With the National Championships currently underway in Tennessee, why isnt there more chatter about it? There are still some really good dogs coming up in the next couple days. Does anyone have any favorites? Anyone ever been?

I am rooting for Prairieland Pride. He is my dogs sire, so I have a bit of a bias.

Its hard not to love those White dogs.

I like Gamemaker. He seems to be in the mix every year. I am headed there the last weekend of the trial so hopefully i will be able to see him run.

Erin’s Bad River had 2 finds and a stop to flight on a steady forward race. Finished the 3 hours.
Barshoe Busy suffered 2 unproductives. Up at :57.


Partly Cloudy; breezy.
Hihgrond Jax Jabba (setter) had three finds and finished the three hours.
Phantom's Last Dime was lost; tracking device requested at the hour mark.


Overcast, 55º
Prairieland Pride had four finds and an unproductive. Finished the three hours.Erin's Stoney River picked up at 2:55.

Only 14 of 41 dogs have hit the ground and these are the ones with bird work and who finifhed the 3 hours. Lesters Snowatch (2009 Champ)
and white Powder Pete are on the ground now or just finished and are a couple of darn good animals. Long way to go but Pride is in the judges books right now.

When I lived in Atlanta I road a couple of braces in 2000 when Marques Gold Rush won it but didn't see the winner run. It's quite a show. Have always wanted to go and ride most of it but it runs into a third or forth week and could never get the time off. I have a pup who's grandad is running in the 17th brace (Elhew Sinbad) so he's the one I'm pulling for but always pull for Robin Gates as well.

Someone post the link.

I dont think four finds is gonna do it. Im guessing 6-8 finds will win it. I wish i was there to see it. I have never been but i am planning on going.

You could be right, there are years when birds are hard to come by and last year In The Shadow had 10 finds. Since they started releaseing birds the finds have picked up quite a bit. But the courses are tight in spots and lots thick cover to the sides where birds can get hard to find, and dogs on point too.

i like strut if he is there, my boy is a son of strut. looks just like him

Tri-color? I like the looks of strut. I believe he is at Ames.

Lesters Snowatch had 5 finds 2 backs and 1 up. I believe he set the bar now.

Here ya go Bill

http://www.amesplantation.org/field-trial/2011%20national/synopsis.asp

The Ames board has Snowatch with 4 finds 2 backs 1 Up but no word on race and finish. Whit Powder Pete had 2 or 3 finds but was picked up after 90 min. The key along with finds is all age race and the way a dog finishes the 3 hours. Only a couple of dogs so far were said to have had strong forward races. Don't know what that means without more eye witness reports but sounds like some with birds may be short on race. The National is an all age championship but the course requires some handle to get around cleanly, just tight enough that it takes a great dog, scout and handler.

Pete was having a good run through the 90 min mark but came up limping and was picked up.

The quail decline in that area is unreal. The stud to my first pointer, pointed 34 coveys when he won.

The decline there is no more unreal than it is here.

What dog would that be Bill?

Both dogs in the AM brace picked up. I'd be interested in what dog you first pup was out of also, Bill.

Ch. Wayriel Allegheney Sport 495832 14-146-729

Handled by Herman Smith.

Here are some excerpts from an interview of Herman Smith by Robert Halverson;

"Sport must havd edcided that I was going to kill him if he didn't do things my way, because he suddenly settled down. Before the month was up I had him handling kindly and dropped birds right in front of his points. I didn't have to teach him to back. He'd do that naturally as far as he could see another dog on point.

"Well sir I went to the National full of confidence, and as the record shows. I won that trial without any question. Sport found so many birdsthat I even sent him on several times when he showed signs that he might have game.

Sport was a magnificent animal, althought too much dog for the average hunter working small fields on foot."

Anyone remember D Hoyle Eaton and a dog called Riggens White Knight. If I am not mistakened he found 21 or 23 coveys in his brace. By the way he (Riggens White Knight) lived in the house with the Eaton's. His call name was Bud; he was said to be a great pet along with a great bird dog.

I think Miller's dogs had White Knight breeding in there somewhere.

Wayriel Allegheney Sport was a craker jack of a bird dog. I recieved this in a letter some time ago from a fellow who's dad bred a fine dog to him. And your right he did find a mess of birds. His recollection is as follows.

"Sport had 18 finds that day, but I do recall he took the last one out like a puppy and they still gave it to him. My dad shipped a b###h off to breed to him that spring. Got some sure-enough bird finders out of a cross to a Lexington Jake female."

Memories is a tricky thing but dang 34 coveys is one every 5 min without allowin for finding the dog, flushing for him, collaring him and leading him back on course. But no doubt it was one for the ages by a HOF dog.

I believe Strut runs in the morning...........Good luck

Mr Eaton was one of the best, his winners at Ames included Red Water Rex (my fav), Millers White cloud, Rex's Cherokee Jake, some of the best birddogs and producers of all time.

You must be an old fa@t, he won that thing in 1957.

My first dog had Red water Rex, Riggins white night, home again mike, and Arkansa Ranger in her 5 generation ped. 3 of my present dogs go back to her. I have a current dog whose dad. Is laws high noon who won aimes without a single find and her grand dad is millers online. She is now 5 and for the first 3 years it was a chore to keep her in the same zip code.

Their was an article about doyle in gun dog 4 to 10 years ago and listed his number. I called him and talked dogs for an hour or better. He was a real gentlemen with me.

Speaking of zip code!!! It's really a shame. I'm not in the market for a pup now, but if I were, I wouldn't take a pup by any of those AA champions. They were the foundation stock for many of our shooting dogs today. I wonder how they are placing all their pups.

Both dogs in the afternoon brace picked up.

Those AA dogs are the dads and grandads for most all our good ones. The difference today is the ground between AA dogs and Shooting dogs is shrinking. Very few true AA grounds around anymore, and the ground that is being used is tighter than the old days. A dog has to have some handle to get around, even at Ames. More and more shooting dogs are running in allage stakes and vis versa. Elhew Sinbad will run in the 17th brace and is not from a total AA lineage but rather a shooting dog background. The difference is being blurred so taking a pup from say In The Shadow can be a matter of the way the pup is broke and the kind of cover he first encounters. They aren't all runoffs anymore (most of them anyway).

With IE we will be able to get sons and daughters of all the current great dogs for many years to come. I have a good friend that has a son of gaurdrail that is 2 years old and I have one of his pups that is 6 months.