This past weekend the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association held its annual invitational event showcasing its best dogs from last year's testing program.

It took four days of running to test all of the entrants. In fact I was not able to stay for the whole four days, but did watch some excellent work on Thursday and Friday. The event was held near Steubenville, Ohio at the Mingo Sportsmen Club.

An interesting side note is that this is reclaimed strip mine land. The club has about 5,000 acres and it now looks like a hunter's paradise. Trees stand tall. Everywhere was covered with green. Ponds of various sizes dot the property. It is a testimony that “disturbed” land can be restored to a natural and useful environment.

So it was a good choice for a NAVHDA-style event. This was a new concept among field events when it was started in the late 60s by Bodo Winterhelt. Having started his life in Europe, he had participated in the usual North American field trials but was inspired to bring this “European concept” of testing here. Today NAVHDA is the only organization which promotes a complete bird dog – one that will function on upland birds and waterfowl.

The testing involves pointing upland birds, retrieving them, and honoring a brace mate. The dog must also retrieve a duck from water which he has not seen fall – a blind retrieve. And he must retrieve from water a duck which he has marked, but is able to evade in tules, so he must be capable of finding and securing this approximation of a wounded duck. Along the way he must be obedient, responsive to his handler and have enough intelligence to take all this training.

While not tested here, the concept of trailing a wounded deer has changed many state's game laws so that a dog under control can be used to locate a wounded animal. The usual choice of dog for this is from the “versatile” category.

One “interesting” aspect of the NAVHDA Invitational this year was the absence of Vizslas and Brittanys. Also “interesting” was the entry of two English Setters. I was not surprised at the Setter's competent performance in the field. It was a treat to see him sit at the side of a pond, mark and leave on command to fetch back a duck. Pointers and setters are not generally regarded as “versatile.”

While all organized events are different to a degree from “real” bird hunting, the NAVHDA program may be the one which most approximates hunting. There are no horses. Their regular events are non-competitive, so the dog only has to pass the test to “win.” There is a site: www.navhda.org where the results of the Invitational will be posted. It also lists upcoming events, chapters and secretaries in case you want to find one near you.