Show notes
Welcome to Standing Stone Kennels! We have three dogs, Thunder, Doc, and Trix, running NAVHDA Utility Tests this season, and we're breaking down the exact training plan for each one over the next ten weeks.Thunder is a Utility Prize 1 dog qualified for this year's Invitational. His main issue is duck search confidence. He pops, checks in, and runs the shore instead of expanding independently. We're using lining drills, duck launchers, and heavy salting to build his independence before his September run.Doc has a similar confidence hang-up in the duck search. His prep mirrors Thunder's, with an emphasis on challenging field work and duck work twice a week. He's targeting a Prize 1 at the June test.Trix is a titled Master Hunter who has never run Utility, and for good reason. Her issue is unique: she finds ducks, but won't retrieve them independently when we can't influence her. The plan is high-volume marking drills with dead ducks to condition the same retrieve expectation she has with every other bird.We also cover: how to structure weekly training schedules, when to run mock test days, the "train hard, test easy" principle and where it gets misconstrued, why ducks and quail cause the most retrieving problems, and how much field work experienced dogs actually need.If you're prepping a dog for their first utility test or trying to requalify, this episode gives you a real-world blueprint.Chapters