Hands down, field work is our favorite thing. There's nothing more Blitz loves than running and finding birds, and there's nothing I love more than watching her.
But one of the first things I realized after attending a NAVHDA test for the first time is that a versatile hunting dog is just that: versatile. There is a lot more to it than finding and pointing birds. There's a lot of retrieving, some tracking, and quite a bit of water work. In preparation for our Natural Ability Test, we have done quite a bit of tracking and swimming work, but there's no denying that our hearts are in the field work.
On Sunday, a good friend invited us to train at a local pointing breed club as potential members. The facility was lovely; lots of beautiful, well-maintained fields, a club house, homing pigeons and quail. We put out 3 quail for Blitz, with one being dizzied and two in launchers. At our first NA test, she bumped a few birds, so my intentions were to launch the first two if she wasn't careful, then see how she would handle the third.
Her first point was super: she stayed nice and steady then recalled to me rather than chasing when I popped the bird. She ended up finding the dizzied quail next, rather than the launcher as we had planned. She stopped with plenty of distance between her and the bird, allowing me to walk up and flush it. That's exactly what I was hoping for and was thrilled with her! She kept up the great work and did a fantastic job staying steady and recalling off the final bird. As our last training before our NA test, I am really pleased with her! She continues to improve her steadiness as well as her recall off chasing. After this test, it looks like we'll be ready to more towards bigger and better things!