Man’s best friend works for a living
♦ The dog field trials continue at Kingston Downs today
Man’s best friend was both working and putting on a show Saturday at the Etowah Retriever Club’s first Hunter Retriever Club field trial at the Kingston Downs Plantation. Over a hundred dogs from across the region are competing in four different classifications this weekend at the sprawling property in a bend of the Etowah River east of Rome.
Junior Dobson, who manages the Kingston Downs Plantation, explained that control of the dog was critical in the Upland competition where dogs had to flush quail.
“He’s got to flush the bird, then the handler has to do his part. A lot of times the handler fails the dog,” Dobson said.
In the Upland competition, the handler fires a pop gun and two live shooters on either flank of the hunter actually attempt to bring down the bird.
“If they don’t kill the bird then the dog doesn’t get to make its retrieve. In this one it’s as much the handler as it is the dog,” Dobson said.
One of the live shooters for the Upland retrieve was retired Georgia Highlands College president Randy Pierce. Pierce said that consistency is one of the toughest aspects of training a good retriever.
Most of the dogs in the event, which continues Sunday, are one of the retriever breeds, though there are others, including Boykin spaniels. One of the Boykin’s in the event was being handled by Butch Herb of Southside, Alabama. If his dog passes the test, Herb and the dog will be qualified for the Hall of Fame.
“That’s an achievement not many people get, for the dog to live that long,” Dobson said.
The Started category probably drew as many competitors as any. Those are generally the younger dogs, or dogs just getting started in retrieving.
Lane Blanchett of Dublin was one of the judges for the Started competition.
“Sometimes they go directly to the bird (or duck as was the case Saturday) and pick it up, but sometimes they have to let their nose help them and they dig it out. We like to see them stay close to the area (where the duck fell), but this is Started so we give them some leeway,” Blanchett said.
Turner Moshell of Columbus has been participating in retriever trials for the past seven years. He has eight client dogs and three of his own. He watched patiently as one of his dogs, Jewel, which just turned one, had a difficult time finding her first duck Saturday. The judges saluted him for his patience with the dog, giving it a little extra time to find the duck and complete her retrieve successfully.
Scott Baldwin, from Madison, sent Ace, an 11-monthold, after ducks and the Labrador he’s been training for three-months made quick retrieves on both of his runs. Baldwin said that training each dog is different.
“You have a program you go through, but every dog is different,” Baldwin said. He said breeding is a huge part of the success of retrievers in the field.
The event at Kingston Downs is the first for the Etowah Retriever Club and Melissa Dobson said the group plans to bring an even larger event, possibly as many as 500 dogs, to the same location in March of 2019.