Scott Linden Outdoors

Useful terms as you read, learn, train, trial, test and hunt …

Tethering: Tying a cord to a bird used for training so it will fly some distance then fall to the ground so the trainer can use it again. Often, trainers will attach the other end of the cord to a “pigeon pole.”

Tie-out stake: A metal post in the ground to which a dog is attached via a chain.

Everything is relative … even your praise.

Timberdoodle: Woodcock, also called mud bat, bogsucker, and woodsnipe.

Training table, whoa table: A raised platform on which you put a dog to train it.

Trap: 1) Original clay target game, shooters are arrayed in an arc behind a “trap house,” from which targets fly away from the shooters; 2) in some hunt tests or trials, when a dog catches the bird prior to the flush.

Trash: Game you don’t want your dog pursuing, i.e., deer, coons.

UH: Upland Hunter, a UKC title.

UPT: Utility Preparatory Test, a NAVHDA test for dogs over 16 months of age, including many of the components of the Utility Test, but in simpler forms.

UT: Utility Test, for more advanced dogs in the NAVHDA system.

VC: Versatile Champion, a dog that has passed the highest test level in the NAVHDA system. A dog is invited to participate in the group’s invitational test after earning a Utility Test Prize I.

VDD: Verein Deutsch Drahthaar, or German Wirehair Club based in Germany with an affiliate (VDDNA) in the U.S. and Canada)

VDDNA: Verein Deutsch Drahthaar North America, branch of the German-based VDD.

Versatile dog: Any of the “continental” breeds developed in Europe in the 1800’s for the middle-class hunter who needed one dog to point, retrieve on land and water, track furred, feathered and wounded big game as well as protect the family. Examples: German Shorthair, Spinone, Weimaraner, Viszla.

VHDF: Versatile Hunting Dog Federation, a dog testing and training club in the U.S. focusing on the “continental” breeds.

Viszla: Shorthaired versatile breed from Hungary.

Wachtelhund: German spaniel originally bred to hunt quail.

Weimaraner: Shorthaired versatile breed from Germany.

Whoa: Command word to stop a dog and have him remain motionless.

Whoa barrel: Metal or plastic barrel laid horizontally on the ground on which trainers place dogs to encourage steadiness to the whoa command and to birds.

Whoa post: Metal or wooden post in the ground around which a checkcord is looped to stop a dog’s forward movement.

Whoa table: Another term for training table, typically a low platform trainers put a dog on to teach or enforce commands, often including the “whoa” command.

Wild flush: Bird that flies before the hunter or dog purposely flushes it.

WPGCA: Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Club of America.

WR: Working Retriever, an NAHRA title.

Yardwork: The term used to describe any number of training drills done in and around the kennel area or “yard.”