It’s always cool when big newspapers carry stories about bird dogs and field trials, especially positive stories. Today’s New York Times published this piece by James Card about the 2010 National Championship at the Ames Plantation:
GRAND JUNCTION, Tenn. — The competitors arrived at the historic Ames Plantation in pickup trucks with built-in dog kennels, pulling gooseneck trailers hauling saddle horses. After a year of crisscrossing the country, the holy grail of their sport was at last in reach for the owners of 39 of the best bird-hunting dogs in North America.
The National Championship for Field Trialing Bird Dogs, first held here in western Tennessee in 1896, determines the continent’s most elite canine athlete. On Tuesday, In the Shadow, an English pointer owned by Carl Bowman of Louisville, Ky., and handled by Robin Gates, was named the 111th champion after an event lasting two weeks in which he competed on the third day….
Read the whole article now in the New York Times.
The winner of the 2010 National Champioship is In the Shadow, an English Pointer male. You can read more about In the Shadow’s and his winning run here.
