WELCOME to the Official Blog of the 2016 National Amateur, June 18-25 held this year in Stowe, Vermont. This year's Blog is brought to you by the Retriever News and our Official Sponsors Purina and Avery and also Sponsored by Ainley Kennels,Move The Dog,Mountaintop Custom Kennels,YBS Media,Elite Retrievers and Retriever Training Forum. We hope you enjoy these multi-daily updates and please come back often! This year we encourage visitors to participate in the National Amateur discussion located in the comments section of each post. These areas are a great outlet for remote communication and commentary for those unable to attend this year's NARC. Also, please keep an eye out for trivia, surveys and other interactive activities!The Retriever News team consists of Tina Styan, Gwen Jones and Tera Lanczak. We would also like to welcome Pat Burns, of Elite Retrievers this year as a Contributing Sponsor to the blog. Please don't hesitate to share any items of interest or photos that you think the retriever community might be interested in. Send submissions to Tina Styan at: tstyan@theretrievernews.com Subject Line: 2016 NARC Blog. Thanks in advance and enjoy the coverage...
94. FC-AFC Contempt of Court, "Ruckus," LM, Susan Bledsoe
Flyer: Good mark!
RR: exited on the left shore, ran the levee straight to the bird.
LR: swam to the end of the pond drove up the hill, hunted just shallow of the fall, near the shore and on the hillside hard, then made it to the fall area to retrieve his bird.
93. FC-AFC Dottie Ray's League Of Her Own, "Dottie," LF, Andy Kahn
Flyer: smacked it!
RR: just passed the bird on the right made a loop and scooped it up
LR: swam the middle of the pond re-entered & swam to the end exited the pond just right of the big rock went up the hill to the area made a couple passes in the area and had her bird.
92. FC-AFC-AFTCH Jaybar American Idol, "Reuben," LM, Barbara Younglove
Flyer: good mark
RR: straight to the bird.
LR: exited on the land bridge to the right of the rock went out of sight reappeared running along the shore to the big rock at the end of the pond made a couple big loops there then went up the hill to the fall making a couple passes there before retrieving his bird.
89. FC-AFC Ruff Rivers Oasis On The Plains, "Colby," LF, Northrup Larson
Flyer: pounded it!
RR: put her nose on it!
LR: swam the middle of the pond exited on the land bridge turned and headed up the hill.to the tree-line est a hunt along the treeline down near the shore before getting to the fall area to retrieve her bird.
88. FC-AFC Candlewood's Life Is A Highway, "Freeway," LM, John Stracka
Flyer: rapid retrieve
RR: ran a line at the gun station exited the pond on the left-hand bank of the channel, made two passes on the left bank before crossing over to the right bank to snatch up his bird
LR: swam the middle of the pond, re-enter and swam toward the big rock at the end of the pond.exited left of the big rock made a 90'degree turn to the right est a hunt in the soggy marsh grass shallow of the fall, then went to the left of the big rock hunting the soggy grass there re-enter the water hunting the shore wide left of the big rock. Then he made way up the hill to the area, hunted the area a bit before coming up with the bird.
87. FC-AFC Leica Sabertooth, "Tiger," LM, Terry Rotschafer
Flyer: grabbed it quick!
RR: traveled a path under arc toward the middle of the channel, exited the water on the left-side of the channel est a hunt where the gunners stood to throw the mark, then crossed over the channel and got his bird.
LR: entered the water tight to the right of the flyer guns, immediately began to push to the right,cont to angle to the right exiting the pond in the right-hand corner of the 1st piece of water. The dog drove to the tree-line hunted the tree-line hard coming in and out of sight several times. He hunted the right-side of the holding blind and then went over to the fall area hunting in and around the fall before digging out his bird.
85. FC-AFC Chopper's Final Approach, "Billie," LF, Joel Harris
Flyer: hammered it!
RR: traveled wide right of the fall out of sight from the tree-line reappeared deep of the fall est a hunt where the gunners stood to make the throw before crossing over the channel to snatch up the bird.
LR: took off on a line tight to the flyer guns, swam the middle of the pond, exited left of the big rock on the land bridge, re-entered went out of sight from our perspective, reappeared way right of the holding blind driving up the hill to the far tree-line to the right of the holding blind for the LR, and hunted her way to the left and over to the fall to make the retrieve.
82. FC-AFC Coolwater's Hawkeye Legend, "Legend," LM, Alex Washburn
Flyer: drilled it!
RR: smacked it!
LR: took off on a path wide and right of the flyer guns, exited the pond in the far right corner drove to the treeline and disappeared, reappeared on the right side of the holding blind for the LR and hunted along the treeline toward the fall until he found his bird.
80. FC-AFC Spirit of Denali-Genet, "Genet," LF, Bill Barstow
F: smacked it!
RR: nice mark!
LR: traveled angling across the pond to the right, exited on the land bridge just right of the rock, then took a hard right to run land up to the treeline and hunted her way over to the bird.
RR: est a hunt around the holding blind before crossing over the channel and grabbing her bird.
LR: swam the middle of the first piece of water, re-entered swimming straight at the bird, est a hunt along the shoreline gradually working up the hillside to dig out her bird.
72. FC-AFC Fresh Squeezed Juice, "Juice," LM, Mark Medford
Flyer: drilled it!
RR: got to the area est a hunt under the arc gradually hunting deep and to the left of the channel and holding blind before crossing over the channel to snatch up the bird.
LR: started swimming a path down the middle of the pond wide left of the big rock re-enter and went out of sight while swimming, reappeared swimming directly at the fall area, exited under the arc drove up the hill to the holding blind on the right got to the treeline, jumped in the trees for a quick moment then came down on the side-hill made a couple passes in the area and had is bird.
LR: Went straight across first pond. Went over the land bridge into the second pond. Came up on the other side and into the area of the fall. Made a few short loops and got his bird.
64. FC-AFC Make It Happen Captain, "Cappy," LM, Gary Zellner
Flyer: smacked it!
RR: hunted the area where the gunners are standing to throw the bird, gradually working over to the area to retrieve the bird.
LR: traveled a path wide right of the big rock on the land bridge, made a hard move to the left, angling across the hillside reaching the fall area and getting his bird.
RR: swam a path at the holding blind. made a hard turn to the right and got her bird.
LR: traveled a path at the left side of the rock on the land bridge, re-enter the water, angling to the right then drove up the hill, made one big loop on top of the hill just missing the bird, then the dog to make a few passes in the area to snoot it out.
59. FC-AFC Maple Creek's Mattie Mae, "Mattie," LF, David McMahan
Flyer: She does her job … SMASH!
RR: Went deep, but came right back to her bird.
LR: And she's off... the oldest dog in this National. Straight across first water. Out and up to the tree line. Down to the far end og the 2nd pond and worked her way back to the bird.
It’s great to see a stick pond. The 7th series site is a beautiful natural piece of water. The kind of ponds I started with. When you have cover in the water you can bet interesting things are going to happen.
The first bird shot is a long retired gun across 2 pieces of water and driven out of the water. The line to that bird is tight behind the back of the short flyer guns. The right hand retired gun is thrown across a narrow channel and out of the test. The right hand bird is thrown against the grain and is somewhat contrary in nature. A dog that is relaxed enough to slice a skinny piece of water and stay on land for a bit is doing better on this mark. It probably sets the dog up for a cheat on the long retired gun. The long retired bird is all about discipline. It requires you to go tight behind the short flyer and hold a line across 2 pieces of water then angle out and up the hill. It is likely that quite a bit of drag back will build up on the land between the ponds making it more challenging to go the distance. They tell me the long bird is 250 yds. However, if feels a lot longer than that. Dogs that slide to the right on the reentry are up for a long hunt. The test is well conceived and appears to be getting lots of answers. The leader board is getting smaller.
This test will carry over until tomorrow. Gwen, Tina and Tera will keep you updated on all the dog’s progress.
58. FC-AFC Choco Lickity-Split, "Choco," LM, Don Brawley
Flyer: Curved in front of the guns. Nice, but used up his long bird line.
RR: Stepped on it.
LR: Got in just off right shoulder of flyer guns. Swam across to far side, but hunted short, then took road up hill and back towards the fall area ... got it!
Pick Up 56. FC-AFC Sundog's Maximum Pursuit, "Max," LM, Andy Kahn
Flyer: made a rapid retrieve
RR: got into the pond wide left of the fall swam an angle toward the corner of the 1st to the right of the rock, exited and attempted to Handled the dog to the bird. The dog was too far away from the bird to recover and was Picked Up from the test before completion
RR: went back &fourth across the channel & got the bird quickly!
LR: dog took off on a path wide & right of the Flyer guns, continued to angle right exited the first piece of water to the right of the rock on the land bridge est a hunt on the land bridge before the dog was Handled to the bird.
50. FC-AFC Mulligan Off The Rainy "T", "Mully," LM, Randy Spangler
came to the line at 2:58 pm
Flyer: got it quick
RR: got to the gun station the rapidly crossed over the channel and straight to his bird.
LR: traveled a path at the right edge of the rock on the land bridge, the dog re-entered the water swan to the end where another large rock is located exited and climbed the hill made a pass to the left of the holding blind then to the right and had his bird!
Handle 48. FC-AFC Bayou Teche Eye On The Ball, "Slider," LM, Lauren Hays
Flyer: nice mark
RR:traveled a path along the tree-line got deep of the channel est a hunt that carried the dog deeper and deeper toward the far tree-line in between the RR and the LR, the dog then disappeared into the trees and then when he reappeared the dog was Handled to the bird.
LR: entered the pond veering wide right of the flyer guns, exited the right corner of the pond right of the rocks angling across the hillside toward the far end of the pond, drove up the hill to the tree-line hunted in and out of the woods, reappeared, made a couple more passes at the tree-line there before making a move toward the fall area to find his bird.
1. FC-FTCH Handjems Artful Dodger, "Dodger,” LM, Jim Dorobek 2. NAFC-FC Texas Troubador, "Tubb," LM, Martha Russell 3. NFC-AFC Robber's Stray Bullet, "Bullet," LM, Hank McNeil 4. B&D's Chocolate Mariah, "Windy," LF, Don or Bettye Brawley 5. FC-AFC SK's Dirty Little Secret, "Vegas," LF, Betsy Madden 6. Daybreak Second In Command, "Joshua," LM, Bill Landau 7. FC-AFC Texaco's High Tesse, "Star," LF, Alex Abraham 8. AFC Trifecta's Black Gold, "Slick," LF, Lisa Kane 9. FC Utopian Sixteen Hands, "Hunter," LM, Gary Zellner 10. AFC Lucyana's Full Speed Ahead, "Straight," LM, Laura Parrott 11. FC-AFC Aksarben's Black Skyy MH, "Skyy," LM, Alice Woodyard 12. NAFC-FC Hardscrabble Roxie McBunn, "Roxie," LF, Bill Benson 13. AFC Jorja's Tarbaby Tempest, "Tempy," LF, Jake Fredericks 14. FC-CAFC-CFC Jazztime Cut to the Chase, "Chase," LM, Paul Hanson 15. FC-AFC Ragin Eye Of The Storm, "Cane," LM, John Thomas 16. Mac's Sweet Eleanor Rose, "Rosie," LF, Mike McDaniel 17. Road Tripp, "Tripp," LM, Mark Medford 18. FC-AFC Son Of A Preacher Man, "Billy Ray," LM, Duncan Christie 19. FC-AFC Good Idea's Outta Sight, "Stevie," LM, Ken Neil 20. NAFC-FC Dottie Ray's Ivy League, "Ivy," LF, Andy Kahn 21. FC-AFC In The Hunt Farm's Executive Sweet, "Sweet," LF, Linda Bogusky 22. FC Topbrass Linekin's Riptide, "Rip," GM, Cam Clark 23. FC-AFC FWR'S Wood River's Highest Summit, "Denali," LF, Mark Brashear 24. FC-AFC Valtor's Hayseed Kid, "Kid," LM, Breck Howard 25. AFC 3R's Mister Cross Your T's, "Tommy," LM, Fred Kampo 26. FC-AFC Moxie Gunner, "Moxie," LF, Russ Hardy 27. FC-AFC McKinley First Ascender-Hudson, "Hudson," LM, Bill Barstow 28. FC Tremblin Earth's Cosmic Rider, "Tex," LM, Kate Simonds 29. Smoke'N High Heat, "Smoke," LF, Charlene Koeth 30. Bay Blue's Indigo Girl, "Indy," LF, Marv Baumer 31. FC-AFC RMR'S I Have a Dream, "Marti," LF, Joel Harris 32. FC-AFC Mitimat Rock Paper Scissors, "Rocky," LM, Lydia Fekula 33. Dottie McFizz, "Dot," LF, Nancy White 34. Cold Black Jack, "Jack," LM, John Stracka 35. FC-AFC Lil Chin Music, "Lil," LF, Chester Koeth 36. Gunstock's Harbor Houligan, "PJ," LM, Yvonne or Charles Hays 37. FC-AFC Bluenorth's Rock Hard Ten MH, "Ten," LM, Barb Radtke 38. FC-AFC Wight's Goddess of Victory MH, "Nike," LF, Tracy Wight 39. FC-AFC-FTCH Laird's Cynful Wisdom, "Wiley," LF, Chris Parkinson 40. FC-AFC Shelbie's Liberty Bell, "Libby," LF, Chris Byers 41. FC-AFC Good Idea's National Pair, "Dolly," LF, Ken Neil 42. Aragorn XIII, "Aragorn," LM, Julie Cole 43. Holland Cliffs Sweet Inspiration, "Sugar," LF, Alvin Hatcher 44. FC-AFC Bob and Ed's Excellent Adventure, "Chef," LM, Ed Krueger 45. AFC Kirkwood's Ace of Lone Star, "Lexie," LF, Casey Adams 46. FC-AFC Bay Blue's All American Girl, "Libby," LF, John Russell 47. FC Midway Twin City Limits, "Leo," LM, Seth Kelly 48. FC-AFC Bayou Teche Eye On The Ball, "Slider," LM, Lauren Hays 49. FC-AFC Delpond's Aunt Jemima, "Jemma," LF, Mark Menzies 50. FC-AFC Mulligan Off The Rainy "T", "Mully," LM, Randy Spangler 51. Watermark's Ramrod, "Rowdy," LM, Gary Storch 52. FC-AFC FTCH Alexus - Pursuit of Perfection, "Lexi," LF, Lynn Cole-Kimball 53. FC-AFC Cool Fuel, "Nitro," LM, Rich Pingatore 54. AFC Lake Park Diamond In The Ruff, "Ruff," LM, Charles Bearden 55. FC-AFC Hockley Creek's Big Hitter, "Manny," LM, Robby Bickley 56. FC-AFC Sundog's Maximum Pursuit, "Max," LM, Andy Kahn 57. FC Straight to the Heart-Dagger, "Dagger," LM, Johnny Armstrong 58. FC-AFC Choco Lickity-Split, "Choco," LM, Don Brawley 59. FC-AFC Maple Creek's Mattie Mae, "Mattie," LF, David McMahan 60. FC-AFC Good Idea's Have It Your Way, "Whopper," LM, Ken Neil 61. AFC Tucked Away At River's Edge, "Tucker," LM, Alex Abraham 62. NFC-AFC Keeno's Gizmo CC, "Gizmo," LM, Bruce Hall 63. FC-AFC Lock Five's My Mother's Keeper, "Keeper," LF, Jamie Woodson 64. FC-AFC Make It Happen Captain, "Cappy," LM, Gary Zellner 65. AFC Got It Made in the Shade, "Shade," LM, Bobby Smith 66. Backwater Sweet Bay Magnolia, "Bay," LF, Keith Pharr 67. FC Lil Whiskey Girl, "Lily," LF, Judy Despenas 68. FC-AFC Baypoint's Westminster Abbey, "Abbey," LF, Don Fregelette 69. FC-AFC JJ of Red Rock, "JJ," LM, Jim McBee 70. FC-AFC Greenwing Tall Timber, "Krumz," LM, Craig Stonesifer 71. AFC Rawhide's Rowdy Trail Boss, "Rowdy," LM, Tommy Grimes 72. FC-AFC Fresh Squeezed Juice, "Juice," LM, Mark Medford 73. FC-AFC Lubys and Whitewaters Pirates Jewel, "Jewel," LF, Jeffrey Schuett 74. AFC Wood River's Mr Big, "George," LM, Bill Fruehling 75. AFC MS Micro Doodle Dandy, "Micro," LF, Tom Bogusky 76. FC-AFC Indi Go Girl, "Indy," LF, Darlene Houlihan 77. Topbrass Montana Lonesome Dove OS, "Gus," GM, John Robinson 78. FC-AFC B Bumble, "Stinger," LM, Fred Kampo 79. AFC Red Dog's Anything Goes, "Porter," CBRM, Bill Burks 80. FC-AFC Spirit of Denali-Genet, "Genet," LF, Bill Barstow 81. AFC Winneshiek's Wild Wind Scamp, "Scamp," LM, Dave Robertson 82. FC-AFC Coolwater's Hawkeye Legend, "Legend," LM, Alex Washburn 83. Jet Black's Supersonic Boom, "Sonic," LM, Judy Powers 84. FC-AFC Good Idea's Texas Scratch, "Rosie," LF, Ken Neil 85. FC-AFC Chopper's Final Approach, "Billie," LF, Joel Harris 86. Knockout Punch II, "Joe," LM, Jim Cope 87. FC-AFC Leica Sabertooth, "Tiger," LM, Terry Rotschafer 88. FC-AFC Candlewood's Life Is A Highway, "Freeway," LM, John Stracka 89. FC-AFC Ruff Rivers Oasis On The Plains, "Colby," LF, Northrup Larson 90. FC-AFC Freeridin Miss Kitty, "Kitty," LF, Theodore Shih 91. FC-AFC Candlewood's Skyrocket, "Sky," LF, Tommy Parrish 92. FC-AFC-AFTCH Jaybar American Idol, "Reuben," LM, Barbara Younglove 93. FC-AFC Dottie Ray's League Of Her Own, "Dottie," LF, Andy Kahn 94. FC-AFC Contempt of Court, "Ruckus," LM, Susan Bledsoe 95. Red Dog's Ain't Misbehavin', "Zoe," LF, Sydney Gardave 96. Brink's Buster Brown, "Buster," LM, Jeffrey Bandel 97. AFC Lane's Thrilla n Manilla, " Frazier," LM, Michael Robicheaux 98. FC-AFC Watermark's Miss Kali Hart, "Kaylee," LF, Sonya Harrigfeld 99. AFC Trinity's Moose on the Loose, "Lucy," LF, Cindie Little 100. Kirkwood's Blue Grade Lady, "Gracie," LF, Casey Adams 101. FC-AFC Lanes Lets Get Ready To Rumble, "Ali," LM, Bobby Lane 102. FC-AFC Atlastastar, "Rinny," LF, Martha Blank 103. FC-AFC Forry's Charmed One, "Piper," LF, Lynn Budd 104. FC Delpond's Pretty in Pink, "Bella," LF, Mark Menzies 105. FC-AFC Contrails Sky Queen, "Reina," LF, David Opseth 106. FC-AFC Good Idea's Second Wind, "Vapor," LF, Ken Neil 107. FC-AFC Windy City's Mighty Mouse, "Mickey," LM, Charlie Hines 108. FC-AFC Buck IN Bobby, "Bobby," LM, Mary Ahlgren 109. FC-AFC Aran Island's Finnegan, "Finnegan," LM, Pat Martin 110. Chances R Jean Louise Finch, "Scout," LF, John Goossen