When I started I could afford 1 dog & that was only after the family pet died, so I was careful & thorough in my research.
I looked @ pointers, spaniels, chessies, goldens & labs. At the time I hunted a lot of ducks/geese so that left the other than
retrievers out of the equation. I also hunted upland occasionally so wanted a dog that was not prone to cockleburs & the
attendant matting. & wet chessies smell like sheep. So eventually the black lab won the spot! Chocolates were non existent,
most yellows had inherent faults.
Today there are more litters dropped by the current lab stud of the quarter than competitive branch of either of the other breeds
in a year. I've seen one chessie I would have liked to own, Nanuk of Cheslang, I've seen several very good goldens with Mioak's
Smoking Zeke on the top of that list, Chocolates would be Oscar's Petite Lightning, yellows none stands above the rest though
I had a Marathon man pup but due to sheer numbers on the ground one can see several labs each weekend worthy of gracing
a dog box for a top competitor.
But I also like to do my research & find the dog that is not popular as I believe it is the duty of every competitor to try to improve
the breed. That can not be done when everyone breeds to the same stud & the owners of bitches want to maximize their profit by
repeating something that was good the 1st time. Nor can it be done when folks are trying to homogenize the sport. I've always had
somewhat competitive dogs, qualified for more nationals than I ran & found rather than being a big thrill that was about the most
boring time one could have & very time consuming for the return.
Though I enjoyed what I learned in the sport, if I had to do it over again I'd own a couple of Brittany's & a Drahtaar & enjoy myself
chasing birds around the country. There is too much time wasted today waiting to run, entry fees are 10 times what they were when
I started, Vehicles cost 15-20 times what they cost then & all the really good grounds are pretty much locked up tight.
My :2c: worth!
