I have been very
active in field trials since about 2000,
the main reason is that I love many
things about the sport. Mostly I
love watching the dogs perform in a
venue that highlights their natural
instincts. I am always amazed when
I watch a dog go out into the field and
perform at a level that seems to exceed
all expectations. So you might say
that I am addicted to the search for
that kind of performance, that one great
memorable experience that will live in
my mind’s eye forever.
The other reason that we field trial our
dogs is that it gives us a chance to
compare the results of our breeding
program against other dogs in
competition. It is important for
any breeder to compare their dogs next
to others, it gives real relevant feed
back that we can take back to our
program and make adjustments as needed.
After all breeders should be willing to
look at what they are producing and be
realistic as to the actual results that
are being produced. So it is this
aspect of field trialing that I find
most valuable in determining the
direction of our breeding program.
Now many hunters that are looking for
dogs will shy away from field trial dogs
as they have the misconception that they
are all run off dogs that are too hot
for a foot hunter. In our
program, we hunt every one of our dogs
off of foot on wild valley quail, wild
chuckar, and wild pheasant-period!
We use field trial dogs as our breeding
stock, because they are the best bird
dogs that we can get our hands on and
they are proven in the field. The
way that a dog hunts is mainly due to
the methods and expectations of the
trainer/handler of the dog. We
believe that the best indicator to
success in the field is to start with
smart, athletic, driven bird dogs that
have been proven in the field. The
only way that we can guarantee our dogs
for life is by using the absolute best
in proven field dogs.