Tooey runs a perfect Junior hunt test

Bev Higgins, of Parkdale Kennels, called to tell me that Tooey ran a perfect Junior hunt test today. What made it even better was Bev’s description of how happily and enthusiastically Tooey worked for all four marks.

I wasn’t there (darn it!), so I have to report what I was told. The facts will probably be mostly right, they just may not be in the right order. And no pictures, either.

The weather in Anderson, California for today’s Lassen Retriever Club hunt test was warm, with no wind (thank heavens). She was again handled by Butch Higgins, her trainer. There were, as usual, two series: the morning’s land series and the afternoon’s water series.

The land series included two birds, one of which was a live flyer. Both birds came down at about 100 yards. For each of the two single marks, Tooey apparently marked the fall, went straight out to the bird, and came straight back. Bev even described her as having “stepped on the bird.” That’s a common hunt test phrase that means the dog nailed it: going out to exactly where the bird landed and not having to hunt around looking for it. What’s even more perfect is that Tooey did this twice. Oh, good girl!!!

Bev said that this made Butch so happy that he did a small little dance at the line watching her come back with the second bird. (I would like to have seen this…) And when they were done with the land series (I’m guessing it was the land series), he even let her jump up on him so he could “love her up.”

The water series also included two marks. It sounds like both birds were thrown from a peninsula that went into the middle of the pond. The first bird was launched for a 75-yard mark into the water (I think). The second bird was hand-thrown for a 50-or-so-yard mark toward the shore of the pond. Really lucky dogs got a second bird that fell into the water with a big splash (which makes it easier to see), while unluckier dogs got a duck that fell onto the land at the edge of the pond. Tooey’s second bird landed in between, so there was a little splash.

And she did it again. Went right into the water, swam briskly to the duck, grabbed it up, and brought it right back. On the second bird, she did the same — and what’s great about this is that she resisted the temptation to get out of the water and shake off before fetching the bird. Tooey just grabbed it up, turned around, and swam back to Butch.

One of these four marks (I don’t know which one), Bev even said that Tooey came back with her duck, sat prettily into a perfect heel position at Butch’s side, and raised the duck up to deliver it to him.

A perfect hunt test. And Tooey’s first orange ribbon!

Good girl, my sweet Tooey darling! Let’s hope for/pray for/wish for/meditate on another ribbon tomorrow.

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Water training begins for 2011

It has been a dry couple of months for Cooper, with only land training since duck season closed at the end of January. Finally, temperatures are getting above 50 (it was in the 20s just 10 days ago), so it is suitable for water training.

Today, Cooper was looking photogenic in the sun and pretty proud of himself with a duck. So I made yet another photo of my boy.

Water training is really important, even when the dog has a solid retrieve on land. Dogs don’t generalize well, so just because he knows how to do something in one environment, doesn’t mean he’ll know to do the same thing in another environment.

For water retrieves, the dog has to be willing to jump into the water (even when cold or slimy), retrieve the duck, and swim back to the handler with it. Cooper has had water work before, so the basic concept is not completely new to him.

Tooey’s a different story. She loves the water and loves to swim, but she hasn’t had the discipline of having to go out into the water, retrieve, and come back consistently.

So in just a couple of days she’s going off to California (where it’s sunny and warm) with Butch to do some daily water work. All this in preparation for her first hunt test in just under a month.

We will miss seeing our girl every weekend, but it’ll be good experience for her.

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He asked to see her eyes

Tooey has been with Butch at Parkdale Kennels for (a long) 2.5 months now, and I think he must have been feeding her — she grew out so much coat!

(Also, as a side note, I really know he’s been feeding her because she’s fat. I understand that problem completely. Too bad I don’t have a kennel manager who can simply cut back my ration of kibbles.)

The night before we took her to Parkdale, we gave Tooey a very close field clip, leaving her beard and enough coat on her ears and topknot so that she looked like an Irish Water Spaniel. Last time we were there, a couple of weeks ago, I could see that cut had grown out. A lot.

So this morning, I arrived at the kennel early, armed with clippers, scissors, a comb, and a slicker brush. Boy, did she need a trim. I wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t get knots in behind her ears and in her armpits any more easily than necessary, and Butch wanted to be able to see her eyes.

Tooey didn’t particularly want to be brushed or combed or clipped. She hasn’t been on a grooming table all this time except to get brushed out before her monthly bath. She is completely out of the habit of being calm on the table, getting combed, brushed, combed, brushed, and trimmed. Pretty much, she wanted to look at me and lick my face. That was sweet for the first few minutes, and then totally not helpful.

I had only an hour before the training session started. Russ helped by holding her in place, and by brushing while I was clipping. We were pretty rushed at the end, so I don’t have any pictures of her with her new ‘do. She looks OK — about 3/4″ long all over her legs and body. Following Renae’s advice, I also shaved off most of Tooey’s beard.

And I cut the topknot must shorter, especially around her face, so Butch can see her eyes. He said he knows what the dog is thinking and whether she’s paying attention by looking in the eyes. I believe it. Glad I could help.

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8 weeks of training for Tooey, more for Cooper

Tooey did her first double marked retrieves today, at the end of her 8th week of training. In a double, the dog watches two birds fall, one right after the other, and then goes and brings back the 2nd bird first, and then the 1st bird second. For these retrieves today, the birds fell about 50 and 75 yards from the line, respectively.

On her first double, Tooey was naturally confused. Up until today, she’d seen one duck fall and be sent for it. So today, after she watched the two birds fall, she went for the 2nd bird down, which was a live flyer. In this case, the gunner had missed the duck, so Tooey had to chase it down in order to retrieve it.

Tooey chasing a live duck

And she still doesn’t much like live flyers. They flap, they fight back, it’s just hard to get a grip on them. After some chasing and encouragement from Butch, Tooey finally caught and brought the duck back, still very much alive.

Then, of course, since this is a double retrieve, she’s supposed to remember where the first bird fell and go get that one. Butch lined her up at the line facing the correct direction and sent her off. But after all the live-flyer drama, she’d forgotten where the first bird fell. So to help her out, the gunner threw out an additional bird (this one already deceased). She saw that one fall, and brought it back.

Tooey bringing back her duck

The next double went much better. Pre-killed ducks were thrown out from each gunner’s blind, and she saw and retrieved both ducks. Good girl! And on top of that, she then did a 200 yard sight blind retrieve, in which the dog does not see the bird fall (in this case, bumpers instead of birds). A sight blind retrieve has a flag or other marker to help the dog see where the pile of bumpers is.

The picture below shows the distance from the line out to the white flag marker. That’s Russ and Cooper out in the field, where Russ is sending Cooper on a couple of shorter blind retrieves, just to get Cooper into the swing of things.

Cooper and Russ walking out toward the pile of bumpers

Later in the day, Cooper did a very nice triple retrieve. The first mark was very dramatic, with Cooper splashing through a ditch filled with cold, cold water. He hit the far bank at full speed and did an ass-over-tea kettle roll, popped back up to his feet, grabbed the duck and returned as though nothing unusual had happened. The return through the ditch was more sedate, at just a moderate run rather than full throttle.

After the other two retrieves, he then laser-lined a blind retrieve like a well bred Lab, splitting between two of the previous marks, and covering the 200 yards in just a few seconds. Both of us (Patrice and Russ) just looked at each other with a surprised look of, “Wow, is that our dog”? All the Lab owners in the field thought that Cooper had just done his usually good job. “Oh, sure,” we said, “he always goes hundreds of yards and never deviates from a perfect line . . . he is an Irish Water Spaniel after all.”

Right.

I just want to post one more picture, of Tooey smiling in the blind. There’s no story — I just like the picture.

Tooey smiling in the holding blind

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Doing is harder than watching

I knew this was going to happen. I’ve been watching Russ training Cooper for 1.5 years, and the longer I’ve watched, the better I’ve gotten at watching.

I notice when Cooper’s spine is not straight in heel position, when he’s not marking the birds, when he’s veering off the straight line to the bird. Being a good wife, I offered my observations. And being a wife who is capable of learning, I’ve stopped doing that (mostly).

Now I get to be the one who is participating in training a dog for hunt tests. I’ve been watching Butch work with Tooey for the past several weeks. It’s a lot harder than it looks. I knew it would be. But knowing that didn’t stop me from suffering stage fright and making plenty of mistakes today, my first day handling Tooey. Fortunately, Tooey and I have a good trainer.

Butch instructing Patrice

For our first task, the back to the pile drill, I managed to get Tooey out of the holding blind, into heel position, and to the line without too much drama. She did try to leave the blind several times without permission, her first of several tests to see if I’d let her get away with any misbehavior. (No is the answer, but Tooey wanted to find out for herself.)

Patrice and Tooey at the line -- "Are you ready?"

Since the back to pile drill is a series of blind retrieves, I told her “Dead Bird,” said “Good!” when she pointed her nose in the right direction, and then sent off her with a “Back” command. Or at least I think I sent her. Perhaps she actually left a beat before I said “Back.” I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t know if I should correct her, so I let her go. And off she went, picked up a duck, and came happily back to me with it.

"Heel! Hold... good girl!" Tooey delivering a duck to Patrice -- their first one as a team

Thank you!

After retrieving 5 ducks from the back pile, we walked down to the lower field to do some marks. These were about 75 yard marks (where the dog gets to see the bird fall), and even included a live flyer and a real shotgun.

I did a couple of these with Tooey, but neither Tooey nor I were ready for this. She was so excited that, once again, she “forgot” her training. We got out of the holding blind and to the line just fine. But then, when Butch shot the gun and threw a bird, she leapt up with excitement instead staying butt-down in the heel position.

At least she's not gun shy or unenthused, eh?

I got her to sit, and then sent her out after the bird. Which she did with a lot of enthusiasm.

Tooey's got spirit!

And she's got good reach

In the photo below, Butch is standing next to the gunner’s blind, from which he just threw the bird. It’s about 75 yards from the line where I was waiting.

Oh her way back

Tooey with duck

Not all went perfectly. Turns out Tooey didn’t particularly want to pick up the live flyer (a flying duck shot out of the sky). Too warm, too fuzzy, too squishy, too flappy. She did pick it up though, brought it back part way, and dropped it. I reminded her to “Fetch.” Which she did, held it for several yards, and then dropped it again.

This is not the desired behavior. I didn’t know what to do to correct it, so Butch took over for the last several marks.

Tooey delivers the duck to Butch

It was a full day, and my head is stuffed in instructions about how to signal a heel, how to signal a sit, when to say “No!” and when to make this growling noise instead, how soon to say “Here,” what the count should be between “Dead bird” and “Back,” and how to move my body and arms while Tooey is coming back to the line with a bird.

So much to remember, and I have only just started. Tooey has 7 weeks on me, and with Cooper and Russ working so well together, I have a lot to live up to.

I’ll go back next week, and do it again.

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Tooey’s progress in pictures

Russ’s pictures do a great job of telling the story of Tooey’s training session at Parkdale Kennels today. So I’ll let them carry the tale:

Tooey waits her turn in the holding blind on a "place board"

Tooey has been called out of the blind and is heeling to the line with Butch

After having Tooey sit in heel position at the line, Butch sends her out to the pile of bumpers on a "Back" command

Tooey brings back a bumper from the pile of bumpers near the cone

Tooey coming back to Butch with the bumper

On another retrieve, Tooey recognizes Russ -- "Oh! I know him!"

Tooey still has to heel at Butch's side, though. "See, I'm a good girl. Can I go see Russ now?"

All done with training for today -- "Good girl!"

Finally, Tooey gets to say hi to "mom"

Tooey did some other stuff, too: whistle-sits (she’s mostly remembering to sit instead of lie down), overs (she’s got this down, in this field at least), a fun bumper, and hugs with Russ.

Four Labrador Retrivers and a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon worked the same set of drills as Tooey today: One Lab is farther along than Tooey, Tooey and two other Labs are at about the same level, and the last Lab and the Griffon had a frustrating time of it today.

And we heard tales of Tooey’s successfully working on a 6-position marking drill. (To read about this drill, go here and scroll down to “Diagram D — Thrower-Based Depth Drill”.) Marking is usually fun for retrievers because they get to see the object fall out of the sky before they go retrieve it. More on that later when I actually get to see it for myself.

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Add something new, confuse something old

At just over 5.5 weeks into training, Tooey’s doing a nice job on going to the back pile. When that’s all she’s doing, she’s got that down.

But now Butch has just added overs to the back pile drill. He’d already taught her the over command by itself, but adding it to the back to the pile drill is new. (It was just too cold and wet to keep videoing, so I’ll just explain it.) This is what he did:

As she went out to the back pile, Butch would throw a bumper over to the side. About the halfway mark of her return , he’s whistle once to direct her to sit facing him, and then use a hand signal to send her “over” to the side at a 90 degree angle to get the bumper he’d just thrown.

Tooey’s smart, and that got her into some trouble today. She figured out very quickly that Butch was in a rhythm of about 2 backs and, then on the 2nd return, would add in an over. So on every other return, she’d slow down while coming back in, anticipating that she’d get the whistle-sit.

The problem with that is that Tooey was thinking that she’d be rewarded for performing this new pattern, when instead, what we want to reward her for is following instructions. Once this became clear, Butch started varying the pattern. That got her confused, and Butch had to encourage her to come in when she slowed down (you can kind of see this slowing on the video during the return). At one point, when she got a whistle sit, she flopped into a down instead of sitting. She looked like a border collie, doing an instant down. Butch had to go out and show her what he wanted.

But then, she did it right! She came in, delivered the bumper, got a whole bunch of praise, some petting, and that’s where they stopped for the day.

This whole time, I was just sitting off to the side and watching. Butch set out a chair for me, and asked me to sit there. He’d mentioned that today I would just watch, and not interact with Tooey at all. Tooey didn’t see me while they were working, and my chair was upwind from them. Then, when all the beginning dogs were done at the back pile, we all went over to the back field, where Butch some of the more advanced dogs on marks and sight blinds. At that point, the dog truck was parked down wind from where I was standing, and I know Tooey realized I was there. She started wagging her tail and whining and doing this whisper bark. But since Butch had asked me not to interact with Tooey, I restrained myself from going over to the truck.

But then I got an unexpected treat. At the end of the session, we all went up back up the hill, and when we passed the entrance to the kennel, for some reason, Butch changed his mind, and let Tooey hop out of the truck to greet me.

There was no question that she recognized me. She was just as happy to see me as I was to see her — not only did she jump up on me, she burrowed up under my jacket and tried to get her head and shoulders as high up under my jacket as she could get them. I tried to take some pictures, but my fingers still had not thawed out from the horizontal rain, sleet, cold and wind. None of the photos turned out very well.

Tooey wet after training

Next Saturday is Christmas, so I won’t be going out that weekend. Looks like it’ll be another 2 weeks before I see my girl again. But I’ll check in with Butch in the meantime. He said he’s very happy with how she’s doing, and I trust him to know.

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Tooey celebrates 2!

Tooey turns 2 years old today, and to celebrate, she and Butch went out into the field to do some back-to-the-pile drills. Check it out:

We aren’t allowed to visit Tooey yet — too distracting! So I wasn’t there to ask the videographer to keep the camera going until Tooey delivered the bumper to Butch. Darn it!

But I’m so happy to see the video. We miss her horribly. And it’s wonderful to see her work with some alacrity.

She’s not a rocket like Cooper, but I am very pleased to see her going straight out to a bumper she can’t see, picking it up, and coming straight back.

After only 4 weeks of training, too. Good girl!

(And if you’re wondering what that black thing is that she’s jumping over, read this blog post.)

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Tooey at 3.5 weeks, or you can use anything in dog training

Today Tooey moved out of the kennel and got to train in the cool sunshine. Butch said she was doing a fine job of working the “back pile”: retrieving one duck at a time from a pile of ducks to which he had sent her.

The trick here is that Tooey had to run out straight away from Butch, jump over an infiltrator panel, and to the pile of ducks. Having gotten to the pile, she’s to pick up a duck, turn around, run back, jump back over the infiltrator panel, and arrive at Butch’s side to deliver the duck.

So, a) this is really encouraging to hear that Tooey is doing so well, and b) it’s a very inventive use of a thing normally unrelated to dog training.

Let’s start with b). What the heck is an infiltrator panel?

an example of an infiltrator panel

As near as I can tell, an infiltrator panel is a half-section of a perforated chamber that is used in constructing drain fields for septic systems. (I’m not going to pretend to understand this.) The panel in the picture above is 48″ long x 22″ wide x 12″ high, which is about what I remember from seeing one out at Parkdale last summer.

So, imagine this: The dog and handler are standing outside of the picture, many yards to the left, facing the long side of the panel. If we could see them, they’d be in profile, facing the right side of the picture. The pile of ducks would be also outside of the picture some yards to the right of the panel, low on the ground and so below the dog’s line of sight.

Ideally, when the dog goes out to the pile, she goes out straight and over the panel, not around it. This is something that takes training, though, because most dogs will prefer to go around the panel. This training is a first step in teaching the dog two things that are important in hunt tests and in hunting: to go out straight in the direction you’re sent, and to go out even though you may not be able to see the bird to which you’re directed.

And a)? Apparently, Tooey is doing really well. At 3.5 weeks at Parkdale, she’s doing work that the group ahead of her wasn’t doing until after 4 weeks. And this is the best part: she’s enjoying herself. Enjoying being outside, enjoying her success, enjoying Butch’s praise.

Butch warned me that later this task will get tedious. If she’s normal, Tooey will no doubt get bored with going over the panel again to get the darned duck or bumper again, over and over again.

Eventually, she’ll balk, and then she’ll be corrected. This will be another opportunity for her to learn that when directed out, you must go and get the bumper or bird regardless. But once she’s got that, she’ll be able to move up to the next thing, and enjoy that, too.

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2nd update on Tooey

Butch must have realized how much we have missed Tooey. He took a picture of her up on the training table today and sent it to us:

Tooey on the training table with duck

His description:
“This is her transition from pigeons to ducks.
It wasn’t what you would call silk smooth but successful.”

The training table at Parkdale Kennels is 16′ long, about 2′ wide, and table height off the ground. It includes a wire tether that goes along and above the length and is attached to the dog’s collar.

The table provides just enough room for a dog to walk down the length, pick up one or more objects, turn around, and come back. That keeps the dog’s mind focused on the task at paw (so to speak) — there is some freedom of movement, but not enough space to run off.

The fact that Tooey is on ducks now is wonderful. Just yesterday, she started on pigeons. And, I’m pretty sure this is the first duck that she’s picked up without having first gotten to jump into the water.

Tooey will do anything to get into the water, even bring back a duck. And she’s done that several times. (This previous post includes pictures of the last time.) So for Butch to get her to pick up a duck without that incentive is a very good sign.

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Tooey goes to gundog school

Boarding school for your pup is something I would not have endorsed a couple of years ago. But with experience and observing the results in Cooper, I changed my mind. Cooper is a much better companion because of his time at the Academy of Canine Behavior and a better hunter because of his 3 months at retriever boot camp. So now that Tooey is a show dog champion, it is time to move her full time into her training as a field dog.

For the last year in Cooper’s field training and hunt tests, I have been affiliated with the Lower Columbia Hunting Retriever Club. It has given me an opportunity to forge new relationships and friends, see lots of dogs work, and hone my own skills as a trainer. One club member, Butch Higgins, is a professional gundog trainer. His success with a variety of breeds and temperaments is a significant reason why we have decided that Tooey and Butch will be working together over the next few months.

Both Patrice and I have observed Butch at hunt tests, and the rapport between Butch and the dogs he is handling is very upbeat with a lot of tail wagging and a lot of positive communication taking place. This is not at the expense of high performance either. (Butch had 4 dogs this year pass all 6 days of the Master National Retriever Tests.) Plus, at the initial evaluation that Butch did with Tooey about a month ago, Tooey decided she likes Butch. So we anticipate that this should be a good fit.

Lesson One: "Watch Me"

Tooey’s very first training with Butch is pictured above. Butch walked her around the the lobby of Parkdale Kennels, and then encouraged her to sit in the chair and focus on him. Note that she is wearing a leash, but it is loose on the floor. This is all under his verbal control and encouragement. We should all be so relaxed with relative strangers.

Looking for that stash of office cookies

Tooey then decided that if this was going to be her home for a while, she should get to know the staff and her surroundings.

In about 2 months, Patrice will be making weekend trips to Parkdale (about 50 miles from home) to start learning how to be Tooey’s field handler. This will all be leading up to the hunt test season of 2011, so they can join Cooper and me in competing for those hunt test titles. Team Tooey will be testing for a Working Certificate this spring and hunt titles in the both the AKC and the HRC.

Blog posts about Tooey will probably be sparse for a couple of months, but as soon as Patrice and Tooey meet up again, she will probably be a very popular topic for Patrice.

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the beauty queen gets ready for duck camp

Tomorrow is almost here. It’s a day I’ve been waiting for, for months. The day before which I really, really wanted to get Tooey’s show championship.

Tomorrow is the day Tooey leaves for three months to work with Butch Higgins of Parkdale Kennels. He will teach her the finer points of heeling and sitting politely at heel, fetching up a bumper or duck (or whatever she’s been directed to fetch), and holding it in her mouth until directed to give it to the handler.

She’ll also learn to watch for ducks or bumpers to fall out of the sky and retrieve them, to go out to find bumpers or ducks that she hasn’t seen fall, and myriad other tasks required for hunting retrievers.

In thinking about Tooey’s sojourn at “duck camp,” I long ago decided that Tooey’s show coat had to come off beforehand. Tooey’s show coat is too long, much thicker than Cooper’s, and velcro-like in the presence of burrs, brambles, stickers, seeds, twigs, thorns, and other botanical debris. Trying to maintain a long, flowing show coat in the field is a time consuming pain in the butt.

Thankfully, Tooey got her show championship a couple of weekends ago, and yesterday her breeder got to see her in all her show glory. So today, finally, there was no longer any reason to keep the show coat on.

This evening, the show coat came off. Tooey now has a short, very comfy, easier-to-care-for ‘do. Cooper approves completely.

Cooper observing, Tooey getting trimmed

And besides, concentrating on the the trimming has so far kept me from feeling sad. From realizing just how much I’m going to miss Tooey while she’s gone.

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Picnic test at “duck camp”

Last Sunday, all four of us went to Parkdale Kennels for the LCHRC Fall Festival.

Cooper and Russ arrived in the morning, so Cooper could practice a Senior-level hunt test. He did a great job, Russ said. His only issue was “popping.” That’s when a dog, which has been given the command to go “Back,” stops before reaching the bird, and instead turns around to look at the handler for more  instructions.

Cooper’s been doing this pretty often recently, and Russ has been trying a number of ways to get him to just keep going. They haven’t always worked though, so Russ would sometimes finally have to give up and provide the additional command to go “Back!” On this day, however, Russ just stood there, mouth shut, and waited. Eventually, Cooper figured it out. He turned around, went out in the direction he’d been given in the first place, and got the bird.

Here’s the picture of Cooper that Russ posted on his Facebook page:

One commentor said about Cooper that “[s]omething down range has got his attention. Looks like he’s ready for blast off!”

Cooper is pretty much always ready for blast off, no matter what’s out there. This is what Cooper was looking at:

Cooper had been told to sit and stay, and that’s what he was doing. Good boy!

Later in the afternoon (after the Shelton dog show), Tooey and I arrived. Tooey was riveted by the whole proceedings: guns going off, birds and bumpers flying through the air, dogs retrieving.

Unlike Cooper, Tooey’s only reliable “sit and stay” occurs in the kitchen. Under stimulating conditions like this picnic test, I have to hold onto her collar and leash for dear life. If I didn’t, she’d have run right into somebody else’s practice test and stolen the bird. Bad form, but gratifying drive and birdiness.

We’re excited that Tooey seems so enthralled. It’ll stand her in good stead when she arrives again at Parkdale in November for her 3 months at “duck camp.”

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UKC Hunt Test Judging Seminar

While the Rose City Classic dog show was underway in Portland, I spent the weekend in Rainier, Oregon, participating in a seminar on how to run and judge a UKC Hunt Test. The seminar was hosted by the Lower Columbia Hunt Retriever Club (a UKC affiliate) and held on the grounds of Parkdale Kennels. The regional representative from the Hunt Retriever Club (UKC) gave a classroom session on Saturday. On Sunday we moved outdoors and the group designed a trial for all three levels: Started, Seasoned, and Finished. As the Oregon winter rain flowed from the sky, everyone was in their mandatory water proof camo clothing (see page 8 of the rule book) as we placed the bird launchers and discussed the tactics.

Judges establishing the rules for a Finished UKC Hunt test

In the advanced trial (Finished) of the UKC, a dog must “honor” the retrieve of another dog. This means it needs to sit quietly, unrestrained, while guns are firing and the other dogs are working the course. A feature that distinguishes the UKC hunt trial from an AKC, is the handler of the dog also shoots at the birds while his or her dog sits. This is to simulate real hunting conditions. Below is Butch from Parkdale Kennels with one of his Labs and Earl, the Boykin Spaniel, sitting by in a good honor.

Shooting over a Lab while a Boykin honors

And one more important distinction between the UKC and AKC retriever hunt tests is which dogs are allowed to compete. The UKC is open to more breeds and mixes as it is focused on the hunting experience and less on maintaining the arbitrary “Purebred” experience. One such example is the Boykin Spaniel, a very versatile retrieving dog that is not much larger than some ducks. Pictured below is “Earl”, from Deer Island, Oregon. He is a top champion who competes at the national level in the UKC Grand series. In the world of Labs, it is great to see a 25 lb. dog zoom out 200 yards straight to the bird. And with all this talent, Earl is not eligible for an AKC retriever hunting test.

The Duke of Earl, a champion Boykin Spaniel

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