Hunt Test Gets Retrievers In Shape for Duck Season

At the Muddy Fork Hunting Resort in Prairie Grove, dog lovers and hunting enthusiasts gathered on a rainy weekend in September to test their dogs’ retrieving skills in advance of duck season.

The Ozarks Hunting Retrievers Association, a group of about 50 to 70 retriever owners and trainers, hosted a United Kennel Club licensed hunt test on Sept. 13-14.

On a Sunday afternoon, a group of men and women dressed in camouflage stood around waiting for their turn in front of the judges, their obedient dogs at their sides.

A shotgun and a splash signal the beginning of a dog’s test. The group was quiet, allowing the dog and its handler to concentrate while the judges watched intently.

A duck is launched into the air over the pond with a slingshot-like device called a winger. The handler fires a blank shot in the bird’s direction while the dog watches the bird fall. This test is a double, meaning two birds on the ground at one time, so another bird is launched in the air and another shot is fired.

The dog must wait for the handler’s instruction and then goes to retrieve both birds, working off scent and memory, and brings them back one at a time to the handler’s outstretched palm.

Blake Stewart, OHRA president, said it was duck hunting that led him to get his first retriever.

“I’ve been duck hunting since I was 12 and I got tired of going out in the water to get my own duck,” he said.

When he got his dog, he joined OHRA.

“The guys in the club helped me train my dog,” he said. “Then as my wife says, it turned into a disease.”

The club can also help members get started by finding the right puppy. Many factors go into pricing a puppy, including pedigree, color and its parents’ titles. The puppies range in price from $400 to $1,500.

The acquisition of the dog, Stewart said, is sometimes the least expensive part of getting a good hunting dog.

If the dog is sent off to be professionally trained, it can cost the owner about $500 per month.

The benefits are reaped once the dog starts earning titles at hunt tests. The better the hunting ability, the more money the dog is worth. Although, most owners are reluctant to sell a good hunting dog.

OHRA member Alan Haegele trained his own AKC master hunter. Haegele said the training begins when the puppy is only nine weeks old.

“That’s when they learn their name,” he said.

Haegele said he then spends as much time as possible with the dog, in the mornings and evenings and on the weekends.

Training takes a lot of time, Haegele said, but it builds on the dog’s natural instincts to retrieve.

“You take their natural desire and channel it so you work together as a team,” he said.

Lori Shinnick came to the hunt test from Bloomington, Minn.

“We had a business trip, but we made sure it aligned with this event so we could turn it into a mini-vacation,” she said.

She takes her two professionally trained Labradors to hunt tests to keep them in shape when they’re not hunting.

“It helps them stay up with it, reinforces what they’ve learned,” she said.

Stewart said the OHRA, which meets on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Jim’s Razorback Pizza, provides dog owners and novice trainers with a place to share ideas and seek advice.

“We have monthly training days when we get together to train our dogs,” he said. “You can visit with people who are experienced that can give you a helping hand.”