In what we hope will become a new tradition, MSDA rosettes were presented each day to winners of the Gunners’ Choice Award. A longstanding custom in field trials, the concept is simple: the event’s gunners choose the dog that they would most like to put in their truck to take hunting. The selection is made entirely by the gunners, not the judges or the committee members, and is based on the dog’s performance during land work. Winners of the Fall 2024 Gunners’ Choice awards, pictured below, were:
Friday 9/13: Couper, an English Cocker Spaniel handled by Kathy Salemi. (Friday’s hunt test was sponsored by the FCRSA.)
Saturday 9/14: Jax, a Welsh Springer Spaniel handled by Lauren Hendrickson.
Sunday 9/15: Cayla, an English Cocker Spaniel handled by Alexandra Rudershausen.
MSDA’s annual Fall Hunt Test Weekend at Rebel Ridge Farms was filled with sunny skies and great hunting. It included a Judges and Handlers Seminar taught by AKC Senior Field Rep Tom Meyer, a small afternoon Spaniel Hunt Test sponsored by the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America, Pointing Mock Junior Hunt Tests, and two full days of AKC Spaniel Hunt Tests sponsored by MSDA.
Individual results for MSDA’s Spaniel Hunt Tests are posted on HuntSecretary.
On June 13, MSDA sponsored a seminar, “Retrieving for Upland Dogs” taught by Mitch White. Kate Ostrowski has kindly shared 130 (!) photos she took at the seminar. They are available on MSDA’s Flickr site at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdsportingdog/albums/. Thanks, Kate!!!
MSDA’s annual Fall Hunt Test Weekend will be Friday September 13, Saturday September 14 and Sunday September 15 at Rebel Ridge Farms in Elkton MD.
Here is an outline of what is planned including: a Judges and Handlers Seminar, three Spaniel Hunt Tests, and a Pointing Mock Junior Hunt Test. That page also has links to detailed information and entry forms for all events.
MSDA’s annual Fall Hunt Test Weekend will be Friday September 13, Saturday September 14 and Sunday September 15 at Rebel Ridge Farms in Elkton MD.
Here is an outline of what is planned including: a Judges and Handlers Seminar, three Spaniel Hunt Tests, and a Pointing Mock Junior Hunt Test.
We are still doing some final planning for the weekend so, even though you may see some events listed as “pending” or even “approved” on AKC and HuntSecretary websites, entries are not yet open. We expect to open entries for all Fall Hunt Test Weekend events no later than July.
Planning is underway for the MSDA Fall Hunt Test Weekend, this year spanning Friday September 13, Saturday September 14 and Sunday September 15 at Rebel Ridge Farms in Elkton MD. It’s going to be packed with activities, potentially including:
Handlers’ and judges’ in-person spaniel hunt test seminar on Friday, with classroom time in the morning, a lunchtime panel discussion and guided observation of an actual hunt test in the afternoon.
Pointing mock hunt tests on Saturday with morning and afternoon braces.
Spaniel hunt tests, three in all, on Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday.
Much more information will be available soon here on the MSDA website and in a future club newsletter.
MSDA’s upland flushing dog program is hosting a one-day workshop on Friday, June 21 at Mount Ararat Farm in Port Deposit, MD. This seminar will be held entirely outdoors and will focus on Retrieving for Upland Dogs. This will be a full-day workshop (8:30 am – 5:00 pm) with limited enrollment to ensure that all participants get plenty of attention. The day will be led by Mitch White, a well-known professional retrieving trainer who also works with upland dogs.
Much more information and online preregistration is available at https://mdsportingdog.org/2024-retr-seminar/. Preregistration will be open until 5 pm on Tuesday, May 21.
We need your feedback! Please read the description below and then take a minute for a survey at (Update – this survey has closed.) Your thoughts will determine whether or not we go ahead with this.
MSDA’s upland flushing dog program is considering a one-day workshop in June focused on Retrieving for Upland Dogs – this outdoor seminar will be aimed more at spaniel breeds than retriever breeds, although retriever working teams would be welcome. We have observed that many non-retriever flushing dogs have problems with their retrieves on land and water, whether the retrieves are marked or blind. The workshop will be primarily for beginners, and also for handlers who need troubleshooting with their dogs. Depending on the handlers and dogs in attendance, the session would focus on the beginning retrieving elements and issues faced, including with water retrieves, hunt dead and water blinds – balking at the water’s edge or a change in cover, whistle sits and recalls, basic commands & hand signals, verbal vs non-verbal handles, holding the bird, retrieving to hand and giving up the bird, de-cheating and the like.
IF we hold the seminar this year, it would be on Friday, June 21 at Mount Ararat Farm in Port Deposit, MD. This would be a full-day workshop with limited enrollment to ensure that all participants get plenty of attention. The day will be led by Mitch White, a well-known professional retrieving trainer who also works with upland dogs.
Mitch has been training dogs for retrieving work field since 1988 and his program has been developed to use an approach that works with all sporting breeds. One of the main ingredients is fairness to the dog. Mitch believes in putting the work into teaching the dog to create a skill set to aid the dog in making decisions. Poor decisions are corrected and good decisions are praised. Since Mitch trains many different breeds, he often has to get “outside of the box” from popular retriever training methods. Mitch also gets a lot of dogs in for “rehab” work. These are dogs that have been in other programs and have developed issues that have prevented them from going further in training. Mitch has had tremendous success turning these dogs around so they become confident workers again.
MSDA would like to gauge the level of interest in this seminar before going too far down the road planning this event, so we are asking for your opinion. Please take a minute to complete a brief survey at (Update – this survey has closed.)
If we don’t hear sufficient interest in this potential seminar, we will not pursue it further, at least not this spring.
The next Flushing Dog Training Day will be Saturday, April 13 at Mt. Ararat Farms in Port Deposit MD. There will be two different training groups (Skill Building and Advanced Work), and preregistration will be open from Wednesday, March 27 at 8 am until Saturday, March 30 at 5 pm. Much more information, including the online preregistration form, is available at https://mdsportingdog.org/next-fdtd/.
Some photos of the Flushing Dog Training Day held February 24th at Mt. Ararat Farms in Port Deposit, MD are available at MSDA’s Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdsportingdog/albums/. These photos were taken by MSDA member Kate Ostrowski, who also participated in the training.
