(Passages in italics are important clarifications or new items in the 1995 printing of this Rule Book.)
The North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc., (NAHRA), is a not for profit corporation existing by virtue of the laws of the State of Vermont with its principal office, P.O. Box 1590, Stafford, VA 22555. NAHRA was created in 1983 to preserve the hunting instincts of our retriever breeds. For years, small groups throughout the country conducted gun dog stakes and tested dogs, one against another, to find the top dog. NAHRA revolutionized the retriever world by testing dogs against a written hunting standard. Today, NAHRA has clubs throughout North America and continues to test and reward the hunting retriever and to maintain computerized records of those dogs and their working accomplishments.
The principal purpose of the corporation is to educate the public in the use of purebred hunting retrievers as conservation animals and to promote the field testing of retrievers in simulated hunting situations.
NAHRA's purpose in establishing this concept is to discover and reward dogs that can fulfill the hunter's needs in the field by performing in a manner consistent with the demands of actual hunting conditions. The purpose is not to confront the dog with trick problems, but rather to test the dog's natural ability and acquired training. NAHRA Field Tests utilize duck blinds, numerous decoys, boats, calls and other hunting implements in a manner simulating normal hunting. Under the NAHRA concept, the objective is to recover the bird as quickly and efficiently as possible, to create the least amount of disturbance in the marsh and upland and to give the hunter the maximum amount of time to actually take game.
Dogs are placed in four categories based on ability not age: Beginner, Started, Intermediate and Senior. Dogs do not compete against one another for placements, but rather their performances are judged individually against a "standard."
The North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc., acting through its Board of Directors, may, at its discretion grant permission to clubs affiliated with it to hold Approved or Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Tests. These Hunting Retriever Field Tests are governed by the following General Procedures, Regulations, Field Procedures and Judging Guidelines. The North American Hunting Retriever Association Board of Directors reserves the right to waive or change any of the following without prior notice.
A Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test is a formal field test at which points toward the titles Grand Master Hunting Retriever (GMHR), Master Hunting Retriever (MHR), Working Retriever (WR) or Started Hunting Retriever (SR) may be awarded.
An Approved NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test is an informal field test at which dogs may participate but at which points toward the titles Grand Master Hunting Retriever (GMHR), Master Hunting Retriever (MHR), Working Retriever (WR) or Started Hunting Retriever (SR) shall not be awarded.
To affiliate with NAHRA a club must make application on a form prescribed by the Board of Directors, available from NAHRA's principal office, and must pay the prescribed annual club fee. Additionally, all affiliated clubs or associations which hold Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests must pay the prescribed fee per dog per category (currently $5.00 per dog in Started, Intermediate and Senior for NAHRA members and $10.00 per dog for non NAHRA members). All fees are set by the NAHRA Board of Directors and are subject to change by them without prior notice. No fee is charged to a club for filing the official application to hold an Approved or Licensed event.
Each affiliated club or association, if so licensed, may hold an unlimited number of Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests each year. Approval for both Licensed and Approved NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests is granted solely by the NAHRA Board of Directors. Application for such events must be made upon a form available from NAHRA's principal office. Unless waived by the Board of Directors, clubs must file official application forms for Approved or Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Tests with NAHRA at least eight (8) weeks before the date of the Field Test. A license or approval may be granted to test dogs in Started, Started and Intermediate, or Started, Intermediate and Senior categories. (Senior only events are prohibited, unless otherwise approved for good cause by the NAHRA Board of Directors.) All approvals or licenses are non transferable and are valid only for the dates indicated thereon.
In order to avoid conflicts, clubs may be asked to schedule dates through their Regional or International Liaison well in advance of filing official applications for Field Tests. An annual regional calendar of events for the coming year is prepared by the Regional Liaisons to coordinate activities within each Region, to promote cooperation between affiliated clubs and to provide information to members. An official Field Test application must also be filed by clubs with NAHRA's principal office (as described below.)
Tests MAY be held on the same date for clubs in the same geographical region, but only with prior approval of the NAHRA Board of Directors and with mutual consent of both host clubs.
Copies of the latest edition of this booklet for all Judges and Field Test Committee Members should be available at all NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests.
Any club holding a NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test must name a Field Test Secretary who must be a member of the club. The name, address and phone number of the Field Test Secretary shall be provided to NAHRA at the time official application is made for an Approved or Licensed Field Test. A club that has been granted permission by NAHRA to hold an Approved or Licensed Field Test must appoint a Field Test Committee which will have complete responsibility for the planning and conducting of the test. This committee must be composed of at least five members of the club and shall include the Field Test Secretary. A majority of the Field Test Committee must be present on the Field Test grounds during an Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test.
The Field Test Committee and Field Test Secretary shall be responsible for compliance with all General Procedures and General Regulations contained in Chapters I and II of this booklet.
Clubs shall be required to carry liability insurance for the Field Test.
The judges shall be responsible for compliance with the General Procedures, Regulations for Hunting Retriever Field Tests, Chapter I & II and the Regulations and Field Procedures and Guidelines for Judging NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests, Chapters III through VI.
The Field Test Committee of a club holding an Approved or Licensed Field Test shall have the authority to decide by its majority vote any matter arising during the running of the test, except a matter coming within the sole jurisdiction of the judges. All such decisions may be reviewed by NAHRA and canceled or amended.
It is the club' s responsibility to select the people most experienced, who are accomplished and unbiased, to be judges, for by their verdicts, they are in direct control of the future breeding stock of the hunting retriever. The decision of the judges is final in all matters concerning the field performance of the dogs under judgment.
NAHRA uses a point system for its judges. Each time an individual judges a licensed field test he/she is awarded one point in that particular category. Senior points count for Senior and Intermediate, Intermediate points count for Intermediate and Started, and Started points count only for the Started. There shall be a combined total of three (3) or more points, in a specific judging category, between the two "principal" judges, in order for the category to be approved as a point bearing event.
No judge shall handle or enter a dog in the categories in which he has been assigned to judge. No judge shall handle a dog in any other category until the category he has been assigned to judge has been completed.
A substitute "principal" judge may be appointed by the club holding an Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test if it is impossible for the judge shown on the Field Test Application to fulfill or complete his or her assignment. A substitute judge must be a NAHRA certified judge and a member in good standing with the North American Hunting Retriever Association.
In a Field Test, an additional pair of "principal" judges may be approved to officiate the category if the entries exceed 40 Started dogs, 20 Intermediate dogs or 20 Senior dogs. Such additional judges shall be members who are in good standing with NAHRA and currently approved to judge by NAHRA.
Prompt notification shall be sent to NAHRA, in advance of the Field Test if possible, of any substitute or additional judges officiating at a Licensed Field Test, and of the reasons for the change.
"Apprentice" judges may be invited to judge along with the "principal" judges, however, they will not be awarded any points for judging nor will their scoring points be averaged in with the two principal judges' scores.
Neither a Hunting Retriever Field Test Secretary nor a member of the Field Test Committee may judge at any Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test while they are also acting as Field Test Secretary or as a Field Test Committee member
No judge shall officiate in the same category more than three times in a general geographic location within a calendar year, nor shall an individual judge the same category more than once on any given weekend.
Upon request, NAHRA will mail an updated Judges' List that contains the name, address and point totals of all judges in good standing with NAHRA. It is then the responsibility of the Field Test Committee to select and invite the best judges that are available.
All purebred Labrador Retrievers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Curly-Coated Retrievers, Flat-Coated Retrievers, Irish Water Spaniels, Boykin Spaniels, American Water Spaniels, English Springer Spaniels, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, and Poodles registered with the American Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club, Boykin Spaniel Society or American Field Dog Stud Book are eligible to enter and participate in Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field tests. Other purebred breeds and other breed registries may also be approved by the Board of Directors.
A dog who is unregistered or registered with an unapproved registry or is from an ineligible breed may participate in Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests if it has been issued a Field Test Number (FTN) by the NAHRA Board of Directors. The Field Test Number must be shown on each entry form. A Field Test Number may be issued by the NAHRA Board of Directors upon receipt of the designated form accompanied by such supporting information and fees as the Board may require (currently $5.00). Dogs holding Field Test Numbers are not eligible for the titles Grand Master Hunting Retriever (GMHR), Master Hunting Retriever (MHR), Working Retriever (WR), Started Hunting Retriever (SR). Dogs holding Field Test Numbers are eligible for the Brass Band program for Started and Intermediate dogs and are eligible to participate in the Regional Field Tests.
A dog is not eligible to be entered in a testing category at a Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Test if a judge of that category or any member of the judge's immediate family or household has owned, leased, trained or handled the dog within one year of the starting date of the Hunting Retriever Field Test. The words "immediate family" means spouse, children (natural or adopted), parents, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and any other person residing in the same household or who has so resided within one year next preceding the date of the Hunting Retriever Field Test.
The word "person" as used in this booklet includes any individuals, partnership, firm, corporation, joint venture, association or organization of any kind. The words "Board of Directors" refer to the Board of Directors of the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. The word "dog" as used in this booklet, unless otherwise specified, includes a dog of any age and either sex
Every person who owns a dog or dogs who are entered in an Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test, must keep for at least seven years complete and correct records concerning the animal or animals. The Board of Directors of NAHRA may, by regulation, designate the specific information which must be included in such records. However, every person who owns a dog or dogs who are entered in an Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test, must follow such practices and keep such records as will eliminate all possibility of error in identification or registration of any individual dog. All records and the dog shall be furnished or exhibited to an authorized representative of NAHRA upon demand.
The NAHRA Board of Directors may refuse to allow entry of any dog, without hearing, in any Approved or Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test or to record the points acquired by any dog in any such event, for any failure to abide by any of the requirements set forth herein.
Without hearing, any person or club who fails to abide by any of the requirements set forth herein may be suspended from all privileges of the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. by the Board of Directors
The North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. assumes no liability whatsoever concerning any of its services, certificates or titles. All dogs are entered in any Approved or Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Test solely at the risk of their owner, and the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. assumes no risk or liability whatsoever therefore.
A premium list printed or typed on good quality paper must be provided for Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests. The premium list for a Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Test shall be printed or typed (any printing or copying process is acceptable) and shall bear on its cover the words "Licensed by North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc." and shall include an official entry form as prescribed by the Board of Directors.
All service marks, trademarks and copyrights of The North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. shall be respected and correctly used.
In addition to the official entry form, the following information must be included on the premium list for a Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test: Name of club, location, date, names of officers with address of Club Secretary, time of judging, entry fees, categories to be tested, names and addresses of judges together with their judging assignments, name and address of Field Test Secretary, date and time of closing and drawing of entries. Premium lists shall also specify the type or types of birds to be used. Printed premium lists shall be 8 1/2" x 11" in size. A copy of the premium list shall be provided to NAHRA. For its convenience, a club may fold the premium list in half to reduce the size to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".
For a Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Test, entries must close at least one day prior to the day of the Hunting Retriever Field Test but may not close earlier than the fourteenth day preceding the start of the event. A club holding a Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Test shall not accept any entries received after the specified closing time and date.
It is the club's sole decision in determining the required entry fees for each category for both Approved and Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Tests. However, in the event a dog is scratched, prior to the time of the stated draw, a full refund shall be given to the owner of the dog. If a dog is scratched after the drawing is held, NAHRA recommends that all monies be refunded with the exception of a minimal scratch fee ($5.00 to $10.00 per entry) to cover costs incurred by the Field Test giving club.
At the option of the Field Test giving club, a numerical limit may be imposed on entries in any or all testing categories offered at a particular event. If entries are to be limited, the numerical limitation shall be stated in the premium list and the following shall be complied with: 1. The host club shall mail a premium and entry form to their normal mailing list. 2. Premiums and entry forms must also be mailed to all other individuals that contact the club requesting information. 3. On the closing date, all entries will be put into a lottery. 4. Dogs will be drawn at random, one at a time, until the numerical limit has been reached. 5. The remainder of the entries are to be drawn, one at a time, to establish alternates. 6. In the event that a dog is "scratched," a substitute must be selected from the alternate list. The first name on the alternate list will be contacted and given the opportunity to run and so on down the list of alternates until a replacement is found. 7. In the event the same category is being judged more than once, and they are limited entry stakes, after the lottery takes place for the first Field Test, all entries will be put into the drawing for the next event and steps 3, 4, 5 and 6 above will be repeated. 8. The handler or owner of each dog that has been drawn to actually participate in the event, shall be contacted within 72 hours of the drawing by phone or mail.
For unlimited entry Field Tests, the order of running shall be decided by random drawing. When, in the opinion of the judges, time would be saved, dogs may be run in an order different from the order in which they were drawn.
A typed or printed catalog is not required for Approved or Licensed Field Tests. However, a Field Test Secretary, upon completion of the draw, shall type, in order of the draw, a list of all dogs and handlers participating in each category. This list shall be posted at the Field Test headquarters and made available to all handlers. Upon completion of the Field Test, the Field Test Secretary shall have all judges for each category initial the appropriate space on the of official entry form for all dogs who have qualified. Additionally, the Field Test Secretary shall provide NAHRA with a separate typed list of all dogs who qualified in each category. The typed list shall include all information listed on the official entry form, for each qualifying dog, together with the name of the Club, date of the Field Test and names of all persons who judged in each category. The Field Test Secretary shall, within fifteen (15) days of the end of the Field Test, forward an original typed list of qualifying dogs, which shall include all the information that appears on the official entry form (catalogs are unacceptable), together with the official entry form for each qualified dog, initialed by the judges, the original Field Test Report t form (yellow sheet) and all appropriate fees (currently $5.00 for NAHRA members per dog run in Started, Intermediate and Senior and $10.00 per dog for non-NAHRA members for each dog run in Started, Intermediate and Senior) to NAHRA headquarters.
All incomplete or incorrect reports, and the results thereof, shall not be processed by NAHRA and shall be returned to the Field Test Secretary for correction. All such reports or lists shall be immediately corrected and returned to NAHRA within fifteen (15) days of receipt of notice that they are incorrect or incomplete.
Without hearing, an affiliate club whose Field Test Secretary is late filing all such information and fees may be suspended from holding Approved or Licensed NAHRA Field Tests and such other penalties may be imposed as the Board of Directors may prescribe. The club shall retain copies of all documents for its records.
Each official individual entry form must be completed in full and the information given on the form must be that which applies to the entered dog. Each entry form must be signed by the owner (who is responsible for all errors) or the owner's agent duly authorized to make the entry. The Board of Directors shall prescribe the official entry form.
No entry shall be accepted from any person who is not in good standing with the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. on the day of closing of the entries. In the case of entry by a partnership, every member of the partnership shall be in good standing with NAHRA before the entry will be accepted; and in the case of any infraction of these procedures, all the partners shall be held equally responsible.
No dog shall be entered or run in any Field Test and, if brought onto the Field Test grounds, shall be immediately removed if it shows any symptoms of, and is known to have been in contact with, any communicable disease within the 30 days next preceding the first date of the Field Test
No Field Test giving club shall in any way discriminate between entrants on the basis of race, sex or national origin. No prize money shall be offered or awarded. Without hearing, any club guilty of violating this procedure may be barred by the NAHRA Board of Directors from holding Licensed or Approved Field Tests, and may be expelled from NAHRA affiliation. All persons in violation of the foregoing may be disciplined by the NAHRA Board of Directors without hearing and may be deprived of all privileges of NAHRA for a specified Period or indefinitely.
If an ineligible dog has been entered and run in any category at a Licensed Field Test, or if the person or persons named as owner or owners on the entry form are not the person or persons who actually owned the dog at the time entries closed, or if a dog is run in a category for which it has not been entered, or if its entry form is deemed invalid by NAHRA under these procedures, all resulting awards, titles or certificates may, without hearing, be canceled by NAHRA, and such dog shall be deemed not to have participated. In cases where cancellation occurs, all prizes, certificates or titles shall be returned to NAHRA within ten (10) days of the time notice from NAHRA of said cancellation is sent to the last known address of the owner.
F. POINTS, AWARDS, CERTIFICATES AND TITLES
The total number of points required for certification in each test category, eligibility for any national event and for the issuance of the Grand Master Hunting Retriever, Master Hunting Retriever, Working Retriever, and Started Hunting Retriever titles shall be established by the Board of Directors of the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. and may be changed without notice at any time. Additionally, the Board of Directors may require that the owners of all dogs attaining all titles and certificates of eligibility in any national event be members in good standing of NAHRA.
In order to attain a Qualifying score in any testing category, a dog must, in the opinion of the judges, pass all tests in that category and attain a final average score of not less than eighty percent (80%).
A dog receiving a Qualifying score in the Started testing category at a Licensed NAHRA Field Test shall be credited with two and one half (2.S) points toward the title Started Hunting Retriever (SR). The title Started Hunting Retriever (SR) will be issued to the owner of a dog acquiring ten (10) points in the Started testing category at Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests. In order to be recorded as a Started Hunting Retriever a dog must be an approved purebred breed registered with an approved breed registry. Upon completion of these requirements, a dog will be recorded as a Started Hunting Retriever (SR) by the North American Hunting Retriever Association; and, where appropriate, may display the title Started Hunting Retriever or the initials SR before its name.
A dog that qualifies in four Licensed NAHRA Started Field Tests within a calendar year (January 1 to December 31), will receive the Started Brass Band Award. A dog will be allowed to receive the Started Brass Band Award each and every year that it qualifies in four or more Licensed Started Field Tests within a calendar year and will be eligible to participate in the NAHRA Regional Field Test Program.
A dog receiving a Qualifying score in the Intermediate testing category at a Licensed NAHRA Field Test shall be credited with five (5) points toward the title Working Retriever (WR). The title Working Retriever (WR) will be issued to the owner of a dog acquiring twenty (20) points in the Intermediate testing category at Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests. In order to be recorded as a Working Retriever a dog must be an approved purebred breed registered with an approved breed registry. Upon completion of these requirements, a dog will be recorded as a Working Retriever (WR) by the North American Hunting Retriever Association; and, where appropriate, may display the title Working Retriever or the initials WR before its name.
A dog that qualifies in four Licensed NAHRA Intermediate held Tests within a calendar year (January 1 to December 31), will receive the Intermediate Brass Band Award. A dog will be allowed to receive the Brass Band Award each and every year that it qualifies in four or more Licensed Field Tests at the respective level within a calendar year and will be eligible to participate in the NAHRA Regional Field Test program.
A dog receiving a Qualifying score in the Senior testing category at a Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test shall be credited with twenty (20) points toward the title of Master Hunting Retriever (MHR). Dogs that have acquired points in the Senior testing category at Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests may continue to enter either the Started or Intermediate testing categories. In order to be recorded as a Master Hunting Retriever (MHR) a dog must be an approved purebred breed registered with an approved breed registry and must have a record of having accumulated at least one hundred ( 100) points in Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests in the Senior testing category or have accumulated twenty (20) Intermediate points and eighty (80) Senior points in Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests. Upon completion of these requirements a dog will be recorded as a Master Hunting Retriever (MHR) by the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. and, where appropriate, may display the title Master Hunting Retriever or the initials MHR before its name.
A Master Hunting Retriever that goes on to accumulate 300 or more points in the Senior testing category at Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests will be recorded as a Grand Master Hunting Retriever (GMHR) by the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. and, where appropriate, may display the title Grand Master Hunting Retriever or the initials GMHR before its name.
The owners of all dogs who have acquired the title Grand Master Hunting Retriever, Master Hunting Retriever, Working Retriever or Started Hunting Retriever shall immediately send to NAHRA a copy of the registration papers, certified by the owner, as being the papers for that particular dog. The award of all titles may be withheld pending receipt by NAHRA of these papers and this certification. Only one title certificate shall be issued for each dog attaining a title, although a duplicate may be obtained upon certification by the owner that the original has been lost or destroyed.
A dog that has acquired Licensed points in a higher category, may be run in a lower category and acquire the Licensed points available in that category.
A club holding a Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test shall offer prize ribbons for outright award, which shall consist of three (3) streamer ribbons with center button and rosette. Each center streamer shall be at least two inches wide and eight inches long. The two side streamers shall be camouflage color. The center streamer shall be tan color and shall be inscribed with the words "Qualifying Score," the name of the test giving club and the test category. The words "Licensed Hunting Retriever Field Test" must also be included. A date tab separate from the streamers bearing the date of the Field Test may also be utilized. The rosette shall be tan color and shall have the initials "NAHRA" in the center button. If ribbons are given at Approved NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Tests, they shall be gray/silver in color and must otherwise conform to the requirements for ribbons at a Licensed NAHRA Hunting Retriever Field Test, with the exception of the camouflage pattern.
G. Richard A. Wolters/NORTH AMERICAN HUNTING RETRIEVER ASSOCIATION, INC. "INVITATIONAL FIELD TEST"
Annually, at its discretion, the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. may hold an invitational field test called the "Richard A. Wolters/NAHRA INVITATIONAL." The procedures governing the running of this Field Test shall be determined by the National Invitational Committee and currently are as follows:
H. NORTH AMERICAN HUNTING RETRIEVER ASSOCIATION, INC. "REGIONAL FIELD TESTS"
Annually, at its discretion, the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. may hold the North American Hunting Retriever Association, "Regional Field Tests." The procedures governing the running of this Field Test shall be determined by NAHRA and currently are as follows: