Fascinating fact: Dogs have a sense of smell that’s between 10,000 and 100,000 times more acute than ours! The sport of Scent Work celebrates the joy of sniffing, and asks a dog to sniff to their heart’s content; turning your dog’s favorite activity into a rewarding game. It is a terrific sport for all kinds […]

What is Scent Work? AKC Scent Work is a sport that mimics the task of working detection dogs to locate a scent and communicate to the handler that the scent has been found. Real-life detection dogs are trained to search for a variety of things--drugs, explosives, human remains, currency, other contraband, living humans (such as […]

With Retrievers being one of the most popular breeds in America, it’s a safe bet that thousands upon thousands of hours are spent playing fetch each year. While you might think it’s just a form of play (and a fun party trick!), it’s actually much more: It’s a Retriever embracing his natural ability to respond […]

You’ve played ball with your Retriever about a million times in your backyard or at the park, but do his fetching abilities automatically mean he’d make a good hunting companion? Not necessarily. The only way to really know is to participate in a Retriever Hunting Test. Ever since the first AKC retriever hunting tests were […]

[AKC Pointing Breed Gun Dog Championship]   Gun Dog Homepage Day 1  |  Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4  |  Day 5  |  Day 6  |  Day 7  |  Photo Coverage Day 8  |  Day 9  |  Day 10  |  Final Day  |  In Conclusion  |  Photo Coverage   Day 1 – AKC Pointing Breed Gun Dog Championship The 2013 AKC Pointing Breed Gun Dog Championship returns to Branched Oak Lake near Lincoln, NE for the 20th […]

Athleticism. Stamina. Courage. An instinct to go, go, go. These qualities are the essence of the Pointing breed, and why they’re naturally superior hunters. As a dog owner, it’s important to consistently find new ways to stimulate your dog’s natural’s instincts. If you have a Pointing breed, training for and participating in a Pointing Field Trial […]

Luis Neves and Betinho do Choupal -- Our Road to Master Hunter -- July 30, 2012 I was born in Portugal and spent my youth hunting with my father and our dogs. It was there that I developed my life-long love of hunting. I moved to America when I was 18 years old. I continued […]

This program was formulated due to the overwhelming success of the Retriever Hunting Test program. In 1986 Director of Field Trials and Hunting Tests, A. Hamilton (Ham) Rowan, Manager of Performance Events, John Carroll, and AKC Field Representative, Bob Bartel developed the plans for the fledgling Pointing Breed Hunting Test program. The regulations were approved […]

First NAVHDA based club to host an AKC Hunt Test By Bonnie Hidalgo, Executive Field Representative A reciprocal agreement for dog registration between the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) and the American Kennel Club (AKC) was announced in July 2007. The reciprocal agreement makes it easier to register a dog with AKC if […]

 Pointing Breed Hunting tests are non-competitive pass/fail tests which assess each dog independently based attributes such as display of desire, boldness, independence, speed with a useful pattern of running across difficult or confusing scent patterns to pinpoint the location of birds. Other categories judges will score are; bird finding ability, pointing, trainability and in […]