Test preperation

Preparing for Hessians first test coming up in April, we will be going to Malta,Idaho for his VJP which is Verbands-Jugend Prufung or Association Youngster Test. It is the first of three tests needed to pass in order to breed. It is given to pups who were born the year before, most dogs are 1 year and younger at these tests. Judged will be Gunfire sensitivity, Field search, Tracking, Nose, Pointing and Cooperation. Basically the dog must show desire and will to search, track a rabbit,point game,listen and cooperate with handler, with good use of nose while not showing any signs of fear with gunshots.In preparation for this test we have spent alot of time in different fields and areas,looking for rabbits and wild game birds. in rabbit areas when a rabbit is seen the dog is put on the track where the rabbit last was seen and told to "Find" in which dog uses its nose continuing to track and eventually find rabbit. On game birds he has stopped chasing so much and began creeping in on and eventually pointing the bird, now using his nose to search and point game, We have worked on cooperation by teaching the dog to watch me and change direction of search with me to point game for me. So all in all getting pretty excited for this experience.