Master National Retriever Club’s Annual Event
October 1, 2026 Roseburg, Oregon
Submitted by Jack Combs, Chair RHTAC
On behalf of this committee, I express our thanks to the MNRC Board and the American Kennel Club for the opportunity to make this report. There are copies of the charge, responsibility and authority for the committee, its membership and this report available online at the Master National web site. It is not designed to be a ‘gripe’ session but rather tries to look at the overall benefits of any potential change to the entire program. The committee has operated mostly by e-mail and conference calls this year and has received an abundance of submissions. I know this info is “old hat” to some of you but it is included here for new participants in the sport that might be here for the first time.
At this time, I’m honored to introduce the committee members who are here today. I’m askingeach of those in attendance to stand. (Introduce each as listed on the July, 2026 Roster)
You’ll note this committee is annually appointed by the AKC’s Executive Vice President for Sports & Events, Mr. Doug Ljungren in consultation with AKC Field Director, Retrievers Sporting Group, Mr. Russ Reavis. .
The committee will address submissions by any individual involved in the retriever hunting test program, any club that holds licensed AKC events or from the AKC. Only written submissions to the committee are accepted to reduce the chance of misinterpretations.
The submissions are discussed in detail and a committee decision is reached. The decision may be by ‘consensus’ (all five agree) or by ‘majority’ (4-1, or 3-2 vote). Once the committee has agreed on a recommendation, it is sent to AKC. AKC can accept, reject, or modify the recommendations. Additionally, the AKC can implement changes in the regulations and guidelines without consulting the committee. The committee has operated openly and sincerely appreciated each submission.
I know our time on the program is limited, so if you have questions, any member of the committee will be happy to discuss them with you later.
Since our report last year, the Committee has reviewed multiple submissions.
NOTE: It is expected the regulations will be used in good faith, good sportsmanship, with the intent of the regulation fulfilled and not abused or used as not intended.
Since our last report (October 30, 2025) the committee has reviewed or is reviewing many issues submitted that requested the regulations be reviewed and/or revised.
Samplings of issues include:
- Proposed not allowing pop-ups in the field at gunner stations. (Makes station to visible and not simulated hunting). Umbrellas would be ok as long as a dark colored..
(Committee will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.)
- Proposed requiring basic seminar prior to apprenticeship judging assignment. (Thought it makes more sense to apprentice once you’ve had seminar so your more familiar with rules)
(Committee will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.) - Proposed including loud verbal commands (sit, here, etc.) while working in the field on marks to be considered intimidation of the working dog. (Committee felt this is already adequately covered and will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.)
- Requiring contestant score sheets to be posted in a designated, publicly accessible location as dogs are eliminated. At the conclusion of the event, all score sheets including those for dogs that passed as well as those that were eliminated would be posted for contestants to review. (Committee will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.)
- Concern over excessive passing rates & quality of judging on master dogs at hunting tests (Committee concurs & is working on it as is AKC)
- Since marking is of primary importance, proposal to combine blind scores with marking scores to place less emphasis on blind scores.
(Committee will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.) - Chapter 4. Section 6 (new paragraph 5): New verbiage would be:
“If an honor dog leaves the honor position and the handler stops the dog, it shall be considered a controlled break. At the Master level the dog shall be scored zero in trainability. At the Senior level, the dog shall be scored lower to the extent of the fault.”
(Committee unanimously recommended this suggestion to the AKC.)
- Allow clubs to use fresh frozen, never used birds at dead bird stations and blinds to start a test. This would allow better time management and significantly reduce costs for clubs.
(Committee recommends this suggestion to the AKC.) - Charge handlers with more than five dogs in a Master test a higher entry fee. (Committee will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.)
- Is there anything that can be done about the fact that the AKC test program is no longer anywhere near its original purpose. Especially in Master. Now we have master test that looks like master national set ups.
(Committee will not recommend this suggestion to the AKC.)
Please note that with the exceptions noted above, these are samples of issues submitted to the committee, so please don’t leave here saying they are new regulations. Each is being reviewed and is being discussed but they are not rule changes at this time!
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of my colleagues on the committee. They have diligently addressed each submission with the goal of improving the retriever hunting test program, and I’m honored to serve with them.
I would like to thank each of the submitters for their interest in improving the retriever hunting test program; the vast majority were well thought out and presented well. We also express our deep appreciation to Doug Ljungren, Caroline Murphy and Russ Reavis at AKC for their superb collaboration on difficult challenges. Without exception, each has been open minded, progressive in their thoughts and strongly supportive of changes that will improve the program.
The AKC notifies the Club ‘secretary of record’ of AKC decisions on new/revised regulations via e-mail. Please insure your club’s records are updated with the AKC. Please insure the AKC has current contact info on your club secretary. The committee reminds you that any regulation change implemented will be carefully monitored and, if deemed appropriate, additional recommendations will be made.
Thank you again for listening and we wish you and your dog the very best in the week ahead.
Members of the RHTAC:
Robert (Bob) Montler, Eastern Time Zone
Alan Bruhin, Central Time Zone
Rex Gibson, Mountain Time Zone
Julie Cairns, Pacific Time Zone
Jack Combs, Chairman, North Carolina
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the RHTAC by Jack Combs