Club Profile
The Green Valley Hunting and Retriever Club (GVHRC) membership consists of individuals and families who love spending time working with and training their canine family member. The club focuses on building a friendly and safe training atmosphere, with the goal of improving the working ability of your hunting companion. We are an official UKC/HRC organization and a 501(3)(c) non-profit.
Training Days
GVHRC schedules monthly training days to provide the handler and their dog the opportunity to train for hunt tests in addition to actual hunting situations. Attendees select the training group that best matches the ability level and needs of their pointer, flusher or retriever. On these occasions, the novice handlers can work with more experienced members and exchange information and ideas about how to better train their dog. More advanced dogs can participate in more challenging hunt test scenarios. (For example, first-time owners will receive assistance in obedience training, then move on to step-by-step assistance with lining and handling drills, controlled quartering and trailing for upland game with steadiness to flush and shot, rounding out the all-purpose working dog.) There is a $20 fee per dog for the training groups (retrievers, pointers and flushers) and $25 for upland braces.
Membership
Annual dues are $50 per family (and all family members are encouraged to participate in our events). Club dues are used to purchase insurance, training equipment, birds, shotgun shells, and to defray other costs associated with training.
Club Events
We kick off the year with a banquet in January to recognize the achievements and growth of members, as well as the hard work put in by the many volunteers that keep the club running. This event includes our fundraising silent and live auctions as well as the election of officers for the coming year. In February, GVHRC hosts a booth at the Lane County Sportsman’s Show at the Fairgrounds with handlers and dogs, video and live demonstrations. In addition to the training sessions conducted one weekend day each month from March–June, we hold a clay targets Fun Shoot in July. The final event of the year is held in August, a “Ten Singles” retrieving competition and a final Braces event for the upland dogs.
Wildlife Conservation
GVHRC recognizes that a well-trained retriever or upland dog is a key component of wildlife conservation. A good bird dog is able to track and recover more game than a hunter working alone. As a team, the handler and dog can work together to recover game that the dog did not see fall. With the handler directing the dog to the game via hand, voice, and whistle commands, the dog can retrieve game from otherwise inaccessible places, even game taken by other hunting parties.