Finalists Interviews |
by Ken McCartney an avid Field Trialer
DAY EIGHT: Down to my last pair of clean pants. We made it this year without laundering.
16 dogs back to suffer the ninth and earn a chance to finish. I would suppose it will take a double handle or a really outright failure to be denied. And there will be an unfortunate or two. There usually is. Fourteen have not handled by my unofficial count.
The N’s are all gone.
Two women, 14 men. Nine bitches, seven males. One chocolate male, one yellow male, one yellow female, one Golden male, and the rest black..
Meet the players:
John Gunn, from Canada, with Boomer (6), the Golden in the group, who will be eight in October. Boomer handled in the eighth. This is John’s fourth US national. He has run three different dogs in US N’s, two Goldens and one Black Lab. Boomer is completely amateur trained and runs a dozen or so US trials a year. John also competes in Canada where Boomer has both titles. His wife Janice has finished two obedience titles on Boomer, Canadian OTCH and UD in the US.
Fred Kampo with Woody (10), Woody will be six in September. Fred is going to have hip replacement surgery when he gets home. This is Fred’s 20th anniversary running nationals. His first was here in McCall. He has run five dogs in nationals, been a finalist once and won an NFC. He recalls a couple 9th series failures and one break in the eighth. He bought Woody from Mac and Lynn DuBose who could not call him Whitey in North Carolina. Woody is trained by Mike Lardy. He is a terrific house dog and shows lots of spunk getting to the line, but settles in well when he goes to work.
Jack Vollstedt with Molly (29), Molly will be seven next March. She amassed 70 derby point and finished second on the Derby list and has been a solid performer her whole career. Amazingly, Molly averages just under three all age points per trial. Jack’s other dog was dropped in the eighth, Peaches (75) is out of a sister to Molly and was the high point derby dog the year after Molly’s second place finish. Both dogs live in the house, watch TV, and have never been away from Jack and Florence’s home. Jack’s first national was here in McCall 24 years ago. He has finished 10 since then. This could be Molly’s third. Jack has run nationals with five different dogs. His training group 24 years ago included Sal Gelardi, Grady and Dana Istre, and Don and Betsy Remien. I joined that group four years later. Molly won a derby and an open the same weekend while she was 17 months old and was the youngest dog in the derby that weekend.
Sal Gelardi with Telli (37), Telli turned four last month. As a three year old she amassed five wins, 3 Open, 2 Amt. Sal is folk lore in the game. Between 1971 and 1983 he ran dozens of nationals and finished several. He is admired as a judge and competitor alike. He retired from dogs in 1983 and this dog generated enough excitement to bring him back. Sal has run nationals with three different dogs. This experience is especially sweet for Sal, in addition to coming out of retirement as a dog trainer, his 27 year old son co-owns the dog and they are training her together. Ryan is here with Sal where they enjoyed father’s day and two birthdays.
Tim Coulson with Nitro (38) who will be nine in August. Nitro has sired four derby dogs on this year’s lists and is not finished yet. Nitro is Tim’s first National competitor. They have run 8 nationals. This will be Nitro’s last trial. Tim qualified a second dog this year Blaze (96). Nitro handled in the first. Tim says to hell with the gold watch he wants Nitro to have the long green ribbon for his retirement memento. Nitro has 6 open wins and 6 amateur wins and around 500 puppies. There will be more puppies.
Esther McCartney with Gypsy (40) who will be five in December. This is Esther’s third qualified dog with especially sweet credentials. Esther and Gypsy had three wins this spring and Gypsy is coming off of a year of anterior crutiate repair and rehab. She is under $400 per all age point in vet expense only because she is gaining points quickly. Esther feels that just being here with this dog is an out of body experience. I had to read Esther the call backs. I had to read Esther the call backs ten times!
Lynne DuBose with Chica (41), turned seven last month. What can be said about Lynne? She and Judy Aycock are members of a very exclusive club—two national wins by lady handlers. Lynne did it with a father daughter team. Her first National was here 20 years ago. She has run 7 dogs in nationals. Chica is her favorite and probably here best. Chica has three double headers, one just as she turned three years old. There are plans for puppies but none yet. Lynne feels strongly that Chica is able to perform only because of the rehabilitory treatment she has received from several injuries from John Sherman DVM of Raleigh North Carolina, a field trailer that saw the need for this sort of medical treatment.
Charlie Hines with Candy (50) who turned eight in March and Ranger (77) who will be four in October and is still the youngest survivor. Charlie led all comers with four qualified dogs for this trial. He had four out with injuries last year. Charlie ran his first national in 1993. He has competed in nationals with eight different dogs. And been a finalist one time before today, with Candy who qualified that time at 25 month’s of age. He would have guessed that his dog (50) would have been here had you asked him before the trial. His Cody (97) is the dam of Charlie’s (56) and (77) as well as John Russell’s (86).
George Francis with Jake (53) who turned seven last month is one of the two first timers still in contention. We just met and I am getting to like this guy. He has a nice dog. Amateur owned and trained he picked up 10 point this spring while finishing 7of 8 starts and looked good training the week before the trial started. George comes to us from hunt dog tests. Jake is a Master Hunter and a Grand Master Nahra competitor. I am glad to see our membership bolstered by younger people from hunt tests. We definitely need that.
Ted Shih with Zowie (55) who turned two five in February. The other rookie still playing, Ted is well schooled form Cherylon Loveland’s camp. Ted is ecstatic about being here with his first dog. He raised Zowie from a puppy. His prior sport was snow boarding where free riding is a term used for those who travel the whole mountain. His kennel name abbreviates that phrase.
Randy Bohn with Chili (62) who will be five in December. Chili is Randy’s first dog. They qualified in the fall of 2001, for the first time and have finished one N open and One N amt. His wife Mindy helps train and run the dog. Chilie had six puppies in March and has taken well to training since the litter. Randy’s first field trial every, was in June of 1997.
Charles P. Tyson with Rider (69) who will be six in October and is the chocolate in the group. This is Charles 15th national start with 3 dogs. His first was in 1992. That was also remarkably his first year in field trials. Rider’s formative years were spent with Don Remien. Rider hunts pheasants and ducks and splits time between the house and kennel.
F. Lee Jolly with Peg (73) who turned seven in March. Peg is a litter mate to Molly(29). Lee got her at about 14 months, hence no Cajun influence in the name. She has about 70 all age points. Lee trains some with Mark Smith who did basics with Peg. He has qualified 14 or 15 times with three different dogs and been a finalist one time. His first national qualification was in 1994. Peg comes in with 2 Amt wins, one Open win, and an Open third. Lee considers Peg very willing and is proud of her trying.
John Russell with Rose (92) the oldest player. she will be 10 in November. John is the perennial voting member of the NARC board as secretary treasure. That gives him a lot of responsibility.
Glen Lokey with Teal (104 ) a yellow female who will turn seven later this month. Teal got hot last fall and rounded up 17 Open points on the way to an FC and qualifying for everything. Kenny Trott helped this pair reach their peak. Glen did Teal’s basics and finished a Master Hunter title before starting field trials. She is his first trial dog and this is the first national in whi8ch he he has run her. She ran last year’s NRC with Kenny Trott.
The ninth:
I had to scrape frost off the wind shield this AM and the gallery was all wearing coats as number 78 started at 8:40 this am. I doubt anyone wanted a flying hen pheasant in the dew soaked tall grass to be the determinative issue for the finalists but there it was coupled with two tough placements and retired birds. Number 77 was the first to handle. Several big hunts took place.
The line was on hay bails for added elevation. The dogs were helped by it, but it was not easy for Fred Campo and it spooked his dog Woody.Dog 37 had such a pretty job yesterday that I am watching her for the possible win. In the eighth she channeled a bit to long on the channel cross over to the left hand bird after good right and middle work, then hunted from short enough to concern us all about a go back before she worked on out to get the right hand bird. There were better jobs there, but I did not see anyone beat her work in the seventh.
16 dogs back to suffer the ninth and earn a chance to finish. I would suppose it will take a double handle or a really outright failure to be denied. And there will be an unfortunate or two. There usually is. Fourteen have not handled by my unofficial count.
The N’s are all gone.
Two women, 14 men. Nine bitches, seven males. One chocolate male, one yellow male, one yellow female, one Golden male, and the rest black..
Meet the players:
John Gunn, from Canada, with Boomer (6), the Golden in the group, who will be eight in October. Boomer handled in the eighth. This is John’s fourth US national. He has run three different dogs in US N’s, two Goldens and one Black Lab. Boomer is completely amateur trained and runs a dozen or so US trials a year. John also competes in Canada where Boomer has both titles. His wife Janice has finished two obedience titles on Boomer, Canadian OTCH and UD in the US.
Fred Kampo with Woody (10), Woody will be six in September. Fred is going to have hip replacement surgery when he gets home. This is Fred’s 20th anniversary running nationals. His first was here in McCall. He has run five dogs in nationals, been a finalist once and won an NFC. He recalls a couple 9th series failures and one break in the eighth. He bought Woody from Mac and Lynn DuBose who could not call him Whitey in North Carolina. Woody is trained by Mike Lardy. He is a terrific house dog and shows lots of spunk getting to the line, but settles in well when he goes to work.
Jack Vollstedt with Molly (29), Molly will be seven next March. She amassed 70 derby point and finished second on the Derby list and has been a solid performer her whole career. Amazingly, Molly averages just under three all age points per trial. Jack’s other dog was dropped in the eighth, Peaches (75) is out of a sister to Molly and was the high point derby dog the year after Molly’s second place finish. Both dogs live in the house, watch TV, and have never been away from Jack and Florence’s home. Jack’s first national was here in McCall 24 years ago. He has finished 10 since then. This could be Molly’s third. Jack has run nationals with five different dogs. His training group 24 years ago included Sal Gelardi, Grady and Dana Istre, and Don and Betsy Remien. I joined that group four years later. Molly won a derby and an open the same weekend while she was 17 months old and was the youngest dog in the derby that weekend.
Sal Gelardi with Telli (37), Telli turned four last month. As a three year old she amassed five wins, 3 Open, 2 Amt. Sal is folk lore in the game. Between 1971 and 1983 he ran dozens of nationals and finished several. He is admired as a judge and competitor alike. He retired from dogs in 1983 and this dog generated enough excitement to bring him back. Sal has run nationals with three different dogs. This experience is especially sweet for Sal, in addition to coming out of retirement as a dog trainer, his 27 year old son co-owns the dog and they are training her together. Ryan is here with Sal where they enjoyed father’s day and two birthdays.
Tim Coulson with Nitro (38) who will be nine in August. Nitro has sired four derby dogs on this year’s lists and is not finished yet. Nitro is Tim’s first National competitor. They have run 8 nationals. This will be Nitro’s last trial. Tim qualified a second dog this year Blaze (96). Nitro handled in the first. Tim says to hell with the gold watch he wants Nitro to have the long green ribbon for his retirement memento. Nitro has 6 open wins and 6 amateur wins and around 500 puppies. There will be more puppies.
Esther McCartney with Gypsy (40) who will be five in December. This is Esther’s third qualified dog with especially sweet credentials. Esther and Gypsy had three wins this spring and Gypsy is coming off of a year of anterior crutiate repair and rehab. She is under $400 per all age point in vet expense only because she is gaining points quickly. Esther feels that just being here with this dog is an out of body experience. I had to read Esther the call backs. I had to read Esther the call backs ten times!
Lynne DuBose with Chica (41), turned seven last month. What can be said about Lynne? She and Judy Aycock are members of a very exclusive club—two national wins by lady handlers. Lynne did it with a father daughter team. Her first National was here 20 years ago. She has run 7 dogs in nationals. Chica is her favorite and probably here best. Chica has three double headers, one just as she turned three years old. There are plans for puppies but none yet. Lynne feels strongly that Chica is able to perform only because of the rehabilitory treatment she has received from several injuries from John Sherman DVM of Raleigh North Carolina, a field trailer that saw the need for this sort of medical treatment.
Charlie Hines with Candy (50) who turned eight in March and Ranger (77) who will be four in October and is still the youngest survivor. Charlie led all comers with four qualified dogs for this trial. He had four out with injuries last year. Charlie ran his first national in 1993. He has competed in nationals with eight different dogs. And been a finalist one time before today, with Candy who qualified that time at 25 month’s of age. He would have guessed that his dog (50) would have been here had you asked him before the trial. His Cody (97) is the dam of Charlie’s (56) and (77) as well as John Russell’s (86).
George Francis with Jake (53) who turned seven last month is one of the two first timers still in contention. We just met and I am getting to like this guy. He has a nice dog. Amateur owned and trained he picked up 10 point this spring while finishing 7of 8 starts and looked good training the week before the trial started. George comes to us from hunt dog tests. Jake is a Master Hunter and a Grand Master Nahra competitor. I am glad to see our membership bolstered by younger people from hunt tests. We definitely need that.
Ted Shih with Zowie (55) who turned two five in February. The other rookie still playing, Ted is well schooled form Cherylon Loveland’s camp. Ted is ecstatic about being here with his first dog. He raised Zowie from a puppy. His prior sport was snow boarding where free riding is a term used for those who travel the whole mountain. His kennel name abbreviates that phrase.
Randy Bohn with Chili (62) who will be five in December. Chili is Randy’s first dog. They qualified in the fall of 2001, for the first time and have finished one N open and One N amt. His wife Mindy helps train and run the dog. Chilie had six puppies in March and has taken well to training since the litter. Randy’s first field trial every, was in June of 1997.
Charles P. Tyson with Rider (69) who will be six in October and is the chocolate in the group. This is Charles 15th national start with 3 dogs. His first was in 1992. That was also remarkably his first year in field trials. Rider’s formative years were spent with Don Remien. Rider hunts pheasants and ducks and splits time between the house and kennel.
F. Lee Jolly with Peg (73) who turned seven in March. Peg is a litter mate to Molly(29). Lee got her at about 14 months, hence no Cajun influence in the name. She has about 70 all age points. Lee trains some with Mark Smith who did basics with Peg. He has qualified 14 or 15 times with three different dogs and been a finalist one time. His first national qualification was in 1994. Peg comes in with 2 Amt wins, one Open win, and an Open third. Lee considers Peg very willing and is proud of her trying.
John Russell with Rose (92) the oldest player. she will be 10 in November. John is the perennial voting member of the NARC board as secretary treasure. That gives him a lot of responsibility.
Glen Lokey with Teal (104 ) a yellow female who will turn seven later this month. Teal got hot last fall and rounded up 17 Open points on the way to an FC and qualifying for everything. Kenny Trott helped this pair reach their peak. Glen did Teal’s basics and finished a Master Hunter title before starting field trials. She is his first trial dog and this is the first national in whi8ch he he has run her. She ran last year’s NRC with Kenny Trott.
The ninth:
I had to scrape frost off the wind shield this AM and the gallery was all wearing coats as number 78 started at 8:40 this am. I doubt anyone wanted a flying hen pheasant in the dew soaked tall grass to be the determinative issue for the finalists but there it was coupled with two tough placements and retired birds. Number 77 was the first to handle. Several big hunts took place.
The line was on hay bails for added elevation. The dogs were helped by it, but it was not easy for Fred Campo and it spooked his dog Woody.Dog 37 had such a pretty job yesterday that I am watching her for the possible win. In the eighth she channeled a bit to long on the channel cross over to the left hand bird after good right and middle work, then hunted from short enough to concern us all about a go back before she worked on out to get the right hand bird. There were better jobs there, but I did not see anyone beat her work in the seventh.
