Play for cash!!!

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Originally Posted by kurt a

the only reward is a ribbon and personal satisfaction.

I know i'll get some Flack for this but i'm sure it's crossed your mind before.

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The personal satisfaction should not only be enough, but should be the primary goal (at least for owner trainers).

Have never seen a trial. Aren't trials a direct competition with actual winners? If one wished to introduce money into the equation, couldn't one start a calcutta at a trial? (Surely some of that takes place). Have photographed many team ropings where they ran calcuttas. Seems pretty common in that sport. One could also point out that amateur rodeo makes the dog game look like a poor man's sport (and few dog gamers incur emergency room fees or life altering injuries). All sports have their costs. Very few people involved in any sport are good enough to earn enough to make their participation pay. What do folks pay to play golf? How many Tiger Woods are out there?
As for me, can't afford to play even in the HT game, and am not really interested in that anyway. I have gotten my dogs (one at a time) to be my buddies and hunting companions, and have trained them myself (that's where the personal satisfaction comes in) and have enjoyed having them work with me in the field. (NO ribbons, no applause, a few handshakes from hunting buddies, and wouldn't have it any other way).

how about going to a team roping event and a chance at 100,000 or a brand new horse trailer or new truck, average joes win these events all the time you don't have to be rich to compete. i loved going to a jackpot roping or rodeo and winning a check or a buckle, and when i lost i worked harder to win! we don't just go to the practice pen to rope steers and cheer everytime somebody caught clean and call it good, we practice to win. that said it's not that i don't love training dogs because i do, it's very satisfying to to shoot a duck or pheasant and get compliments on how well your dog works. I would like an event to have a little more meaning for your hard work and investment, not that i want to get rich doing it but something is better than nothing.

The events are out there. SRS Super Retriever Series is ran for Money-Prizes, If I recall correctly they have both an Amateur and Open Division, as of This Year they have a Team Division, pay out can be pretty good depending on the event. Get to the Crown and placements, can result in big items, $$$$, trucks, etc. Some of the duck clubs around here have a few fun events, of pointer versus retrievers, timed shoot and retrieve trials, etc. they're ran for bragging right and sometimes have a payout, very akin to a pot-shoot. If you can find a Club putting on a Calcuta, they also have a pot. Mostly competitive fun events. The long and short of it is if there's a sport to be had there's someone betting on it, money does add a little spice but bragging rights last forever ;)

I have no problem competing in trials without a cash prize but wouldnt mind entering an event that you could win some buck in too. Put something together Kurt I'll come play.

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Originally Posted by kurt a

how about going to a team roping event and a chance at 100,000 or a brand new horse trailer or new truck, average joes win these events all the time you don't have to be rich to compete. i loved going to a jackpot roping or rodeo and winning a check or a buckle, and when i lost i worked harder to win! we don't just go to the practice pen to rope steers and cheer everytime somebody caught clean and call it good, we practice to win. that said it's not that i don't love training dogs because i do, it's very satisfying to to shoot a duck or pheasant and get compliments on how well your dog works. I would like an event to have a little more meaning for your hard work and investment, not that i want to get rich doing it but something is better than nothing.

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Kurt, Are you saying that you want to be successful against the best in the game, winning in the events that are considered the gold standard? Is that what you want for satisfaction?
Do you want to beat the dogs trained in the camps of guys like Ledford, Lardy, Rorem, Farmer....etc.?

If this is what you want, then competition in the All Age levels of traditional North American Field Trials is probably where you want to be.

Or are you saying you want to have something that's a little less competitive, but take away something different than a ribbon, All Age points that lead titles and National qualification, but you get some sort of cash or merchandise prize?

Both of these things are already out there and already exist.

What do you want? Go get it. Have fun and enjoy!

I'm lined up to judge another SRS event in the late spring at what is to me one of the best locations on the planet to run a really big dog. Polish up, watch the schedule and come take a swing at the bucks. I'll pretty well guarantee you'll get your competitive itch scratched, if only for a little while.

i'm saying that if i go to any event to pay out cash or prizes, if the srs was in my area i would definitly be interested in it, in utah there is either akc field trials or akc hunt tests (that i know about). i'm not looking to play against the best in the world but against dogs at the same level. I don't have alot of options where i live to do those kind of events and steve my dog days are done for now but i know one way they would get me back into them and let me know when it happens.

They do have Bird Dog Challenges out there also. Upland hunting, but still using your retriever. And their not as easy as you think. Lots of very well trained hunting dogs

This type of post isn't worth a response. The opening statement of the price of a well bred pup says it all, thats the least expensive portion. The venues of the retriever game be they field trials, AKC hunt tests or HRC (UKC events) are for, I think, are all about the dogs.
Rather then materialistic (money) I will ask a non response question, where can a 25 or 30 year old compete with a 69 year old (my age) in a team sport and even get a ribbon (pass) or place the dog or even "beat the standard" or maybe just win? It's all about the dogs.
I respect someone who wants to get out of the dog game and I have known a few, but, it sounds like sour grapes to me with "play for cash" .

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Originally Posted by kurt a

i'm saying that if i go to any event to pay out cash or prizes, if the srs was in my area i would definitly be interested in it, in utah there is either akc field trials or akc hunt tests (that i know about). i'm not looking to play against the best in the world but against dogs at the same level. I don't have alot of options where i live to do those kind of events and steve my dog days are done for now but i know one way they would get me back into them and let me know when it happens.

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OK. So you don't want to compete against the best.
You want to compete against those who are equal to your dog...is that right?

And you don't want to compete in a place that is far away.
You want to compete in your immediate area, where you don't have to travel....is that right?

And you don't want to spend a lot of money...you want it to be a situation where the average joe, can beat the rich person, in a place local to his own home.
Is that right?

I wish you the best in finding the venue you seek.

I will share with you that I've been on the organizing/promoting side of a cash event. The last I knew, it was the largest cash payout in history for retriever events. Maybe it still holds that distinction. Even with some extremely generous sponsors, it required that entrants pay an entry fee of $500 per entry.

Kurt, when you push on a balloon somehwere, it bulges somewhere else. If you want a payout of decent size, someone's got to cover that. Sponsors are not likely to cover it all. Usually, the entrants themselves realize that just like at the poker table in Vegas, they need to "pony up" in order to play.

If you want to limit the competition, either by skill level, or by geographic location, but you want to have a cash payout, after ammo, birds, supplies, judges' expenses, and all the other real items that are part of putting on an event, the math has to add up.

Nobody's going to set one of these up to go negative on cash flow longterm.

I truly hope you find what you seek.

We all deserve to be happy in our retriever venues that trip our triggers.

Good luck! Chris