Retriever News

01/01/2025

Congratulations to the 2024 Purina Outstanding Retriever Award Winners!

And Save the Date for the 41st Annual Free Workshop & Banquet!

01/01/2025

The January issue of Retriever News is now available online!

This issue features:
🔹 2xNFC - 2xCNFC Truline's Just Floyd
🔹 2024 National Finalists
🔹 2024 National Report
🔹 "Sending Your Dog" by Dennis Voigt
🔹 Remembering Jackie Mertens
🔹 2024 Purina Outstanding Retriever Award Winners
🔹 .... and more!

12/03/2024

Check out the December issue, featuring the Winner of the 2024 National Retriever Derby Club Championship: DRAKES BAY’S OTIS

Owned / Handled / Bred by Rick Wilke
Congratulations Rick and Otis!!

https://www.theretrievernews.com/

11/16/2024

The Winner of the 2024

National Retriever Club Championship is …

#82. NFC-CNFC TRULINE’S JUST FLOYD
“Floyd”

Owned by John & Amie Henninger
Handled by Amie Henninger

Congratulations Amie and Floyd!!

11/16/2024

Who will be our 2024 National Field Champion?

11/15/2024

Series 9 – Land Quad

The 9th Series brings us to Eckett’s Blackwater South. It has warmed up to a sunny 73 degrees with a 6 mph ESE wind.

The mat faces Northwest, and there is a 6 mph right to left wind. The field is bowl shaped, with several trees, shrubs, and patchy cover.

This land Quad is thrown Left Retired, Right Retired, Middle Retired, then Flyer.

Bird #1 is a dead rooster pheasant, thrown right to left, landing 256 yards from the mat. The throwers retire as soon as the dog is sent. We will refer to this bird as LR for Left Retired.

Bird #2 is a dead hen pheasant, thrown left to right, landing 275 yards from the mat. The throwers retire as soon as the dog is sent. We will refer to this bird as RR for Right Retired.

Bird #3 is a dead hen pheasant, thrown left to right, landing 206 yards from the mat. The bird lands in a ditch at the base of a shrub. The throwers retire as soon as the dog is sent. We will refer to this bird as MR for Middle Retired.

Bird #4 is a hen pheasant flyer, shot left to right, landing 173 yards from the mat. We will refer to this bird as F for Flyer.

This test is taking approximately 7 minutes to complete.

11/15/2024

8th Series – Double Land Blind

This morning, we are at Brian Watson’s property for a double land blind. It is currently a chilly 42 degrees with a 3 mph North wind.

The mat faces Northwest. The field slopes left to right, on the side of a dam. The field is dotted with several bushes and pine trees.

Blind #1 - a drake mallard is placed 136 yards from the running mat. The line to this bird takes the dog out into the field, over the corner of the dam and up a hill to the road. The blind is marked with a leafy branch.

Blind #2 - a rooster pheasant is placed 230 yards from the running mat. The line to this bird takes the dog out into the field, tight to a bush, rolls up and over the road before they must navigate a keyhole consisting of a bush on the left and a tree on the right. Once through the keyhole, the dog will hold the sidehill up to the bird. The blind is marked with a small pine tree.

This test is taking approximately 4 minutes to complete.

11/14/2024

Series 7
Water Blind

We’ve moved across Fuller’s “The 70” to begin the 7th Series. Conditions are 71°F and sunny, with a 10 mph wind blowing from the north.

The mat is positioned on a slight rise facing west, about 90 yards from the pond, with a crosswind blowing right to left.

A mallard is placed 215 yards from the running mat. The line to this bird takes the dog out into the field and into the first corner of water. The dog will then angle over a large peninsula and back into the water. The dog will then go up and over the right tip of the island, back into the water and graze the second point before crossing the final corner of water. The blind is marked with a leafy branch approximately 10 yards from the waters edge.

This test is taking approximately 6 minutes to complete.

11/14/2024

Please thank our series sponsor, MF Hay & Spray!

11/13/2024

Series 6
Water Quad with an Honor

Day 5 of the 2024 National Retriever Championship
Location: Fuller’s “The 70”

Today’s test takes place in sunny, warm conditions, with a current temperature of 57°F and a light south wind at 3 mph. The day is expected to reach the mid-80s.

The mat faces south, on a terraced hill overlooking a pond. The field features rolling hills, scattered trees, and strips of mowed cover.

This quad is thrown: Long, Right Retired, Left Retired, Flyer.

Bird #1 is a hen pheasant. The gunners sit 335 yards from the mat. They throw their bird right to left over a road where it lands in a pile of thick cover. The throwers retire when the dog is sent for the flyer. We will refer to this bird as Long.

Bird #2 is a hen pheasant, thrown right to left, landing 170 yards from the mat. The bird is thrown across a mowed strip, landing in a patch of thick cover. The throwers retire when the dog is sent for the flyer. We will refer to this bird as RR for Right Retired.

Bird #3 is a hen mallard, thrown right to left landing 170 yards from the mat. This bird is thrown to the tip of a point, landing in a patch of bull rush. The throwers retire when the dog is sent for the flyer. We will refer to this bird as LR for Left Retired.

Bird #4 is a hen mallard flyer, shot left to right, landing 195 yards from the mat. We will refer to this bird as Flyer.

Once the dog picks up the final bird, the handler moves left to the honor mat.

This bird is taking approximately 15 min per dog.

11/13/2024

Callbacks to the 6th Series!

11/12/2024

Good news!

Our blog is back up and running after a brief downtime, and we’re excited to continue our coverage of the 2024 National Retriever Championship. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we worked through this unexpected situation.

We’ve kicked off the 5th series this morning and will be sharing information with you throughout the day. Make sure to follow along as the competition heats up!

https://2024nrc.blogspot.com/?m=1

11/12/2024

Series 5
Land/Water Triple with an Honor

We've returned to the Parrott's property for series 5. It is currently 58 degrees, foggy, with very little wind. It will soon warm up to a sunny 83 degrees.

The mat is situated on top of a mound facing forth, overlooking a hayfield featuring several hay bales, and cover mowed in wide strips.

This triple is thrown Left, Middle, Right

Bird #1 is a hen pheasant, thrown left to right, landing 293 yards from mat. The gunners retire as soon as the dog is sent for the flyer. We will refer to this bird as LR for Left Retired.

Bird #2 is a hen pheasant, thrown right to left, landing 210 yards from the mat. The gunners retire as soon as the dog is sent for the flyer. We will refer to this bird as MR for Middle Retired.

Bird #3 is a hen mallard flyer, shot left to right, landing 170 yards from the mat. We will refer to this bird as F for Flyer.

When the dog picks up the last bird, the handler will move left to the honor mat.

This test is taking approximately 6 minutes to complete.

11/12/2024

Callbacks to the 5th Series.

https://www.theretrievernews.com/2024-national-blog-alt.html

11/11/2024

🔷𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐍𝐑𝐂🔷

We want to inform you that our blog coverage of the 2024 National Retriever Championship was recently flagged, resulting in a temporary downtime. We are working diligently to find a solution as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, you can still follow the action as we post updates on each dog’s work directly on our website.

We’ll keep you informed with updates about the blog’s status through email and on our page.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding as we work through this.

Sincerly,

Retriever News Team

Home | Series 1 & 2 | Series 3 | Series 4 | Our Sponsors | Running Order

11/11/2024

Our blog has been flagged and (hopefully temporarily) shut down.

We are working diligently on a solution. Stay tuned!

11/11/2024

We’ve moved to the Parrott Property for the 4th series.

It is 70 degrees and sunny with a 6 mph North wind. It is expected to warm up to 82 today and remain sunny.

Series 4
Water Blind

The mat faces East, on the crest of the back of a wide mound. The mound overlooks a long, narrow pond with several fingers.

When the handler gets to the mat, they will call for the sluice. The gunner is sitting 108 yards from the mat, surrounded by Avery duck decoys. There are several on land and a few in the water. The gunner shoots a single shot into the water, toward the tip of the point. The handler is then given their number, and they proceed to run the blind.

The line to this blind requires the dog to crest the mound, angle down it before slicing into the first corner of water. They will cross the first large and re-enter the water. Once the dog swims past a small point, and past the point with the sluice, they will angle across the pond and swim down the left shoreline. They’ll get up on a point on the left shore before casting back into the far corner. Once the dog exits the pond, they will push up the dam, momentarily going out of sight before climbing the hill to the bird.

This test is taking approximately 7 minutes to complete.

11/10/2024

Much appreciation for our ‘24 NRC Series 3&4 sponsor, The National Amateur Retriever Club.