions.  I myself may go through up to 60 oz. of water in a single NAVHDA utility test.  Keep in mind that it also doesn’t have to be hot for your dog to overheat.  Think of athletes you see running outdoors in cold weather with light clothing.  Their workout causes their internal temperature to rise.  Your dog is an athlete as well, and his fields of play are CRP fields and cattail sloughs.  He can even overheat on a cool day.

These versatile dogs of ours are splendid creatures indeed!  Preparing for the test and field includes both training for performance and learning proper care.  If we’re not fully prepared to care for them, how can we expect them to perform to their fullest for us?

Sources :

Dr. Joe Spoo  http://www.bestcarepethospital.com/avoiding-heat-stroke/

Dennis Anderson  https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/dogs_69482/

Bill Dillon   http://www.french-brittany.com/heat.pdf

Welcome to the 21^st century!  Chalk up another one for Minnesota NAVHDA.  To go with our new website, we have now put our Membership Directory into a downloadable pdf format, available to be downloaded and printed by any member, or easily accessed  and read online.

This represents a great savings of chapter resources.  This saves not only the printing, binding, and postage costs required to mail out a paper directory to 200+ members, but also the time it takes to create and distribute that directory every year.  In addition, this new electronic directory can be updated regularly as new members join, move, etc.

Pete and Drew are still working out the bugs for usage on mobile devices, but in the meantime it’s still another step forward for Minnesota NAVHDA.  Check it out! (and don’t forget to print a copy for your less computer savvy friends…Mitch?…)

I’m sure we’ve all read or seen quotes to the effect of “Sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can.”   At Minnesota NAVHDA we had our own experience with that concept this year, when one of our founding members, Joe Dolejsi, suddenly passed away in January.  The good news, was that from Joe’s passing was created the Joe Dolejsi Annual Youth Scholarship, the purpose of which is to be used by a youth Minnesota NAVHDA member for training and testing of their dog.

So – the call went out, the applications were received, the ballots counted, and the winner is – drum roll please – Mason Schultz!                                  Mason is a 5th grader at Lincoln Elementary in White Bear Lake, and lives with his folks Cory Schultz and Kirsten Olson, along with his younger brother Bram (plus the animals they foster through the humane society!).  When Mason’s not training his year old pudelpointer pup “Comet” (“Pan American Elora, from Pan American Kennels in Miami, FL), he’s into biking and just being outdoors.  He’ll complete his hunter safety course this month.  Oh yeah – and he’s a bit of an artist as well – as an accomplished glassblower.  It takes all kinds to work these dogs!

In addition to the scholarship providing Mason with a family membership in MN NAVHDA for a year, he’ll also be covered for his training day registrations, 10-week obedience class, training nights registrations and grounds fees, and a Mock NA or UT test.   The fine folks at Kelley Farms have even donated an annual pass for their grounds.

What will he do with all this?  Perhaps Mason himself says it best:

“My name is Mason P. Schultz.  I am 11 years old.  My family got a Pudelpointer in May, 2017.  Her name is Comet.  We just started taking her to training classes in Stillwater, at the Washington County Fairgrounds.  My dad and I go together, but I am in charge of training her, and I like training her a lot.

Comet went hunting with my dad and I this fall.  She is a versatile hunting dog.  She is a pretty good listener, but she sometimes forgets.  I like to work with her and would really like to keep taking classes.  I think that I can help her to be a really good versatile hunting dog – to go after ducks, pheasants, grouse, and other types of birds.  Also, I have been teaching her some other things too, like how she should point for a bird.  And how she needs to have her own place to go when people are over.

I would like to be in this next class session because I want to learn how I could improve my skills and her skills.  I would really like to enter competitions with her and see how well we could do together.  I would like to be a good trainer and dog handler, which I think this class would help me do.

I really like owning a hunting dog because when you ware hunting you have to scour all over to try and find a bird or two.  But if you have a dog, you find the birds much more quickly.

If I get into this class my goals are to learn even more about dog training, to improve my skills, to be able to teach my dog new advanced skills, and to enter my first competitions.

Thank you for considering my application for this youth scholarship.”

There you have it.  Thank you, Mason, for applying to be our first recipient of the Joe Dolejsi Annual Youth Scholarship!  I sure that Joe is smiling about this right now.

If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to this fund in memory of Joe, please follow this link: GOFUNDME  The Joe Dolejsi Youth Scholarship Fund

Thanks everyone for your great participation with the training survey!  The number of people and dogs that showed up last year for our training and testing days came as a surprise, which left us scrambling for more training hours and testing days to add to our calendar. As a result of this survey, we now have a good idea of what to expect this season.   I can guarantee we’ll be adding dogs!  Which means that we will need more birds, more hours and more help!

Your Board of Directors have been very busy trying to figure out how to stay ahead of your needs.  You will likely see some changes this year, both in training and testing.   These changes will be shared at a later time.

We are an organization of volunteers and there is tremendous effort that goes into this program.   We ask that you recognize these efforts, be patient, and please volunteer when you can!

This is your club!

Mark Jacobs
Director of Training

Question:  What do you get when you combine bird dogs, shotguns, flying pheasants, comradery and competitive spirit on a fine summer day?

Answer:  Minnesota NAVHDA’s annual Pheasant Championship, of course!

This year marks the 40^th annual running of this event, to be held at Major Avenue Hunt Club near Glencoe, MN on June 23^rd .  To celebrate this milestone, 2018 entry fees have been reduced to $125.00 per team.

This is not a training or testing day!  This is a fun event open to all members (and their friends as hired guns).   Steadiness is optional and retrieving standards relaxed!  Teams consist of 2 gunners with one dog.

REAL MONEY AND REAL PRIZES are at stake here, as well as BRAGGING RIGHTS!  70% of prize money goes to the #1 team – last year’s winners walked away with over $400.  Need more info?  Contact Bryce Adams at (651) 387-8556 or bryce.adams@exceleng.net.

Full Event Info, Rules and Printable Entry Forms Click Here

See the results from 2017 here:  https://mnnavhda.org/2017-pheasant-championship/

Hope to see you there!

There are people in this world who, wherever they go, somebody’s gonna’ recognize them.  When they walk into a room, you know someone is going to raise a glass and say “Hey!  Over here!”  When you hear a big laugh, you turn and see gathered a group enjoying themselves, with that same person of quick wit and good humor near the center of it all.  In the Minnesota NAVHDA world that person was our own Joe Dolejsi.  But our Joe was no ordinary Joe, as the rest of the NAVHDA world will attest.

Last January I had the privilege of representing the Minnesota chapter at the NAVHDA annual meeting in North Carolina.  Imagine my delight when, at the height of the awards banquet, two honorary awards of handmade knives were awarded to Joe Dolejsi and Joe Raia.  Two great guys – our guys – being honored.  How could I not sit just a little straighter and stand a little taller?  After all, they were ours!

Since neither man was present in North Carolina, I was entrusted to bring the knives to Minnesota, and present them at our chapter’s annual meeting.  I had with me NAVHDA president Dave Trahan’s notes detailing their incredible accomplishments.  Joe Dolejsi’s hall of fame stats were eye popping:  Joe joined NAVHDA in 1983.  Over 27 years as a judge, Joe judged 1793 dogs at 218 chapter tests.  He led 14 Handler Clinics.  For NAVHDA International he served as the Director of Testing, Director of Judge Development, Treasurer and President of NAVHDA across a span of 21 years.  All this in addition to training his own dogs to Invitational status.

What the stats don’t tell you is what he has meant to us at Minnesota NAVHDA, as well as the rest of NAVHDA.  There are no statistics to show the number of people he mentored, helped, influenced, taught, and befriended over the years.   There are no records of handlers trained and coached at training nights.  No recordings of good times shared and stories swapped.  Joe was a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother and son, and what does remain is a compelling legacy of which his family can be proud.

We in NAVHDA are also a part of his family – I think Joe would agree.  And yes, of that we can certainly be proud.   Hunt ‘em up, Joe.  Rest in peace, my friend.

Services will be held for Joe in Minnetonka on Saturday, February 3^rd.  Details can be found at http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000239337/?fullname=joseph-k-dolejsi