First- I am very impressed with your website. There are so many nooks and crannys to get very interesting information.
Second- Your passion and pride about quality dogs in general just comes through. I think a casual observer would develop a passion for bird hunting by merely visiting your website.
Third- Your long history with these dogs is very impressive. From your family to what appears to be a life-long interest in these dogs is inspiring.
Fourth- You have shown tedious attention to details that range from style of dog to breeding to color to temperment etc.
Lastly... I want a pup. Does this get me a discount? LOL I have called a couple of times and you are probably tired of talking to me but I am ready for the commitment. My son is almost 10 years old and I can't wait until he helps train his first dog, sees his first covey flush and shoots his first bird. I'm probably more exicited than he is but once it happens I know he will love it. Save a male for me if possible.
I see that there are several field trial associations such as:
NAGDA
NATHA
NBDCA
AFTCO
NSTRA
NBHA
I know some field trials are geared toward horseback and some are geared toward walking hunters. Which of these associations are most popular in Oklahoma? Which trials are most common in Oklahoma? Since I don't have a horse, which are walking only? And from looking at the various websites, the champions that come from this kennel are champions in which type of competition? These are beginner questions but I just don't know much about field trials.
By the way, I clicked on your name for some reason and I saw your email address was linked to directway. The funny thing is, we are on dial-up here because we are kind of in the country. For the past week, I have been asking my wife to get with Directway for internet service because my company will pay for this so I can work from my computer at home. Are you involved in sat. internet? Just kind of a wild conicidence!
Jon, I also live out in the country so the only high speed Internet option was satellite. Like most other things with living in the country, you will pay a little more for Direcway service than you would if you lived in a town where DSL or something else was available. But heck, if your work will pay for it what's a little extra cost? I highly recommend Direcway, or at least until something else comes along to compete with it.
By the way, I live in McAlester, just about 1.5 hrs south of you.
Jon....Thank you for your kind words. It's hard to belive how much "stuff" I do have on my web site. It has definately grown over the years. I am in the process of searching for video that I took years ago of some dogs, CH. Slate Creek Doc, Elhew Sun Dancer and some others that I will eventually put on the web site as video clips. Sorry for those with dial-up, it won't work too well if at all.
As far as the field trials, I am only personally familiar with NBHA, ABHA and NSTRA. These are the only field trial venues that I have been to. These are all "walking" field trails, and I definately use the term walking quite loosely. Most are actually conducted in a very fast walk or slow jog....right Neal!
We have a few fellas that visit the forum that are well versed in field trails, mostly walking trialers but there are a few from horseback. Hopefully they can share some thoughts.
Hopefully everyone has seen the changes that I made on the site by adding the Terriers.....
"Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it."
Neal...I agree completely with you. If both you and the dog you're running aren't hustling your butt off for 30 minutes you just gave a chance for someone else to knock you off the top of the heap.
I personally do not know of anyone that works harder at a trial than Neal Purdy.
He has alot of "hardware" he has collected over the years to prove all that "fast walking" pays off. Oh, and by the way, the dogs he takes to the trials are no sloutches either!
Neal you need to use this as a quote that shows up on every post you make, like the quote I use from Lee Iacocca. After you log in you should see a formatted text signature at the bottom, click on it and type your new quote in.
"Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it."
When looking at puppies.......
If an ancestor that has positive traits has for example black markings, would future puppies with black markings be more prone to have other traits of that ancestor?
In other words, do these dogs pass down genetics in "groups" that would give a hint that if the dog has black markings he will probably be similar to his black ancestor and if he has orange markings he will probably be like his orange ancestor?
I suspect the "canned" answer will be that all individual traits are separate and random. As a result, color could not be used as a indication of what traits the dog picked up from his ancestor. However, has anyone noticed a trend? Have people used this trend in the past to no avail?
On a different subject, I haven't hunted in about 10 years. We have had 4 (1 boy and 3 girls) children during this period and I have been busy with them. Now that the children have grown up some, I will have more time to take care of and hunt a dog. I have a few private areas I can hunt in NE Okla. There are also some public hunting lands. From what I have heard, quail are scarce in this part of Okla. If we have a hard time finding wild birds, I have considered doing field trials. This will keep me, son and dog active. I talked to an old-timer that loves to hunt quail and he said the people at these trials are a "pain in the rear". (He actually said more than that but I won't pass that on.) I would like some feedback on how a newcomer would be accepted. How hard are the rules to learn? Can dogs easily hunt both wild birds and participate in these trials? From several sources, I get the feeling that a dog is either suited for field trials OR wild bird hunting. Is this true? If so, what qualities make up a field trial dog and what qualities would be different about hunting wild birds?
I went to the regional NSTRA field trial for several hours today and had a good time. I also met some great people and saw lots of dogs work. I think I was mis-informed about the climate at the field trials. Good stuff.....
Jon....I just found out some information regarding some walking field trials. As I have expressed before, Yes I did run some field trails in the early 90's...No I do not run at any type of field trial anymore. Alot of my "disillusionment” came from the political aspects as well as, in my opinion, the excessive range required to place in a walking trial.
The political side was what I would call, a form of being “Pencil Whipped” by judges who had ulterior motives. That being a type of “you scratch my back at this trial, I’ll scratch yours at the next one.” Granted this goes on all the time, in our everyday lives but given my choice, I would NOT willfully put myself in that position. The other problem I had with many of the “walking” trials I attended was the dog’s range. There was no way that what I was seeing could in any way be construed as a range suited for a man walking/hunting birds. Most of this problem came from the selection of the judges. Many of whom were from Horseback field trials, so of course they would be partial and gravitate towards the bigger running dogs. Now you can see that both of these afore mentioned aspects stem from a “Judgment” perspective and no, this is not sour grapes on my part….I have my plaques on the wall that prove that I did win/place sometimes.
The new information that I am hearing about involves both good and bad new for the respective field trials venues. The bad news that I am hearing is in regard to the NBHA, where there is a list of 29 mind you…29 people that qualify under the status of Handicapped. From what I gather this means that they, the “handicapped”, are able to run their dog in a “walking” trial off of a horse. I don’t know but they may even be able to possibly do this against a non-handicapped participant, who must then walk. Who is really the handicapped person in this scenario…. the guy walking, believe me. Granted, I have no idea what this really means and I am sure that there are probably some that need to ride a horse but 29….come on, It sounds like some nursing home fraternity for field trailers. Now listen I am not here to ruffle anyone’s feathers or start throwing rocks anyone’s way, but this sounds quite laughable to me. I expect something is going to give in regards to this matter, and I suspect some boys are gonna be walking again….
The good new comes from the ABHA, where I’ve been told that those big running dogs are no longer the dog that wins and that they actually use 4-wheelers and/or gators/mules to allow the gallery to ride along for a look-see. Back in the days when I was running some of these trials, if you didn’t have a horse and wanted to see a dog run, you better lace up your boots good and get to hoofin’ it ‘cause the “fast walk” was about to commence.
Let me re-iterate….
(1ST.) I don’t go to field trials so this information is not gained from 1st hand knowledge, although it was shared with me from a veteran field trialer/judge of three trail venues, NSTRA – NBHA – ABHA.
(2ND.) I am not trying to discourage anyone from running in a field trial, it can be and should be a lot of fun as well as informative.
(3rd.) ….I personally do not care, more so, I could care less, who rides a horse or who doesn’t…it just seems to me though that if it’s OK for a few, it should be OK for all. Just my two cents…
"Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it."
