124th annual bird dog championship begins
GRAND JUNCTION, Tenn. — The 124th Field Trial National Championship started Monday morning in Grand Junction.
Handlers, owners, and their dogs have traveled from all over the country and beyond after qualifying for this tournament. The dogs will go out in pairs as they compete.
“We have two dogs that are out there with two handlers, and two scouts that help the handlers get the dogs around. And we are hunting and looking for birds. And they are going three hours. So we have two dogs run in the morning, two dogs run in the afternoon, and we’re hunting and looking for quail,” said Bridget Ledington, a handler.
There is a lot of training. Some people have been coming to this event for years. Some have been doing this almost their whole lives. Handlers will travel all over to compete in different competitions.
The competitors truly have a love for this sport.
“You couldn’t do this if you don’t enjoy it, enjoy dogs and like dogs. You couldn’t do it. You just got to love it and be able to do it. It’s not a money making thing. You just make a living, you know, but it’s a living. You get to be your own boss and you get to do what you want to,” said Andy Daugherty, a handler.
There are some qualifications in order to be able to come to the national championship. The event is more than a week long.
With each dog competing for three straight hours, endurance is a key factor in this competition.
“They come from all over, so all the dogs that come from the United States that compete in these. There’s only about 30 or 34 that meet the qualifications to come here. They’ve got to win two first place wins in what we call a national qualifier,” said Alex Mauck, a handler.
The drawing for the national championship was held on Saturday.
The competition will continue throughout the week at the Ames Plantation. You can see last week’s interview about the competition here.
Find more local news here.
