First Times All the Way Around! Inside the Newsletteroldsite.vdd-gna.org/members/newsletter/07march_gna_newsletter.pdf · First Times All the Way Around! Inside the Newsletter

VEREIN DEUTSCH DRAHTHAAR e.V. /GROUP NORTH AMERICA Volume 59 Number 2 March 2007

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First Times All the Way Around! Inside the Newsletter

The 2007 VDD-GNA meeting was held in January in Denton Texas. There were a lot of first times for this meeting in Denton Texas. It was the first time that an annual meeting was ever held in Texas. It was also the first time that the meeting was held in the winter time. Usually the meetings are held it late spring or early summer to accommodate the vacationers. This year the meeting was held in January to allow the Board of Directors and the membership input on agenda items before the VDD annual meeting in Germany. This was also the first time that the Big Rivers Chapter entertained the annual meeting. It was a first time attendance for many of the Texas and Oklahoma members attending.

GNA Annual Meeting Denton, TX 1 Joerg Tabel Presentation Notes 2 Vice Chairmans Notes 9 From the Breedwarden 9 From the Business Manager 10

The meeting was well attended by the Board of Directors, as well as many members from the Big Rivers Chapter. Director of Testing 11 On Thursday, January 25 the Executive Board met to review and set the agenda. On Friday morning the Board of Directors started at 9:00 AM to start work on the business at hand. They finally finished their meeting at 5:00PM that evening just in time to head to the Dallas Gun Club for a delightful dinner and talks by Joerg Tabel of Germany on Hunting Traditions of Germany and where the DD is headed.

Judge Development Director 12 HD-Results 13 Point of View 14

You Be the Judge 15

Chapter Happenings 17 Armbruster Intent 24 Test Schedule 26 Litter Listings 31 Calendar of Events 36

Board of Directors as well as Executive Committee meet to discuss the business of Group North America.

New Members 39 On Saturday morning Joerg Tabel inlightened the group with his lecture on Blood Tracking and its Training for the DD. It was a great lecture on how to prepare your dog on blood tracking for the VGP and the 20 hour and 40 hour blood track. ( Ed. Note: Joergs Notes and Comments are in another section of this NL


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Donors for 2007 AGM Auction

Hank Lippert Kenny Romero Donny Zarra Gene and Lona Kluck Ron and Sherry Nichols Brandt Hardy John FetzerKevin Sherrodd Bryon Beaton Larry Houck Jimmy Williams Mark Heuer Joerg Tabel Joerg Tabel receiving a custom made wing boned turkey

yelper from Jerry W from the Big Rivers Chapter Drahthaar for Youth Foundation Eukanuba Atlantic ChapterGreat That afternoon, the membership, the Board of Directors

and the Executive Committee all came together for 2 hours to discuss and vote on many of the recommendations that had been made in the past 2 days. It was a very well run meeting. One of the highlights of the meeting was that wo members of GNA were awarded Distinguished Service Awards. They were Brandt Hardy and Hank Lippert both of the Big Rivers Chapter. These two men were recognized for their dedicated and steadfast service the Deutsch Drahthaar and Group North America.

Lakes Chapter Southeast Hunter Chapter Midwest North Hunter Chapter Great Plains Chapter Big Rivers Chapter Sitatunga Safaris VDD-GNA wishes to thank all persons and Chapters who donated items to make the auction a very good success. If anyone was let out, it was done unintentionally and please accept our apologies.

German Hunting Traditions (Brauchtum)

By Joerg Tabel Hunting traditions are driven by emotions as much as by hunting ethics, by practicality and at times by doing things within a group of selected people, namely the huntsmen, not easily understood by the general public, thus, keeping a kind of secret to ourselves. The hunting traditions in Germany, call it the custom, has many facets. The overriding cause of developing, maintaining and cherishing the traditions, however, is carried by the hunters respect for the creature, Brandt Hardy receiving his Distinguished Service Award from Chairman Bryon Beaton in fact, by his reverence for Gods creation as a whole. It may be said at this very point, that a hunter who has obviously no links to God is not utterly welcome in a hunters community.

That evening a very find dinner was well attended by more than 60 attendees. A money raising auction for the DDs was then directed by Auctioneer Mark Heuer. The event raised over $4000 on the auction and almost another $1000 from the raffle table. The highlights of the auction were 3 different hunting trips and a #1 numbered and signed print of the DD picture that is used on the cover of this Newsletter by Hank Lippert.

The custom is essentially composed of (but not limited to) : the hunters own vocabulary (hunters language) in describing hunting situations, animal behaviour or body parts of a game animal for instance;

the use of branches (Brche) broken from a defined type of tree as a means of signaling a certain situation or communicating with fellow huntsmen;


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the use of the bugle-horn (French horn) as a means of communication in various hunting situations & social events;

the appropriate training, handling and use of hunting dogs, for example in tracking down wounded game of any size (from quail to deer). There are a number of minor traditions that have developed in local areas over time, which may not be known or understood by a hunter from a different region. To elaborate on the above described custom in more detail, here are a few examples of the huntsmens own language: The spot where an individual game animal rests, usually during the day, has different names depending on the species in question.

Joerg Tabel demonstrating his horn blowing abilities in the Forest at the seminar for the Southeast Hunter Chapter

meeting. A hare rests in a Sasse (derived from sitting), a wild boar would rest in a Lager (lying) or Kessel (couch), a deer would rest in a Bett (bed); remember the wound-bed. The leg of a duck or goose is called Ruder (webbed foot or paddle), that of a deer is called Lauf (running), that of a quail is called Staender (standing), that of a boar Hammer !

If a (larger) group of hunters sets off for a common drive hunt, for example, a specific melody (signal) would indicate the start of the drive and also the end of the drive (trigger at rest). In a large area covered, the signal would be passed on from one blowing hunter to the next around the wooded area. Such signals represent established instructions!

The deer doesnt walk, but zieht (drags on) when slowly moving forward. The fox schnuert (trots on a rope), his footprints (paws) leave a straight line (rope) on the sandy ground or in snow.

A participating hunter disregarding these instructions (call them safety orders) would risk his hunting licence or would at least instantly be expelled from the hunt.

The non-hunter, of course, wouldnt know what we are talking about.

After a hunt the game bagged will be honoured by signals specific to each species; these so-called dead game signals all have one portion at the end in common: ha-la-li.

Specifically prepared and placed branches (Bruch) The bugle horn will also be blown on special occasions like

weddings, birthdays, or funerals of hunters, even in the church.

signify the course of a track of a wounded game, tell the hunting companion what to do in a particular situation, identify the shot and cleaned game as male or female. After certain big game (ungulates) has been shot the hunter will offer the last bite in respect for the creature by placing a branch into the mouth of the deer, boar, or else.

Usually, on November 3rd, the memorial day of St. Hubertus, the hunters holy patron, mass will be celebrated in church which attracts huge crowds.

The subject of cherishing the hunting traditions is considered important enough to be part of the hunters exams. It is compulsory to pass such test before obtaining a hunting licence in Germany.

The branch must be of one of the following trees: fir, pine, oak or alder. There is the tradition that if a hunter dies, the mourning comrade will place a Bruch on his coffin before burial, say instead of flowers. A close friend would visit the grave yard regularly afterwards and place a Bruch on the grave of his gone friend.

Hunting custom is an integral part of our hunting culture that has developed over decades and centuries in our part of the world.

Adhering to established hunting traditions contributes to fostering the sense of unity among hunters and to building bridges between people of different origin, education, professional status, social background, gender and age.

A well versed huntsman blows the bugle horn. The horn without keys has 5 natural notes only; the expert can manage to produce a maximum of 7 notes on it. There are a great number of melodies (signals), either used for practical reasons in genuine hunting situations or on traditional and emotional grounds, some 45 signals in all.

Thank you and Horrido! ED Note: Joerg Tabel is from Germany. He was the featured speaker at the 2007 Annual Meeting in Denton, TX.


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DD what paves its future?

By Jorge Tabel What are our visions for the DD? or ... where-to do we intend to go? or ... where do we need to go? Originally, when preparing for this weeks event [the AGM of VDD-GNA in Denton, Texas in January 2007] I was asked to present a review of the past & future use of DD. I took the liberty to slightly modify the topic with the intention to look more into the future rather than at the past, since it is the future, that we are going to live! Yet, the history of the VDD and its product, the DD, is more than exciting. If you wish, have a look again at your GNA Newsletter Vol 57, No.2 (March 2005); pages 10-13 will make interesting reading. When addressing the above questions, the pertaining regulations come automatically to our mind, namely: (a) Statute of VDD (Satzung) (b) Breed Standard (Rasse Standard) (c) Breeding Regulations (Zuchtordnung) Let me quote substantial portions from ... The purpose of VDD is to promote breeding of Deutsch-Drahthaar, to promote their handling and testing for versatile hunting use, and to fulfill the hunters ethical obligation while going about hunting. again, the Preamble describes the need to use the DD in numerous, actually in all hunting situations before & after the shot in the field, in the forest, in water. The Deutsch-Drahthaar has to display all relevant natural ability indicators, typical for a DD. He simply needs to be versatile ! The Breed Standard goes on to describe details of the dogs appearance, its desired conformation & coat, its character, temperament, mental stability. Article 1 of the Breeding Regulations stipulate that the individual breeder enjoys far-reaching freedom in breeding DDs, of course, within the framework of the detailed Regulations (the dos and must nots). Article 1 of the Breeding Regulations also repeats the century-old principle of DD breeding, named from performance to type Reflecting on the above just said,

It would seem that everything is well looked after, Everything is cared for, Everything has been thought of, Lets lean back, enjoy the work of our Deutsch-Drahthaar and allow things to happen as they should. In fact , we have made great progress in breeding a very capable hunting dog over the last several decades, in Germany, the US and elsewhere in the world. VDD can proudly claim to be the most successful breeding club of larger hunting dogs (pointing dogs) world-wide. We can boast of a fairly large breeding base, of a great variety of blood lines. Performance and type have reached a level of impressive quality; so has the versatility of our Deutsch-Drahthaar. Okay then where do we need to go? Well, beware of complacency ! There is no reason to be self-content ! In my opinion, the future demands that we cope with 4 central requirements: Firstly, to maintain and stabilize performance, type and versatility; Secondly, to display honesty, objectivity, and straightforwardness when testing ones dog at an Assc. Test; this applies to both judge and handler; this applies not only to tests, but equally to practical hunting in the field, in water or in the woods; Thirdly, to unswervingly produce a dog for hunting, for genuine work and not for beauty, exhibition, money making or other purposes; Fourthly, to pay particular attention to producing a dog of uncompromising, undeterred mental stability Ladies & Gentlemen, let me briefly comment on the above statements: Performance, type As said we have achieved a great deal and probably cant go for much more. Take the nose for example. I hear people say my dog has a very good nose. I tend to fully agree with them without even having seen the dog. Unless the dog has a severe physiological dysfunction, his scenting ability is very good, several ten or hundred 000 times better than ours and good enough for our hunting purposes. For a very good reason our recently revised test regulations speak of the use of nose, in other words how is the dog going about using his nose, his most dominant organ of sense. To develop this scenting tool to full maturity is largely within the scope of the handler.


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Versatility, in my opinion the most prominent asset of our Deutsch-Drahthaar, needs to be actively utilized by the handler, in tests and in practice. In this instance, I see much room and a challenge on the part of the handler. If the handler demands, the DD will oblige ! I appeal to you: be pretentious! Honesty, objectivity I have seen group members testing their DDs at Assoc. Tests of other more lenient clubs or groups, because they would earn a couple of points more over there, and, hence make their sire more valuable and attractive! I consider this behaviour as a sad self-deceit and a deceit of DD breeding as a whole. Moreover, such attitude qualifies the owner or handler as being highly unassuming, unpretentious! Accept the strengths and weaknesses of your dog and work on improving the weaknesses. Focus on producing a dog for hunting The other day I came across a man in the neighbouring village who walked his dog, obviously a Deutsch-Drahthaar. Since I know most hunters in my area (but not him), I approached him and asked if he used to go out hunting with his DD. Oh no, I am not a hunter, but I like this breed, this is already the fifth Deutsch-Drahthaar in my life; I always got them from kennel .... Okay, you cant blame the man for liking DDs. Who doesnt? The issue is: the breeder is obviously not breeding dogs for hunting purposes. Such development is an inherent risk, it may eventually lead to a deterioration of our breed as seen in other breeds and also blur the view of certain groups of hunters, who for whatever reason, are not (yet) exposed to solid, thorough, and sincere hunting practice. Our DD is to remain a solid worker with purpose and may not degenerate to a pet. Mental stability (Wesen) The biggest task, the most important challenge for our Deutsch-Drahthaar breed is to safe-guard and foster the dogs mental stability, which goes far beyond (the absence of) shot sensitivity. As said earlier, in terms of performance we can expect only little more than we have, therefore our main focus has to be directed toward producing mentally sound dogs. A DD is to be friendly toward other dogs of any size, or at least indifferent toward them. He should be friendly toward men, show neither aggressiveness nor anxiety. He should be sort of laid back when encountering domestic animals like horses, cows, sheep, goats, or poultry. He should be calm and composed when encountering a new, possibly odd environmental situation ... but if disturbed initially, he should quickly regain his mental balance.

An obvious example of poor behaviour and compromised composure is a dogs tendency to bark vigorously at or even run make-believe attacks on by-passers or other dogs while kept inside his owners motor vehicle. Instead of taking well understood measures to stop such behaviour instantly, you can observe quite often that owners corroborate such attitude and call their dog a good boy, because he is defending the car ..., indeed a sad judgment & self-deception! As you can guess, the responsibility is not only with the breeder. The new puppy owner can do a lot in the right direction. He is well advised to visit the kennel and see the dam (mother dog) also see her working and behaving before making the decision to buy a pup. By doing so, the potential buyer puts natural market forces in place. All of us who like the Deutsch-Drahthaar carry a piece of responsibility. A well bred, well trained, well handled Deutsch-Drahthaar reflects the sound image of the owner and the image of good hunting as a whole ! Thank you & Waidmannsheil

Understand Blood Tracking

By Joerg Tabel (This is a reprint of Joerg Tabels presentation on Blood Tracking Work on the occasion of the AGM of VDD-GNA in Denton, TX in January 2007 and of the Annual SouthEast Hunter Chapter Membership Meeting in Hamilton, GA in early February, 2007) I have termed my presentation understand blood tracking with the intention to address a few thoughts, a few necessities you need to understand and observe when going about preparing your dog for blood tracking and eventually make him/her a reliable blood tracker. Blood tracking is an extremely pretentious work and many of us see it as the undisputed crown of ethical hunting. My overriding goal in preparing and teaching my dog to work a blood track is to tune the dog, to tune him both mentally and physically; in other words: to condition the dog for doing blood tracking work willingly, happily & effectively. I strive to methodically develop and establish a pattern of behaviour on the part of the dog, methodically, ritually and rigidly supported and controlled by me as the handler. When using the terms tuning and conditioning I am trying to circumscribe the German term Prgung and its paramount importance for training reliable blood trackers. (As you coin a coin or emboss a piece of metal, you coin the dogs mind, you establish a pattern.)


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I said I methodically develop and establish a pattern. What do these methods look like? Let me start with the key-word: motivation There is no action or activity in a dogs or any other animals life without motivation: Hunger motivates eating, thirst motivates drinking, (excess) energy motivates playing, tiredness motivates sleeping, and by the way: an established pattern leads to (or motivates) to behave in a particular fashion. I simply use hunger as motivator. I must confess I do not know of any better method than deceiving the dog with food, thus, exploiting his hunger. In this context deceiving equals conditioning the dog. There are people who complain their dog doesnt eat well & is never really hungry. This may be true in isolated cases, but let me assure you: you can teach young dogs to eat well (and be hungry!). When feeding the pup, always stay with him and take the food basin away promptly and keep it out of reach the very moment he turns his mouth and head away from the food. If you repeat this procedure a couple of times also allowing any length of time elapse until you offer the food again - the pup will be eager to finish his plate. In contrast, leaving the unfinished food with the dog or refilling the plate every now and then outside established feeding times is not likely to be conducive to making a good eater. At the age of six, seven, preferably no later than eight (8) weeks I start with the first food drags. (Since the puppies are usually still with the breeder at this age it is the breeders responsibility to initiate the first steps, which as a side line make him a truly responsible breeder.) What are food drags like? Choose the food the puppy usually gets or which he/she likes particularly much. Depending on the constitution of the food (soft, watery, solid) you may fill it into a little linen pouch, attach it to a rope and drag the deceiving object of desire over the ground (lawn, meadow). As I use to feed my dogs with fresh meat, such as beef, sheep or even game meat I simply drag a piece of meat, ideally a piece from the lungs. You all know the common game drag tested at our Assoc tests. The very first food drags are drags in miniature they are baby versions! You start with a length of 2 or 3 feet and extend the length gradually over time. The marginal difference to the tested game drag is that instead of an object to be retrieved you place food at the end of the drag (which you are sure the puppy will thoroughly enjoy).

After having prepared the drag you guide the puppy gently, but accurately with both palms of your hands from start to finish and allow the dog to eat the food. Even more effective is perhaps to offer a little, but solid piece of meat, which you leave tied to the dragging rope. Once getting to the end, you hold the string fast which will surely encourage the little dog to fight for the prey, pulling off little bites and, thus, increasing his/her eating lust. At the same time you as handler, hunting partner and team leader take in the eyes of your pup - part in this pleasant eating event. You may repeat these food drag exercises several times a day, but please make always sure, the dog is willing and hungry. Exercising with a tired and/or satisfied dog is often a step backwards! Over time you gradually extend these food drags in terms of length (from 1-3-5-10-20-40-60-80 to 100 and more yards) and also in terms of the time between preparing and working the drag (from a few minutes to 10 min-20min-1h-2-3-4-5-6-12hrs). One additional necessity needs to be observed: get the puppy used to wearing a collar very early in its life; in this context a string around the neck is initially sufficient, to be exchanged by a light leather collar after a few days. Once the food drag exceeds the length of 6 or 10 feet, continue to use a (light) tracking leash and from then on always use a tracking leash! The food drag exercise serves several purposes: In general terms we are installing a mental chain of events: Smell, arousing hunger, use of nose, nose on the ground, follow track, find prey, fight for the prey, meet hunger (=> eat => success => mission completed). Hence, you are coining a chain of events, a desired behaviour you are (in the process of) establishing a pattern! Yet, I am pursuing several more far-reaching goals relevant to blood tracking, when applying the food drag training method (you may also call it the tuning or conditioning method). Specifically The first goal of the food drag is to make the dog follow a track by exploiting his hunger Watch out: never ever work with a full or tired dog; never saturate the hunger fully; never ever tire the dog down completely; make sure a sound amount of energy remains. This allows the dog to mentally store the exercise as a most pleasant event. The second goal is to get the dog used to a long and eventually heavy leash. In combination with the pleasant event, namely the anticipation to find food, the dog will learn to tolerate the


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leash as the most common thing on earth. We call this very important aspect, this tolerance the steadiness to leash. The third goal has again to do with the long leash. Beyond tolerating the leash the dog will actually very soon like the leash and vividly express his joy. This is important in so far as the dog will soon recognise the leash as a symbol for rewarding (pleasant) tracking work. The installation of the pattern is taking shape, the course of conditioning is bearing fruits. Example: You take your fully trained dog by car to the woods, step out of your truck, take the shoulder lead out, tell your dog to jump off, to sit; you start walking: the dog will display a standard behaviour. However, if you take out the long tracking leash instead, the dog will jump almost up to your shoulders out of joy and in keen anticipation of tracking work. The dogs happy mental state was originally triggered by hunger and satisfying its hunger. The tracking leash has over time - become an element of motivation. The example demonstrates you have successfully implanted motivation, you have conditioned the dog. The fourth goal is to control pace. I appeal to all of you: Please reduce tracking speed to walking pace at all times. The puppy, the young dog has to learn that restricted, controlled pace right from the beginning (!) The slower the pace the more certain you will successfully complete blood tracking work at trials and in real hunting situations. Any speed beyond walking pace will inevitably lead to failure if difficulties/distractions on the track occur. Controlling pace also means controlling yourself! The fifth goal is to create the sense for team work, to develop a sense of understanding (reading) each other. The handler is practicing his handling, including his leash handling techniques and studying the dogs reactions or non-reactions. The dog, in turn, will learn and get used to the handlers techniques and his possible interference during the drag tracking work. So far, you have eagerly listened and/or read through the foregoing part of the presentation. Let us have a short break and reflect for a moment: what are the key words, the key elements that remained stuck in your mind? No doubt, you will remember and quote them all independent of their logical sequence: Hunger, motivation, food drag, tracking leash, tuning, conditioning, establish a pattern of behavior, steadiness to leash, reading, understanding, team work, control pace and again .... m o t i v a t e, t u n e, c o n t r o l p a c e .

The food drag discussed above can be seen as a preparatory method. As the puppy grows you extend the length of the drag gradually and in small steps from a few yards upto mile. You also extend the time between preparing and working the food drag from promptly to a couple of hours. In terms of the nose, e.g. the dogs ability to smell the scent and follow the track does not really constitute a problem. People tend to underestimate a dogs objective organic ability to smell, based on the physiological structure of the nose. Dont be misled and seek for cheap excuses in the plight of failure. Your paramount task is essentially to maintain motivation. What is the instantly fitting keyword here? Yes, hunger ! (I am glad you are still with me ...) At the age of 12 to 15 weeks you go a step further and prepare a (short) track with blood, (in rare cases of need) possibly intermingled with a few tiny bites to eat on the track every now and then between start and finish. The young dog will go for the bites and hastily swallow them. And go for more! (Yes, your dog is highly motivated !) If you decide to employ such bites, taper off the number to zero pretty soon. Of course, the big feast will always be celebrated at the end of the track! During the next couple of weeks you can constantly increase the length of the track we are now talking of the blood track, and no more of the food drag in terms of distance between start and finish, in terms of time between preparing and working the track. Simultaneously or successively you also reduce the quantity of blood, change sites and terrain. How long, how old shall the track be? How much blood do I use? How quickly do I progress in increasing length or age of the track, how quickly do I progress in reducing the quantity of blood each time? These delicate and equally important questions can only be answered with a wisdom of Solomon appeal to your observing mind, your demanded touch as a thoughtful handler. All puppies and young dogs are different, they are individuals, no machines. My advice is to sail close to the limit, but never exceed the limit. In other words: offer the dog a challenge which he/she happily accepts, do not create situations which produce mental and physical states of exhaustion, as this will inevitably lead to partial or total loss of motivation. Gradually & constantly increasing the rate of difficulties is the right recipe. It is absolutely no miracle to have a 6 month old dog work an overnight track (14 to 24 hrs old) of mile with pint of blood. Remember: this is much more than we are demanding from a mature, say three year-old VGP dog !


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(Knowing this I dare to declare the VGP day track criteria as asking for kindergarten performance, in fact as counterproductive.) But back to our pups ......... beware of mistakes in this developing phase. Easily said, isnt it ? Well, well try to identify them. As much as you manage to support (as handler and trainer) your dog in a positive fashion the dog will reward you with a desired attitude. In contrast, unrecognized, recurrent mistakes in your handling technique can lead to sad failures and make correction of the dogs attitudes extremely difficult. It must be understood that ill-fated actions (also called conditioned signals) by the handler and subsequent ill-fated attitudes of the dog have an equally conditioning power (a conditioned behavior in a negative way) as positive actions & desired behavior (in a positive way). In this context let us look at our tools of positive action: Rule 1 [you are responsible] Our key-word is Determination We said earlier, you are forming a team with your dog, but remember you are not exercising democracy, you are the leader, you are the grown-up, you are the example the dog believes in, live up to the good example, maintain (or at least play) unequivocally good temper at all times, exert confidence in the work you (the team) are doing and above all: never give up, be determined and show/express your determination. Take an example from the sports world: you are playing a best-of-five tennis match; you lost the first 2 sets and are behind in the 3rd set by 2:5, 0:40; match point (!) .... yet, you maintain your determination to win the next point, to win the game, set and match for yourself, for your mates, for the team. I am inclined to call these positive traits your mental responsibility within the team. Rule 2 [you do] Observe (!) your dog during work, nothing but your dog. Respond instantly to positive signs of behavior; Respond instantly to negative signs by expressing your disagreement in a firm, but gentle, superior manner; Develop your own vocabulary and body language specifically designed and used for the tracking work when communicating with your dog. As an example, avoid pronouncements like good dog; search ahead; Bella , if you use them routinely during field work or during water work. Instead, get used to one (benevolent) term such as verwundt, voiced in a low volume, calm, reassuring and trust inspiring fashion. Any exhorting command again

different from any other commonly used pronouncement shall be with a calm, low, trust inspiring but firm (determined) voice. ~ By doing so you enhance the focus on this particular work, you support concentration on the current task. Any chance missed in accompanying the dogs work, whether negative or positive, is a missed chance of progress in the learning process; Control pace ! Any speed beyond walking is counterproductive. Trotting, running, galloping is no blood tracking style. It is usually a sign of loss of concentration on the dogs part and a loss of control on the handlers part. Determine the dogs state of physical & mental exhaustion. Tracking work is energy consuming. In the learning phase an exhausted dog cannot and will not do blood tracking work. Exhaustion is utterly counterproductive toward the ongoing conditioning process. Which remedies are at hand ? How do you counter-act exhaustion or better even, already counter-act germinating exhaustion? You make a break. You teach your dog early in the developing stage to stay down on the track to recover. The younger the dog the less forceful the command. Down-stay on the track is one of the unique keys to success in pretentious blood tracking. Finally, obedience ! Obedience is indispensable for successful blood tracking; when I talk of obedience I think of general submission and clear response to the down command. Of course, you dont expect or demand obedience from a puppy, but you will have no problem in teaching heeling on lead at the age of 16 weeks+ and brief down stay at 20 weeks+. The strict down will then follow at 8/10/12 months. Never ever practice obedience during blood tracking work! It would distract from the actual work to be done. Rather practice general submission and obedience at home, in your garden, in the field, in timber (disconnected from tracking work!). Why is obedience so important ? Obedience stabilizes team work; team spirit; conserves energy, which is in great demand; is being applied in many practical blood tracking situations and may on occasion be the decisive factor for failure or success. I happened to learn my first lesson back in 1969, when I was asked to work the blood track of an antlered red deer with a front-leg shot from the night before. Two other dogs had failed before I was called. Kora wasnt even my own dog, but I knew her well. She was a 3 year old DD and a keen blood tracker with lots of drive. We had our problems with hardly any visible blood. At one stage I lost confidence (what an embarrassing mistake!) as the dog worked the track again backwards for some 30 yards and then took off in a sharp angle. We re-worked this portion three times with the same result. I did not believe her and started to look nervously for some kind of confirmation on the ground. And there she went briefly


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unattended with the long leash down the hill and almost out of sight. I had no time to reflect: I whistled, she went in down position. You will realize this very second decided about failure or success. (After 2 km of tracking work we got to the fresh wound-bed and Kora, then released from the leash, chased the stag for another km, pinned it down in a river bed until I came to help.) Finally, Rule 3 [close successfully] Close blood tracking work in exercise situations always with success. If you encounter for whatever reason - seemingly unbridgeable problems in working the artificial track, take the dog off the track and restart anywhere near the end and try to complete the last couple of yards to get to the end and have the dog find and eat the food. At least from the dogs point of view the tracking attempt was not a failure. Success will reward you for your hard and mindful work. Successful blood tracking work is not only the crown of hunting ethics, it will also provide you with a sense of elation. Good luck with your next pup. (Jrg Tabel)

NOTICE NEW PASSWORDS www.vdd-gna.org

Username:bloodtracking Password: vgp

All in lower case!

Vice Chairmans Notes The Path to the Armbruster.

I am sure your year old pup is as talented and precocious as you and your family have determined. Now it is time to show the rest of us. Hopefully you have registered for a spring test (VJP) and have done the basic preparation for this first natural ability test. If not, please check immediately with your Chapter Director of Testing for advice and

recommendations. The VJP is a breed test and the first indication for our breeders as to the success of their breeding program. This feedback is critically important to insure the continued quality of the pups produced by Group North America. The preparation for this test

(Prfung) is also the first step in your goal to have an

accomplished hunting partner by the fall. The fall breed test or HZP will be the most important part of this training. For those of you whose dogs reach the qualifying score in the VJP, I would ask you to consider participation in GNAs International Zuchtprfung the Armbruster to be held at the Kelly Farms near the twin cities September 19-22 of this year. There is some extra work involved as this event combines our fall breed test the HZP with a breed show (Zuchtschau). Entrants will be required to pass some conformation and coat standards (Form und Haar) as well a performance marks from the VJP to be allowed to participate. Awards will be given for the best performance in the field, in the water and overall work. Additionally the best looking or most representative male and female from the breed show will be recognized. This will be GNAs 6th Armbruster International Zuchtprfung and a great opportunity to see friends and many, many Deutsch Drahthaars. You need not have a dog entered to attend. Our hosts, the Mid-West North Chapter are famous for their hospitality and will provide a social program not to be missed. Drahthaars will come from all over the country and one will have the opportunity to see quality pups from many of our breeders. This year we again expect several of our German friends to attend and work as both performance and breed show judges. Their sharing of the traditions of German hunting, testing and hunting dogs is always enriching. Best of luck in your VJP! I hope you qualify and choose to participate in the Armbruster. This will be an experience that you cherish and review with your hunting partner in the duck blind, on the tailgate, and at home by the fire for many years to come. To breed versatile dogs is an art To increase their numbers a blessing To maintain their inheritance a duty To improve it our biggest wish Best wishes and Waidmannsheil, Edward Carney, M.D. Vice-Chairman, VDD-GNA

From the Breedwarden What makes a good breeder? In GNA our breeders are most often the first contact hunters have with VDD, the Deutsch-Drahthaar, and the JGHV testing system. The impression the breeder makes on the first time DD owner is often a very lasting one. I deal with all VDD breeders in America and I have come to the opinion that in most cases the new VDD breeder is a reflection of the breeder they obtained their first DD from. They seem to have the same set of ethics, and the same goals, or lack of in their breeding activity.

In GNA we have all kinds of breeders. On one end of the spectrum we have the person that can barely be called a hunter if at all. This person has very little knowledge of the breed, or how to train and hunt with the dogs, and only


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[email protected] seems interested in producing puppies to sell. Once the sale is complete they would just as soon never hear from the buyer again unless there is good news.

573-276-2611

Great Lakes Chapter On the other end of the spectrum is the person who is an avid hunter, and has proven him/herself to be an accomplished trainer and handler. This person has studied genetics and animal husbandry and tries to apply all of this combined knowledge to improve the breed. He/she takes an interest in all of the puppy buyers and helps and encourages them in the development, training, and testing of their dogs. He/she is always available to answer questions and offer advice. This person has a strong breeders ethic, and the integrity of the breed is of the utmost importance to him/her.

Bill English (GL Chapter Breedwarden) [email protected] 517-523-2042 Great Plains Chapter Jeff Westerby (GP Chapter Breedwarden) [email protected] 308-381-6388 Heartland Chapter Linda Reeves (HL Chapter Breedwarden) Fortunately most GNA breeders lean more towards the

second example than the first, but I think all of us could stand to take a look in the mirror and see where we could do better. If you are lacking in knowledge of the breed, find out everything you can and seek out the experienced members and breeders and make them your mentor. An understanding of basic genetics can easily be obtained from books and/or the internet. Learn which genetic problems affect the DD and their mode of propagation. Learn all you can in the training and handling of a versatile DD by doing it. Train and handle your DD in the ultimate test of the versatile hunting dog, the VGP. When there are tests and meetings in your area, attend and make use of the experienced trainers and breeders. Most are willing to talk and share their knowledge. Attend seminars about all aspects of the breed when they are available at GNA and chapter meetings.

[email protected] 309-822-8346 Midwest North Chapter Faith Wood [email protected] 414-744-1929 Southeast Hunter Chapter Martin Coffman (SEH Chapter Breedwarden) [email protected] 251-247-2358 Wild West Chapter Cal Bambrough (WW Chapter Breedwarden)

lostcreek01@ omcast.net c801-776-6499 VDD and GNA is a different situation than typical American dog breeding where everyone is looking out for number

one. Its just a different mindset and many new members dont realize this and assume that VDD is just the German equivalent of AKC. We should be more of a breeders cooperative where we are helping each other out for the betterment of this great breed we all love.

From the Business Manager We now, as of the March Newsletter deadline, have over 180 new members for 2007 and this has kept me very busy processing new member applications and the many details that go along with it. I want to welcome the new members and I hope that everyone has a great experience at the spring tests.

Lynn S. Whiteley VDD/GNA Breedwarden We have in place the contract with

Allport Productions, which was approved at the 2006 Board of Directors meeting, for our web-based database. This should be completed within a few months and should be a benefit to all.

Chapter Contact for Breeders As many of you already know, I have distributed forms related to the breedwardens office to a contact person in each chapter. This includes kennel and litter registration forms, stud certificates, etc. This is a move to make the forms more readily available to GNA members, and also to delegate some of my workload. Please contact these people when you need these forms. Below is a list of the chapter contacts.

The changes to the GNA Rules of Procedure that were approved at the

2007 GNA Annual General Meeting has been incorporated and are available on the GNA web site.

The meeting minutes from the 2007 GNA Annual General Meeting will be available for the following issue of the Newsletter.

Atlantic Chapter Nancy Bohs (AT Chapter Breedwarden) [email protected] If you have questions or concerns, please contact me, or

any of the other Executive Committee members. 609-654-6005 Waidsmansheil,

Jim Big Rivers Chapter Hank Lippert (BR Chapter Breedwarden)

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Director of Testing From the Director of Testing My column will be a bit of a hodgepodge this month. For starters, I want to thank GNA and particularly the Board, for the kindness and generosity you extended to my family and me when my mother passed away the final day of the Annual Meeting. I had several years to prepare myself for my mothers death (she suffered from Alzheimers Disease) and assumed that her passing would be less of a shock for that reason. I was wrong, of course. Ed Carneys advice, Larry Houcks offer to drive me to Kansas, Shane Defords delivery of my report, the flowers Bryon sent for the club, and the condolences received from so many of you will be long remembered and appreciated. Secondly, George Boyd (Group Canada) lost his mother on February 15 and his good friend and neighbor, Dot, affectionately known as The Goat Lady a day later. If youve ever visited George in Nova Scotia, you have probably been fortunate enough to meet one of these fine ladies. Im sure George would enjoy hearing from his GNA friends. Finally, NADKC member, avid NAVHDA trainer, handler and judge, and friend to all outdoorsmen, Blaine Carter, lost his father, Clarence, in a tragic accident on Saturday, February 17. He lost his mother in September. Those of you who know Blaine know him to be a fun, crusty and colorful character. His recent losses have no doubt shaken him to his core. Im sure he and Patti would enjoy hearing from their GNA friends. VJP Season The VJP testing season will be underway by the time you receive this newsletter. Nearly 300 pups will participate in one or more of 23 GNA-sponsored VJPs this spring. Thats nearly half the pups that were whelped in GNA kennels last year, and that is a very commendable accomplishment. I wish all VJP handlers, particularly first-time handlers, the best of luck, and I thank you for taking on this challenge. By testing your pup, you are doing a tremendous service to your breeder and to the breed as a whole. Our testing program is the tool that allows us to refine our breeding practices, further improving the greatest hunting dog known to man and woman, to be politically correct. If you have taken your pup afield and exposed him or her to game and the great outdoors, Im sure you will be rewarded. When the VJP is successfully behind you, I hope you will train for and test your pups in the HZP this fall. Be sure to take in as many training days as you can during the summer months. You can find information on training days on your chapters web page. The VGP Drive Hunt

I begin this section with an excerpt from George Boyds article that appeared in last months Group Canada Drahthaar News:

I have just returned from Germany where I was invited to be a shooter on three drive hunts. Two were for pheasant and hasen (jack rabbits) and the other mainly for wild boar and DamHirsch. Only after you actually get to participate in a hunt do you understand why things are tested for by the JGHV. The purpose of a drive hunt, like all hunting, is to harvest game. The difference is that during a drive hunt in Germany many hunters and beaters, both with their dogs, get together to sweep an area. The object is to orderly move the game towards the shooters. The only noise is from the voices of the beaters and the beating of walking sticks against trees. Again, the object is to move game, not scare it into another country. The beaters use their dogs to work ahead of them in an orderly fashion and help with the finding and moving of game. Many shooters had their dogs standing or lying beside them while they waited for game to be moved in their direction. These dogs sat or lay quietly until they were called upon to do something, sometimes for two hours or more. [emphasis added]

Thank you, George and Group Canada, for allowing us to print this excerpt. Anyone who has handled a dog in a VGP can no doubt recall the racket created by the beaters moving through the woods, beating pots and pans, whistling, shouting, blowing horns, etc. A marching band makes less noise than our beaters do. Now I ask you to recall the actual drive hunts youve participated in. Whether it was a deer or pheasant hunt probably doesnt matter. Were the drivers beating pots and pans? Were they blowing horns? I would be willing to bet the answer to each is no. If they were, the birds flushed wild and out of range of the drivers and blockers. The deer would have been running so fast that the shooters would be seriously challenged. Why, then, do we add the additional racket to our simulated drive hunts for the VGP? Section 91 of the VGPO states in part, that the drivers/beaters are to employ the customary noise, which would indicate to me that were expected to make the test realistic in every sense including the noise level. Judges, I ask each of you to keep this in mind this fall as you are judging VGPs across the country. Lets not put our dogs at a disadvantage to their European counterparts. Calculating HZP Manner of Retrieve Scores Recently it came to my attention that GNA judges have been applying two methods of calculating the manner of retrieve score. There is only one correct method. Step 1 - calculate the average manner of retrieve score on the 3


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duck retrieves. The result is the overall manner of retrieve score for the duck retrieves. Step 2 calculate the average of the manner of retrieve score for the (i) hare, (ii) duck (overall), and (iii) feathered game. In other words, you calculate an average going across then down. If any retrieve is scored insufficient or zero, the entire manner of retrieve score is zero. One further note regarding manner of retrieve scores each individual duck retrieve must be scored 3 or higher, and each subject (hare retrieve, duck retrieve, and feathered game retrieve) must be scored 3 or higher for the dog to receive a passing score in the manner of retrieve. So, to sum it up, a dog must receive a score of 3 or higher on each retrieve (hare, duck (3), and feathered game) to receive a passing score in manner of retrieve.

Geoff Mathews playing Sgt. Preston. Dennis while in Maine. Geoff, is this what you mean by Versatile Training?

Director of Judge Development I hope everyone had a great hunting season with their DD by their side. Now that winter is winding down we can focus on a busy spring testing season. I trust that test directors are contacting judges so we can avoid the last minute need for a judge. At this years annual meeting we had a very busy couple of days. I first would like to thank Jrg Tabel for his hard work giving seminars and sharing his knowledge. I also want to thank the Big Rivers Chapter for putting together GNAs first winter annual meeting. The Board of Directors meeting had a full agenda. One of the most significant changes to be approved was RAnW reimbursement policy. Starting this spring apprentice travel for out of chapter required test will be reimbursed for their expenses the same as judges. You must keep all of your receipts and fill out the Judges Reimbursement form. Send this form to Fred Turjan and when I receive your report and senior judge evaluation I will send Fred an e-mail to approve payment. Please make sure you read through the form so you understand what receipts are required before you travel. If you have any question, please contact myself or Fred. Another change that I think is significant is chapter affiliation. You now must be a member of a chapter for 1 year before a chairman can recommend you as an apprentice. This will allow the chairman of your new

chapter to get to know you before he recommends you. The recommendation from the chapter chairman is very important to me as I have not met every member of GNA. I rely heavily on the recommendations of the chairman when I have not had the opportunity to interact with that member. The Wild West Chapter will be having the Introduction to the German Hunting Dog System seminar on 4/28 in Malta, ID. Please contact Shane Loveland at 435-237-9266 if you plan to attend. The Atlantic Chapter will be giving a continuing education seminar on 5/19 in Carlisle, PA. The topic for this seminar is VZPO and VGPO Regulation Review. They will also hold the Introduction to the German Hunting Dog System seminar on 5/20 in Carlisle, PA. Please contact Nick Starika at 202-722-4868 for more details. The Introduction to the German Hunting Dog System seminar is required to become an apprentice. This seminar is good for 4 years after you attend. I would encourage anyone that is interested in attending the seminar to take advantage of it. The seminar has a lot of good information that will help you understand important aspects of the JGHV System. You should make sure that you get Formblatt 62 signed by the presenter after you attend. The feedback from the senior judges on the apprentice evaluations has improved. This is very much appreciated. The other members of the judging group can also send me comments about the apprentices performance during the test. I think that it is an important check and balance to have many different eyes evaluating our apprentices. This will help me make the decision on when an apprentice is ready. Feel free to call me or send me an e-mail. Shane Deford

BOARD MEMBER EMAIL ADDRESSES

GNA board members will no longer use [email protected]. Please make note of their email addresses inside the front cover of THIS newsletter and change their address in your email address book. To cut spam received by users, AOL, Comcast, and Time Warner (RR) are currently blocking email forwards. There may be more isp's to follow suit. Tracie Moore, GNA Website Manager

Abbas Named A-V Coordinator Jason Abbas of Perry Iowa has been selected by the Executive Committee to serve as Assistant to the Board as the Audio Visual Coordinator. This position will be the development of Power-Point presentations for training of judges, apprentices, new members, as well as coordinating a new effort to get the general public aware of the Deutsch Drahthaar by making available for information about the breed. Anyone who would like to assist Jason should contact him. He will also be responsible for coordinating the Group owned laptop and LCD computer for the presentations when they are needed.

http://www.sehc.org/am/joerg_tabel.pdfmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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2007 Armbruster Dates Set NOTICE NEW PASSWORDS Get those puppies ready now! www.vdd-gna.org The 2007 Armbruster dates have been set. The Host

Chapter Midwest North reports that the dates will be September 19-22, 2007.

Username:bloodtracking Password: vgp

All in lower case! Kelly Farms has a 35 year history of hosting some of the premier retriever and pointing dog trials. The grounds encompass over 3200 acres of top notch field, forest and tremendous water. The potential to have over 100 dogs run at the same time at the Armbruster would be possible at this site!! A central on site Headquarters will be the hub of all the information and activities, with different field and water work going on just a short walk over to the next field. You will be able to watch numerous dogs from different groups without having to travel miles away. The water is second to none, with various structures in the middle of the pond, promoting very challenging water work.

HD X-Ray Results

Ken Hardman, HD Program Coordinator reports that the following dogs have been rated HD-Frei.

# DOG OWNER HOME 193656 Heidi vom Seilerhaus James J. Jones Elkhart, IN 196689 Atlas vom Bayou-Rouge Kenneth Romero Broussard, LA

Most importantly, the Armbruster will be treated as a family friendly event. Kelly Farms is centrally located within a 30 minute drive of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, a major US hub for travelers. Kelly Farms, located in rural Hugo, is a short 11 mile drive back to our Host Hotel, America Inn of Stillwater. It is here in Stillwater that you will find over 30 antique shops, nestled in old downtown Stillwater, next to scenic St. Croix River. Take a hot air balloon ride over the scenic river valley of Wisconsin and Minnesota, or visit the many caves of Stillwater. Our host hotel is a couple blocks from major shopping malls of Stillwater; travel the 30 miles to the famous Mall of America, Cabelas, Gander Mountain, or Sportsman Guide, to name a few. If you desire, head straight to the heart of downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul for incredible night life and scenery.

196898 Jacob vom tapferen Herzen Brad Blazek St. Michael, MN 199174 Angie v.d. Ritterburg Dan Ritter Woodbury, MN 199175 Alexis v.d. Ritterburg Dan Ritter Woodbury, MN 193069 Czar vom Herbstwind Frank van Dresser New London, OH 196088 Hans vom Fasanjger Ronald D. Sigler Broken Arrow, OK 197701 Dana vom Flutwasser Hank Lippert Malden, MO 195245 Chase vom Felsen Fluss Richard A. Shell Pellaty, AL 197840 Xonia II vom Kervinshof Shawn Giacoletto Farmington,NM 198931 Ida vom Himmelbogen Cory Feistner Woonsocket, SD 199166 Ace v.d. Ritterburg Christopher J. Griffin St. Louis, MO 191476 Dux vom Elchherz Eric Bischof Gaylord, MI 196692 Anja vom Bayou-Rouge Jerry Williams Marlow, OK 197110 Inga vom Jgermeister David . Custis, DVMLebanon, OH 199230 Axel vom Jgerheim Craig A. Chilson Rapid City, SD 184351 Damita vom tapferen Herzen Jerry Campbell Moore, OK 196436 Anna v.den Jagdgefhrten Bruning J. Rangel Granby, CO 196711 Bree vom Wasatch Jeff Post Ogden, UT

Midwest North Chapter is looking forward to hosting GNA's premeir Armbruster this coming September 19-22. Good luck this Spring with your VJP tests, and we look forward to seeing you this fall.

191320 Ava vom Heggehaus Jim Massmann Glenwood, MN 196186 Alice v.d. Gulfcoast Charles Murphy Georgetown, GA 199167 Aden v.d.Ritterburg John Paul Pagel Hurley, WI

. More information will be forthcoming in this Newsletter and future Newsletters.

Snail Mail got your Newsletter?

Tired of Waiting for your NL to become mailed to you. The Newsletter is now downloaded to the VDD-GNA.org website in the members only section usually around the 15th of the month that it is printed. It then stays on the web for your review for an extended time. The Newsletter is in a .PDF file and can be downloaded and printed out at your leisure if you want to look something up ED.

. 2007 Hegewald Dates Set The 2007 Hegewald dates are set for next year. The Group Schleswig-Holstein will be hosting the event. The dates for the Hegewald 2007: 03.10.2007 - 07.10.2007


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Reeves Named Test Director Longtime member Larry Reeves of Metamora Illinois has been named Test Director of the 2007 International Armbruster by the GNA Executive Committee. This very important job carries the responsibilities or ensuring that all aspects of the International HZP are carried out. Coordinating entries, obtaining judges for performance evaluation as well as making sure everything is well organized are just a few of his responsibilities. Anyone who is planning to test at this years Armbruster will have to send their entry forms to Larry Reeves at 1647 Greenbriar Drive, Metamura Illinois 61548 or can be reached at 309-822-8346.

Moving? All Database and Address changes are to be sent to Business Manager Jim Wion. This will assure that your NL will continue uninterrupted. This can be done at vdd-gna.org or through the mail or phone. Remember, your NL will not be forwarded without a current address!

Point of View

The Newsletter welcomes Point of view letters that have a maximum of 300 words and are written exclusively to the VDD/GNA Newsletter. Letters are selected for the publication on the basis of pertinent comment and reader interest. All letters are subject to editing and trimming. New writers from the membership receive preference over repeat authors. For verification purposes: Please include your mailing address and daytime phone number. Only your name and community of residence will be published.

The Importance of Finding, Fetching and Testing

By Jack Mansfield I was sitting around the house on a cold winter day, thinking about an article I would like to write. It has to do with our versatile hunting dogs. As we all know, most dogs will retrieve game naturally, but some must be trained to do this. None can match the dogs that are bred to find and fetch crippled birds, as well as our versatile dogs. Our Drahthaars are, without a doubt, one of the finest retrievers of all game, furred and feathered. The act of finding and retrieving crippled game is the most important job of any dog bred to retrieve. The same thing applies to us, as hunters. We arent obliged to go afield

and shoot game, but when we exercise this privilege, we must accept two obligations, to shoot as well, cleanly and sensibly as we can and make every possible effort to find the shot game. The best way to meet that second obligation is with our versatile dogs. Conservation implies wise use and hunters who waste game are neither sportsmen nor conservationists. They are needlessly squandering precious wildlife and, at the same time, aggravating landowners and non-hunters as well. We, as hunters cannot afford to aggravate these people any longer. We need to show them that we do not waste game, and using a versatile hunting dog is the best way to do it. Here is an example. Suppose a pheasant bags limit is three birds. How many birds might a careless, dog-less hunter shoot before he can bag his limit? Might it be three or four or more? It might run as high as eight. When a man shoots two to three times his legal bag limit and loses over half of them as cripples in weedy cornfields, fencerows and ditches- at this time there is nothing unlawful in this- he must keep hunting and shooting until he has his three birds in his bag, wasting someone elses limit in the process and losing a lot of crippled birds to die a slow death. This sort of thing can occur with almost any species of game birds, but seems to happen most often over dove fields, when good sense is clouded by a sky-full of birds. When the shooting is red hot and the doves are coming from every direction, so fast a gunner cant keep his gun loaded, some hunters I have witnessed, will make a very poor effort to find the shot birds, especially around soybean fields, corn, high weeds and places where there is dense cover. Heres where owning a good versatile dog really pays off. To most hunters, such dog work is the main reason for going hunting. Sure, weve heard this same old song so often that we are getting tired of hearting it, but it is a fact, the effectiveness of a good dog in retrieving downed birds, that might otherwise have been lost, has been proven countless times. For example, in two surveys, hunters without dogs, trained to retrieve, lost twenty-one percent of crippled birds that escaped, while hunters with dogs, trained to retrieve, lost only nine percent. A similar reduction in crippling losses was seen in Pennsylvania. There, pheasant hunters of all types, novices, average hunters and experienced hunters, who, when hunting without dogs had an average crippling loss of forty percent, while those with dogs lost less than twenty percent. The comparison extends to other species as well. It has been estimated that one out of every five ducks shot, is not recovered by the hunter and it is believed this could be reduced to at least half that number with the use of dogs that have properly trained to retrieve. Grouse is another one. Most grouse hunters, who keep careful records, figure that without a retriever dog, the average ruffed grouse hunter loses fully one third of his hits. I know this for a fact. For without my dogs, I would have lost half of my birds on a Wisconsin hunting trip. In Germany, in most states and in most areas, it is unlawful to hunt without a good dog, to retrieve fallen game. The


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German puts more emphasis on after the shot, than they do before the shot. From this standpoint of conservation, retrieving is more important than pointing and I am surprised than any gunner is satisfied to do without this one aspect of dog work.. As we noted earlier, no class of dogs can do a better job of finding, pointing and retrieving birds than our versatile hunting dogs. If they are properly trained, there is none better. I would put a properly trained Drahthaar against seventy-five percent of all the retrieving breeds, in retrieving from water and field and more than that probably on the pointing breeds for doing water work and in the field. There are always exceptions in Labradors and in pointers, but for an all-around dog, the most versatile dog is our Drahthaar. We as hunters, dont have as many red letter days in the field, as we would like, but theres a sure way of making a hunt better and thats knowing you have planned and hunted as well as you could and, if you know that, there can be no bad hunts. If you dont, there wont be many good hunts. Good planning and good hunting comes together with a good dog and a good do has to be made into a good dog. This is the time of year, now that hunting season is over, to prepare your dog for next season. Dont stick that dog in a pen and forget about him. Dont leave him out there for your wife or your kids to feed and clean up after. Be your dogs companion. Take him for walks in the field. You can do yard training this time of year to keep him sharp. A dog that is around you more will mind you better. Play games with him, such as hiding things for him to retrieve. This is the time to sharpen him up on his obedience, so when next year you take him out, you dont spend the first month of the season, screaming and hollering at the dog and calling him names, like SOB, dumb fool and those dumb names people call their dogs, who have forgotten them after the hunting season. This is the time of year, from not until next fall to get acquainted with your dog and teach him how to do things right. If your dog is a young dog and youve had him go through the winter and you havent force broke him to retrieve, this is the time to force break him. The dog that isnt force broke to will retrieve will one day let you down. What I am trying to convey here is, many owners of Deutsch Drahthaars are failing to train them to do what they were bred to do and that is hunt for and retrieve feathered and furred game. We have our natural ability tests coming up this spring, so all of you lovers of Deutsch Drahthaars, get those young dogs to a test. How else can the breeder know how his breeding program is progressing, if we dont test our dogs? ED Note: Jack Mansfield is a longtime GNA member and breeder who lives in Union, Missouri

YOU BE THE JUDGE This column is developed from the Questions on Test Practices VZPO 3rd Edition. The questions were answered in consultation with the Studbook Commission and the Studbook Keeper. The column consists of actual questions and answers of actual test situations and scoring. It acts as a supplement for the test regulations. The intent of the column is to provide information about situations that judges may encounter when they are judging tests. The Third Edition of this manual was published in 1989. Any changes to the VZPO Regulations after the print date will not be reflected in this column. 14/65 Pointing {Vorstehen} 20 and 32 VZPO Question: Dog points partridges and stays on point perfectly, one time. Another time it flushes them right out. What score? Answer: The judges must form their judgement from the overall behavior of the dog. At any rate, the score "very good {sehr gut}" is certainly not justified. Whether the rating "good {gut}" or "sufficient {gengend}" should be given is something the judges will have to decide based upon the overall impression. Pointing {Vorstehen} at an HZP 32 VZPO Question: At an HZP, a bitch only directly encounters game once, when she flushes a hen pheasant during a brief contact. Subsequently she is ordered into a beet field (50 x 200 meters in size), at one end of which a pheasant had been seen to land. She comes to a point twice there, although without being able to produce game, and later she points in another field, again without producing any game to view. How should pointing ability be judged? Answer: The test regulations only mention Pointing {Vorstehen} on found game, and that the special difficulties involved when game is not stationary must be appropriately taken into account. The regulations say nothing about whether and how to judge Pointing {Vorstehen} on fresh game scent (hare's form, spot where birds have bathed in the sand, fresh pheasant scent). However, it has become commonly accepted practice at tests to judge pointing ability positively when it is demonstrated on fresh game scent. Independent of the judgement on Nose {Nase}, the questions remain open as to whether the hen pheasant was sitting tight, and whether the dog didn't perhaps catch scent in the beet field of the pheasant which had previously landed and then run off again. For this reason, it would have been advisable to attempt to further test the behavior of the bitch, which is to say to put her on game again. So far, the pointing behavior should be judged positively.


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1/86 Extraordinary Circumstances in Drag Work, Pointing {Vorstehen} 32, 38 Par. 18 VZPO Question: At an HZP, a dog is started on a rabbit drag which was correctly laid in a downwind direction. The dog works the drag until approximately 30 meters away from the placed rabbit, where it stands and tests the wind before returning to its handler. When put on the track a second and third time, the dog does not take up the drag scent, but instead makes a free blind search 70 to 80 meters to the left of the drag. In doing so, he flushes two partridges, a pheasant, and a rabbit, which he chases. After extensive consultation, the judges reach the conclusion that extraordinary circumstances that would justify a substitute task are not present in this case. The handler lodges a protest, which is accepted. A substitute drag is performed and is judged "good {gut}". 1. Were the judges obligated to provide a substitute drag? 2. Up until this time, the dog had been judged "very good {sehr gut}" in Pointing {Vorstehen}. Were the judges entitled to reduce the Pointing {Vorstehen} score following this behavior of the dog? Answer: Regarding 1: The answer to this question is negative. 38 Par. 18 states that it is within the discretion of the judges to allow the dog a new task if the dog is distracted by extraordinary circumstances in drag work or when retrieving. Distraction by game always constitutes an extraordinary circumstance. In this case, however, the dog was not working on the drag, but freely searching the terrain, and only came upon the game as a result of this behavior. Thus, this is definitively not a matter of distraction during drag work. The protest should have been dealt with by a Protest Panel insofar as it was lodged in proper form and within the prescribed time frame. However, it should have been rejected since it was a protest of a discretionary decision made by the judging team, and there was no obvious abuse of discretion here ( 3 of the Protest Regulation). Regarding 2: the answer to this question is negative. Pointing {Vorstehen} is usually tested during Search {Suche}, when the handler is handling the dog. Here the dog was started in a downwind direction, left the control of the handler, and it was possible he could not get any scent of game. The handler had no opportunity to handle the dog into the wind as in a search. 6/86 Pointing {Vorstehen} at the HZP 32 VZPO, JGHV Instruction Sheet No. 31 Question: At an HZP, pheasants are released at two different locations for a dog, shortly before the test, in order to test

Pointing {Vorstehen}. In both cases the dog finds but does not point. No other opportunities for pointing occur. The judgement rendered by the judging team for the Pointing {Vorstehen} category is "insufficient {ungengend}" (0 points). Is this judgement correct? Answer: The answer to this question is negative. JGHV Instruction Sheet No. 3 clearly states in section 3 that pointing ability must be scored as "--" (not tested) when a dog has no opportunity to demonstrate its pointing ability on game and fails on released feathered game. The following notation should be entered on the score table: not fully tested due to lack of game -- failed on released feathered game.

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Chapter Happenings The GNA Newsletter makes available 2+ pages of newsworthy space for each Chapter to inform their membership of activities that will take place or have occurred within their

Midwest North Annual Meeting

The MWN Chapter held their annual meeting in Eau Clair, Wisconsin on February 17th and 18th, 2007 with over fifty members attending. Saturday started with a Breed Show at the Holiday Inn and a Training Session with trap shooting at the Eau Clair Rod and Gun Club. Our appreciation is extended to Faith Wood for planning and organizing the facilities, Mike Bartz and Kevin Quast for the auction, and Dave Swanson for the Rod & Gun Club arrangements. The training session at the Rod & Gun Club started with a presentation by Kurt Haroldson on expectations and training tips for the VJP, followed with a presentation by Dave Swanson on the VGP. Dave prepared a well organized outline of his presentation for each individual. The individuals who did not participate in the presentations, took their dogs to an area for work with pointing. After lunch, some honed their trap shooting skills while others went to the dog training area to work on birds.

Dave Swanson presenting an excellent training program for

HZP and VGP handlers. Our Midwest North Breed Show was conducted by judges Roger Green (Senior Judge), Jim Wion, and Ron Nichols, with apprentices Chris Schmidt, Jim Strilich and Mike Talbot participating. There were also a large group of Drahthaar aficionados observing and learning from the experience. The judge group evaluated 11 dogs: all dogs were recommended to be certified eligible for breeding (Zuchtlauglich), and 9 dogs were recommended for entry in the Breeding Register (Zuchtregister). In his closing remarks, Roger Green praised our dog breeders and handlers for presenting such a fine collection of animals for examination. Our judges emphasized how these fine dogs

were evidence of the benefits from the VDD system that includes careful evaluations of dogs supporting thoughtful breeding decisions. The evening started with a social hour followed by an excellent meal and auction. Bob Hertz received a 25 year membership award, and Chris Schmidt was presented with a plaque in recognition of his many years of service as our chapter chairperson.

The annual meeting was held on Sunday. Minutes of the meeting will be posted on the GNA web site in the Midwest North Chapter area. The meeting started with old business and the election of Mike Talbot as the chapter breed warden and Gordon Spaete as the chapter chairperson. In addition to the scheduling of tests and training clinics, Jerry Schenk was approved as the Training Clinic Coordinator. A good portion of the meeting dealt with the 2007 Armbruster that will be held at Kelly Farms in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area on September 19-23, 2007. It was obvious that a lot of work has already been completed and very encouraging to see the willingness as chapter members stepped forward and volunteered for additional work that has to be done. We are going to have a great venue and an Armbruster to be remembered. The 2008 Annual meeting will once again take place in Eau Clair. Everyone attending liked the accommodations and felt it was very centrally located within the chapter.

GREAT LAKES CHAPTER HOLDS WINTER MEETING

The GLC held a winter meeting and Breed Show on February 10, 2007 at the Ramada Inn located in Montpelier Ohio. Chapter Officers present were, Chairman- Todd Seiler, Vice-Chairman- Jim Jones, Breed Warden- Bill English and Business Manager- Dan Crusey. Approximately 32 GLC members were in attendance. Todd opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the meeting/breed show and thanked Marty Ryan and Bill English for providing valuable training seminars for the membership earlier in the day. Marty Ryan gave his blood tracking seminar and Bill English provided the basics of Force Fetch to Finish. Both seminars were well attended and greatly appreciated by the membership. Marty and Bill have traveled the country giving training seminars and the


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GLC is very fortunate to have such a great knowledge/skill base in our back yard. A special thanks goes out to Marty and Bill for donating your time and talent to the GLC membership. The following items were discussed by the membership: Chapter Funds: To date the GLC has a balance of 4,067.24. Todd asked the membership for ideas on how to best utilize the funds. Several ideas were mentioned and will be considered. If you have an idea please feel free to contact Todd. Family Fun Days: The chapter discussed the possibility of moving the FFD to June to try and avoid the heat of July. After several dates and ensuing conflicts were discussed the membership decided to keep it in July and discuss moving the date at this years FFD. This years FFD will be July 13, 14, 15 at Crusey Farms. More information/agenda will be in the VDD May news letter and on the web page. Chapter Training Days: Todd and Bill proposed assigning a training mentor per state to schedule training days and to aide new handlers with any training issues they may have. Ohio will be split north and south with I-70. Bob Myers will take Northern Ohio, any one interested in mentoring for southern Ohio please contact Todd. Michigan will be split at Clair; Anthony Cancilla will mentor northern Michigan. Once again if any one would like to mentor for Southern Michigan, Please contact Todd. Indiana will be handled by Christian York and Raymond Osborne. Chapter money will be used to pay for experienced handlers/judges to assist with training days. A minimum of three dogs will be required to have a judge attend. Breed Show Judge Financial Aide: Bill English proposed to the membership that the chapter provide financial assistance for Jim Jones to attend next years Hegewald. Jim has been a breed show apprentice and must attend and apprentice the breed show at a Hegewald before he can become a breed show judge. VDD-GNA is offering $500.00 to assist breed show apprentices with their trip to Germany. The GLC unanimously agreed to match the $500.00 provided by GNA, to help offset some of Jims cost to Germany. Having one more Breed Show Judge in the chapter will benefit us all. Thanks Jim for all your hard work and dedication to the DD and GLC. By Laws: Bylaws pertaining to the apprenticeship program was discussed and are available on the web page. Northern Ohio Spring Training Day: Bob Meyer has made arrangements to conduct a VDD Training Day on Saturday, May 19, 2007 between 9 AM and 5 PM. The location is Hambden, Ohio which is located 4 miles East of Chardon on State Route 608 one mile South of State Route 6 (GAR HWY). He may also have another location available after 1:00 PM at The Buckeye Retriever Club grounds approximately 1 mile from Weslaco. They have 7 ponds and several fields as well as forest areas. No live ammo permitted! The training will be held at The Weslaco Sportsmen's Club, a 233 acre facility with lakes, ponds and wetland areas as well as plenty of forest area. I will be providing a map. The attendees must provide their own game alive or dead i.e.. rabbits, ducks, chucker, pheasant etc.. Shooting is

permitted on the premises although, not before noon, in order to keep peace with our neighbors. Bob can be contacted at [email protected] Promoting the DD in the GLC: Any member wishing to promote the DD at outdoor shows should contact Chairman Todd Seiler. Funds are available to pay for booth space and advertising. Having dogs and or puppies on site would be desirable so the public can see for themselves what great family dogs they make.

Southeast Hunters Chapter Greetings from the Southeast Hunters Chapter! As we prepare to wind down our hunting seasons and fire up our training and testing season, the SEHC is off to a momentous start. We recently held our highly successful Annual Meeting in Hamilton, GA, attended by over sixty members and guests. Notable attendees were Bryon Beaton, current GNA chairman; Ed Carney, GNA vice-chairman; Nancy Bohs from the Atlantic Chapter and our guest of honor, Herr Joerg Tabel. We extend a special thanks to Forrest and Tracie Moore without whom the meeting could not have taken place. During the week of the meeting, we held a breed show, a BTR in which five dogs participated with a 100% success rate, and the first ever SEHC sponsored VSwp twenty hour blood track test. Five dogs participated and three successfully completed the test. The passing dogs were Arko vom Moorehaus handled by Forrest Moore, Ira vom Moorehaus handled by Mike Fortner and a Bavarian Mountain Hound (the first BMH to be tested in this country), handled by Ken Parker. Congratulations to all handlers and dogs that participated. The SEHC also conducted the first JGHV mandated judging apprentice seminar directed by the SEHC director of testing, Jim Seeley. Four apprentice candidates attended and are hoping to begin the apprenticeship process this year. The SECH has yet another first. Dr. Martin Coffman has recently been confirmed as the first Breed warden for the SEHC. Dr. Coffman graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn in 1970. He has over 40 years of experience with small animals and worked briefly with the Iams Company. Dr. Coffman has long been involved in the dog sports, ranging from Beagles to Chesapeake Bay Retrievers to Black & Tan coonhounds. Dr. Coffman is an avid turkey hunter and enjoys upland birds, waterfowl and traditional bow hunting for deer as well. He is also a past president of the American Canine Sports Medicine Association and is the owner of vom Briermiester kennels. We are indeed fortunate to have someone of Dr Coffmans stature as our Breed warden. Please direct all breeding and litter registration questions to Dr. Coffman.

mailto:[email protected]


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Successful VSwp. Left to Right are Judge Herr Joerg Tabel

and handlers Mike Fortner and Forrest Moore. The Southeastern Hunters Chapter has been selected to host the VDD-GNA Annual Meeting for 2008. We are currently gathering data on sites, meeting topics and guest speakers. We are looking forward to a great meeting and more information will follow as the details are nailed down.

Successful BTR. Pictured left to right are Bryon Beaton,

Robert Holland, Mike Fortner and Joerg Tabel. The feature presentation of the Annual Meeting was a series of lectures given by Herr Joerg Tabel. Herr Tabel has long been associated with the Drahthaar and has many years of training and testing experience that he is always willing to share. His specific area of interest is in blood tracking and he spoke at length to a captivated audience on this topic. Herr Tabel described his training technique for us, using hunger as the motivation for the dog to track and food as the reward a successful effort. He begins with the 8 week old puppy tracking a trail of food. From the beginning he instills discipline in the puppy, not allowing it to advance unless it is on the track and most important to Herr Tabel, making the puppy advance with a slow, steady and deliberate pace. After the puppy is tracking with confidence, he transitions it from tracking a food trail to a blood trail and then increasing the length and age of the track. Herr Tabel did admonish those in attendance that we underestimate the blood tracking abilities of our dogs and do not expect enough of them. Herr Tabel also presented a general overview of German hunting traditions. The German hunting culture stands in stark contrast to our own. The Germans render far more

deference to the game animals and have a reverence for the rituals associated with the hunt that we sometimes lack in America. He spoke of the huntsmens language and entertained us with a few examples of hunting songs that he played on his hunting bugle. Herr Tabel gave us a small glimpse into the world of the German hunter and I for one am looking forward to experiencing it myself. The SEHC has elected new board members: Forrest Moore chairman Mike Fortner- vice chairman Jim Smith business manager Martin Coffman Breed warden Jim Seeley was again appointed to be our Director of Testing. Contact information can be found on the newly designed SEHC website, sehc.org. Please feel free to contact the board members with any ideas, concerns, or questions. Upcoming events include our annual VJP scheduled for March 9-11 in Nashville with a full slate of dogs expected. New training and test sites are being sought for the Southeast so keep your eyes open. Waidmannsheil, Mike and Cindy Fortner

Heartland Chapter Report Hello Heartland Chapter members. By now the hunting seasons are coming to an end except for the Conservation Lesser Goose hunt in Iowa. We hope everyone had a successful hunting season. Training Days: Well 2007 is off to a bang. We have had a couple of well attended training days at the Henke residence in January and February despite the bitter cold weather. Thanks to Jeff and Bobbi for hosting the training day. We had several new handlers with their pups preparing for the upcoming VJP tests. There were plenty of rabbits for all the dogs. We even had a few people show up starting to prepare for the VGP tests this fall. Good luck to every one in the upcoming VJP tests.

Training Day


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Fun Hunt: The Heartland Chapter hosted the first annual fun hunt at Crooked Creek Shooting Preserve in Washington Iowa. The fun hunt consisted of a 25 clay bird shoot and a couple of pheasants. Points were awarded for each clay bird shot along with the shooting your two pheasants with the least amount of shells. The highest point holder was awarded a free half day hunt at Crooked Creek. Congratulations to Chad Ingersoll for winning the half day hunt. After the hunt, Kay and her staff from Crooked Creek served a fabulous meal. The Heartland Chapter website has been updated with video clip from the fun hunt. Mark your calendar for next years event. All VDD members are welcome. Additional information will be available soon.

Chad Ingersoll Fun Hunt Winner

Heartland Chapter Meeting: On Sunday, February 18th the Heartland chapter held our annual meeting at Crooked Creek Shooting Preserve. Member status: Currently the Heartland Chapter has 89 members. The majority of our members are from Iowa then followed by Illinois. We currently have one member in Kentucky. Financial Status: We currently have $2165.94 in our account. Our a

Documents

First Times All the Way Around! Inside the Newsletteroldsite.vdd-gna.org/members/newsletter/07march_gna_newsletter.pdf · First Times All the Way Around! Inside the Newsletter