Training
Yellowstone NAVHDA is committed to helping our members get the most out of their relationship with their versatile hunting dogs by providing structured exposure and obedience training and learning opportunities.
Our training season typically starts at the beginning of March, weather permitting, and concludes at the end of August. We plan to hold organized training days twice a month with additional times to be announced based on interest and availability. A current paid Yellowstone NAVHDA membership is required to regularly attend our events. If you are unsure about a membership, we do allow one visit to check us out.
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Training Days
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We provide opportunities to train with member mentors who have varying levels of experience. Equipment, birds (as available), property, and volunteer mentors are there to assist you in preparing your dogs for the NAVHDA testing program, but more importantly – the Hunt!
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Remember, mentors are not your personal dog trainer. They are there to assist you with learning how to train your dog. It is vital to take the skills learned at the training day and apply them at home.
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Clinics
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It is our goal to meet the needs of our members by hosting clinics and seminars. Please reach out and let us know what topics, skills, or guests you are interested in.
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Connection
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We attempt to serve as a connector for our members to get together informally as they see fit to work on training objectives.
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Resources
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We all learn differently. We attempt to provide training resources such as reading materials, videos, and instruction.
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Training Days are as much for the trainer/handler as they are for the dog.
Fees: Payments will be collected through the website store. Please pre-pay for any birds and training day fees there prior to attending the event. This will allow us to get a count of the required birds and the expected attendees. If there is a surplus of birds, and you use more than planned, payment is expected prior to leaving the training day.
Trainings days held at DD Kennels are free of charge with the exception that attendees stick around to help clear cactus, pick up after dogs, and clean kennels.
Training days may be held at the testing grounds closer to the test date. There will be a fee associated with this since Yellowstone NAVHDA must rent the facility.
Please Note: Birds are usually in short supply. We appreciate any members who can help find suppliers and assist in transportation. Please reach out if you have an idea.
How YOU the trainer will get the most most out of training days. Have your dog able to be confined or tethered out. You will get a chance to practice what you have been working on with distractions. Remember, dogs learn best with fewer distractions and then you need to up the ante. You will get tips from mentors that have been through the NAVHDA program and trained and helped train several other dogs. Be ready to listen and understand that training does not happen all at once, it is building blocks. Follow along with other dogs and listen to where they are and learn to read their dog. Remember #2 above? You are actually helping others by following along and being a distraction. You will also likely hear about how to fix something you are yet to experience with your dog. Meet other people and discuss and learn from their experiences. Help each other out! Plant birds, set out launchers, pretend to be a judge, clean up, and much more!
How YOUR DOG will get the most out of traing days. An opportunity to learn to be calm amidst excitement. It is important to understand that dogs need to be able to be confined for times and then be ready to go. Whether it be at a training day, test, or while waiting their turn in the hunt field if there are multiple dogs on your hunt or an unfortunate accident while hunting away from home. Start SLOW! Dogs learn incrementally. In the early days, don’t necessarily try to do multiple events in one day. Try to do one thing well and then take your notes of what to work on at home. Near the end, you will want to put it all together, but be patient early. The learning that your dog benefited from in the morning could all be lost due to a bad experience at the duck search or field later in the day if at an earlier stage of training. Dogs learn best in smaller “chunks”. Four 5 minute sessions will always be better than one 20 minute session.
Frequently Asked Questions What do I bring to training days? Often our spring training days can include sun, rain and snow. Sometimes in the same day. If you plan to do water exposure with your dog, waders or hip boots are in order. Summer days are typically warm. Dress for all kinds of weather conditions and bring appropriate layers (including rain gear). Some form of blaze orange is required when we are training with live ammunition in the field. In addition to your dog, bring a lead and a tie out stake to confine your dog while they are not actively training. Bring plenty of water for you and your dog. Above all, bring a good attitude and have patience! What should we do with our dead birds? Pigeons can be taken home and frozen for future training aids or thrown out. Game birds should be processed and eaten if you are not saving them for training aids. Please don't discard the dead birds on the landowner's property. It's disrespectful to the landowner and makes a great mess for dogs to roll in the next training day.