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Moon's Ruffed Grouse Society Looks to the Future for Game and Members

​“The Importance of Dominance Training” By Donny ZarraOriginally published in Versatile Hunting Dog
What makes dominance training so important?
There are several answers to this question
and most of them are very simple. But before we explore the principles of dominance training, it is important to understand that dogs are pack animals. From the time puppies are whelped a pecking order begins within the litter. Some pups will be recognized as more dominant alpha and others will fall into a more passive beta category. It is also important to understand that these puppies are constantly challenging their order in the pack. A dog will continue this behavior throughout its lifetime.

“Urban sprawl, disappearing species hinder small-game hunters” By Bobby Kerlik
​TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Donny Zarra considers himself an endangered species.
He and his dog, Duke, hunt for small game several times a week. But according to the state Game Commission, the number of small -game hunters has declined for the past 25 years, reaching a new low each year.
“Small game, in general, is just hurting. There’s not an abundance of game like there used to be,” said Zarra, 36, of Carrick. “If you take a kid out hunting and there’s nothing to shoot at, the kid’s not going to gain an interest in hunting. There’s just not as many places for the animals to live.”

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​“Point and Track – Balancing a Double-Edged Sword” By Donny Zarra
Originally Published in Versatile Hunting Dog
A properly trained versatile gun dog is a viable tool, yet we must take care in our training to reach this level.
Our job as gun dog owners and enthusiasts in the pursuit of game is to bring or companions to a certain level of discipline. I want to awake all of my dogs’ potential and hard-wired instinct; I want my dog to cooperate – we are team.

“Raising successful gun dogs”
By John Hayes
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Before the dog learns a single command, its trainer needs to be trained to communicate
Donny Zarra’s champion Deutch Drahthaar, Duke vom Buffeltaler, goes on point as he sniffs out a rooster pheasant in the brush at the Alpine Club in South Fayette. Zarra’s dog was champion in 2006.
The ringneck flushed from the woods and was descending over an adjacent field of waist-high weeds. I threw a 12-gauge blast of 6 shot at him through a stand of dead timber but it was unclear if he’d been hit.
A clipped pheasant will surely run and could easily be lost in the thick growth.
“You take the lower end,” I shouted to my host, Donny Zarra, as I ran to the top of the field to find the bird.