The Saluda River NAVHDA Chapter has scheduled three seminars to be led by nationally reknowned versatile dog trainers. Two will be held in Spring/Summer 2026 and a third is scheduled for Spring 2027. All of these seminars are Train the Trainer type programs. These and future seminars are being provided to give our members the best tools with which to train their dogs. Registration will be open for each seminar to members before it is made available to the NAVHDA membership at large.

The first seminar will be a Force Fetch seminar to be led by Dave Trahan. Simply put, Dave Trahan is one of the most sought-after versatile gun dog trainers in New England. Alongside his wife Carol, Dave owns and operates OnPoint Kennel from their home in Deerfield, New Hampshire. Dave served as  President of NAVHDA International (the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association) for nine years and has spent over three decades training working dogs across a wide range of systems and styles. Dave is also a NAVHDA Senior Judge. That depth of experience shows in every dog he trains. This is a two day seminar to be held May 1 and 2, 2026. The seminar will be open to up to 20 handlers and their dogs. You can get more information about Dave and On Point Kennels can be found in this YouTube by Project Upland. https://youtu.be/54MLSsVXz_U and here http://onpointkennel.com/.

The second 2026 seminar will be a Retrieving seminar to be led by Blaine Carter. Blaine is a charter member NAVHDA, having trained versatile dogs for over 40 years. Blaine and Patti Carter run Merrymeeting Kennels in Maine along with their son Jason. Blaine is a NAVHDA Senior Judge. This will be a two day seminar to be held June 20 and 21, 2026. The seminar will be open to up to 20 handlers and their dogs. You can find out more about Blaine, Patti and Jason Carter from a long series of videos on the Bird Dogs Afield YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/BirdDogsAfield/videos. An additional source can be found in the Covey Rise Magazine article found here: https://coveyrisemagazine.com/let-us-now-praise-gsp/

The third schedule seminar will be led by Clyde Vetter of Sharp Shooter Kennels. This seminar will be a three day seminar with a subject of “the path from NA to UT” and held April 30 through May 2, 2027. Specific subjects covered will include force fetch and retrieving, field steadiness and duck search. The seminar will be open to up to 20 handlers and their dogs. Clyde has been a NAVHDA member since 1991, is a former Senior and Invitational Judge and is NAVHDA’s most prolific handler/trainer. He has handled 403 dogs in NAVHDA tests with 87% passing. These include handling dogs in 216 Utility tests and 44 Invitational Tests. Additional information may be found here: https://sharpshooterskennel.com/.