AKC National Gun Dog Championship starts tomorrow!

[jetjockey]

As of now no.  We looked at it last night and it's right in her armpit.  Gonna just granulex the heck out of it for right now.  Gonna be interesting to see what happens in the callback.  One of the better dogs has a busted up pad.  We will see how it affects him.

[jetjockey]

Well, It all over!

1. FC Old School Attitude (Bella), Pointer, h Greg Dixon
2. FC/AFC Eshod's Arkansas Lady (Lady), GSP, h Ray Dohse
3. FC Stoney Hill Mr. Dixon (Dixon), GSP, h Jamie Fountain
4. FC Cedar Valley Bandit (Bandit), Brittany, h Tom Tracy


What a fun trip, but Im exhausted. I got home this morning at 3:30AM and Im just starting to catch up.

I watched 3 of the 4 winners call back runs yesterday. IMO, you could have tossed a coin between them. The EP basically won because of its qualifying run earlier in the week from what the judges were overheard saying. It ran "ok" yesterday but not great. Its one find left a little to be desired though because of a self relocation prior to point being called that Im not sure the judges saw. The second place dog ran pretty well, but had 2 non productives and 1 split find. It was also out of pocket for a WHILE. I think the judges were granting some leniency on the EP's bird work and on the 2nd place GSP's time out of pocket. I was waiting for them to give the handler the tracker when she showed up, and she finished behind her bracemate at time. I didn't get to see the 3rd place GSP run, but I hear it did a nice job. The brit did a nice job, but wasnt as pleasing to the eye as you'd like to see in a championship run because it blew a pad earlier in the week while roading.  The handler was just trying to get it around.   IMO, and several other people I talked to, nobody won this thing outright. The GWP that got called back was absolutely smoking everyone, for 35 minutes. And then he ran out of gas. But before he ran out of gas, he easily had the best 35 minute run that I saw. Too bad for him it was a 1 hour trial. haha..

Even though this was the AKC GD Championship, the dogs ran much more like All Age dogs then Gun Dogs. The judges also put more emphasis on run then bird work. Judging is tough, its a balancing act. Do they take a dog with lots of great bird work but didn't run great, or do they take a dog who runs amazing but doesn't have a lot of bird work? In this trial they seemed to lean a lot more towards the run then towards the birdwork. I would have leaned more towards the dogs with bird work since they all ran pretty well, but thats just me. Judging is subjective, and all 4 dogs who placed could have won, or finished 4th. Either way, all 4 dogs deserved it in a field of over 120 dogs.

[Happy Gilmore]

http://www.akc.org/events/field_trials/pointing_breeds/gun_dog_championships/2012/event_coverage.cfm

[wildweeds]

It evens out though........... last years stake was more of a gundog stake at milepost 9 because those judges were judging it as such,the bigger running dogs were not even part of the equation and some were picked up for running to big.Fact is the dog I know FC Jaydog's Wonderboy ran an AF AA race  according to the AF folks that were in attendance watching and was picked up/quit being looked at at less than the halfway point.Your dog is young she got a bunch more tries at it.

[jetjockey]

Wild.   I know one of the judges who judged last year.  According to him they judged it as more of an AA stake.   Can't say since I wasn't there, but that's what I was told.  I also know that later in the trial they were picking dogs up at 30 that weren't beating the dogs already on the board.  Because they lost a couple days because os weather they had no choice.  When did that dog run?   Actually, I just looked it up.  Looks like that dog ran after the judges made the decision that unless a dog was beating what they already had, they would be picked up.  I doubt it was because the dog ran too big knowing one of the judges.

[RC3]

I don't know hardly anything about these trials thats why I'm just curious how a dog wins the championship by running for an hour in a field and having 1 find ( i'm assuming there are quite a few birds in the field) just curious how that works?

[jetjockey]

It's not a field, it's a horseback trial on a course with multiple fields. This year had two continous three hour courses that were about 5 miles long each on the 12000 acre Ames Plantation.  There were no released birds.  With all the rain and mud, it takes a dog in great shape to put down a full hour at the speed judges want to see.  These are traditional horseback field trials.

[RC3]

I see so it is more of a race than a hunt. 

[wildweeds]

I know for sure it was because the dog ran to big,the judges told the handler to corral him up because he was out there 3/4 of a mile  and that's when they told him it was a gundog stake and would be judged as such.

Wild.   I know one of the judges who judged last year.  According to him they judged it as more of an AA stake.   Can't say since I wasn't there, but that's what I was told.  I also know that later in the trial they were picking dogs up at 30 that weren't beating the dogs already on the board.  Because they lost a couple days because os weather they had no choice.  When did that dog run?   Actually, I just looked it up.  Looks like that dog ran after the judges made the decision that unless a dog was beating what they already had, they would be picked up.  I doubt it was because the dog ran too big knowing one of the judges.

[jetjockey]

RC3.. You have to understand where traditional field trials came from.  Trials began in the south.  Traditionally quail here hunted off horseback on small farms and plantations.  People wanted to see who had the best dog, so they started competitions just like the way they hunted.  Off horseback looking for coveys of quail.  The fastest biggest dogs usually won because they covered more ground and found the birds first.  Today we don't have endless miles of farms to hunt like the original trials, so they came up with courses to try and emulate what was happening back then.  Traditional trials are judged just like any other sport, and the entire application is judged.  Dogs are not just judged on how many birds they find.  They are judged on their run, how they hunt the cover, how well they respond to their handlers,  how many birds they find, their style when they find birds, their level of steadiness when the birds are found, etc.  They are judged on the entire package.  Just because a dog stumbles upon 4 birds in an hour, but doesnt hunt for its handler, doesn't hold steady, and runs like crap, doesn't mean its going to beat a dog with 1 find that covered the correct correctly, handles well, looks good on point, and shows perfect manners.  I compare it to olympic diving.  Just because a diver has a perfect entry doesn't mean they are going to win gold.  The entire dive has to be perfect. 

[jetjockey]

Wild..

Is that dog a GD or AA dog?  On the database sight it looks like it only has 1 AA placement, and the rest are GD placements.   If the dog you are talking about did hit 3/4 of a mile, then it was hitting 1000+ yards.  Ive never seen a dog open up that fast from being a gun dog.  Ive seen GD's hit 750+ yards in the prairies, but only because they went the wrong way and didn't go with.  Otherwise GD's are usually 300 yard or less dogs.  It looks like it was running GD just a few months before the AKC Nationals. What I was told is that the judges judged the stake as a shooting dog stake, not uncommon for AKC 1 hour GD trials.  IMO shooting dogs are a lot closer to AA dogs then they are GD's. 

Im not too worried about her having another shot at it.  This was probably the only time she will run in the AKC GD Nationals.  For the most part, she was done running GD trials last fall.  The one GD trial we entered her in this spring was an hour GD trial, and it was the first trial she ran this spring.  She was picked up at 45 when the judges asked the handler why she wasn't running AA.  She threw the biggest cast I saw at Ames before she slowed because of her injury.  We came over a small hill in an open field just after the breakaway and she was already taking the far side at easily 500+ yards from the trainer.  According to the trainer, she has been running a lot bigger then that where the terrain allows.  It will be interesting to see how big she gets as she ages and gains more and more confidence.  She still isn't 4 years old yet.

[RC3]

Thanks that makes more sense, I was just trying to figure out how they worked.

[wildweeds]

He's really an AA dog with a cooperative nature and a good handle,owned by the Littles of Brittiany world,Chik n Little and Shady's Tia Maria ring a bell?

Wild..

Is that dog a GD or AA dog?  On the database sight it looks like it only has 1 AA placement, and the rest are GD placements.   If the dog you are talking about did hit 3/4 of a mile, then it was hitting 1000+ yards.  Ive never seen a dog open up that fast from being a gun dog.  Ive seen GD's hit 750+ yards in the prairies, but only because they went the wrong way and didn't go with.  Otherwise GD's are usually 300 yard or less dogs.  It looks like it was running GD just a few months before the AKC Nationals. What I was told is that the judges judged the stake as a shooting dog stake, not uncommon for AKC 1 hour GD trials.  IMO shooting dogs are a lot closer to AA dogs then they are GD's. 

Im not too worried about her having another shot at it.  This was probably the only time she will run in the AKC GD Nationals.  For the most part, she was done running GD trials last fall.  The one GD trial we entered her in this spring was an hour GD trial, and it was the first trial she ran this spring.  She was picked up at 45 when the judges asked the handler why she wasn't running AA.  She threw the biggest cast I saw at Ames before she slowed because of her injury.  We came over a small hill in an open field just after the breakaway and she was already taking the far side at easily 500+ yards from the trainer.  According to the trainer, she has been running a lot bigger then that where the terrain allows.  It will be interesting to see how big she gets as she ages and gains more and more confidence.  She still isn't 4 years old yet.

[Wacenturion]

Jet....thanks for the updates.  Enjoyed following along with what was happening.  Had a Red Setter I used to trial somewhat way back in the late 60's as a Derby dog in FDSB trials.  Best thing to come out of it was she accidentally got bred by the best Derby Red Setter that Year, Spud Murphy.  Ended up with 13 absolutely beautiful pups as a result without the stud fee.
Needless to say, those pups went fast after I got her back upon leaving Charleston S.C. where I was stationed in the Air Force, picked her up in Illinois at the trainers facility and ended up in Moses Lake, where they were born in 1970.  Traded one of them for a male Red Setter pup from another guy near Sprague, which ended up being the best bird dog and companion I ever hunted over.  At that time it Moses Lake was bird hunting paradise.  Miss those days.

[jetjockey]

Wild..  Yep, I know the Little dogs.  Chubasco II and Chicken Little will be GG grandparents to the pups I'm going to breed in about a year.   Hopefully the breeding will produce a couple nice big running pups.  The biggest running Brit I have ever seen came from those lines.  He's still young though and doesn't have a great handle yet.  Hopefully that will turn around because he can go head to head with any FDSB AA pointer there is.  My dads Brit is out of those same lines and she is awesome, and she handles.  Too bad she will never get the chance to trial.  At camp last summer the trainer started reeling her in when she started pushing 800-1000 yards on the garmin.  She won't be 2 till June and in 2 months the trainer had her whoa broke, backing, stopping to flush, and broke to wing.  She is really easy and just loves to make ya happy.  And I could have had her for free.  Oh well, I can't afford two dogs running AA on the trial circuit. 

WA.  I grew up hunting pheasants in Sunnyside and Royal City when they still had birds.  Royal City used to have some pretty damn good hunting.  Too bad my kids will never see it.  I miss hunting in that part of the state and having birds.