Against Long Odds
By Ellen English
And
the winner is... # 56 … 2004 NAFC-FC Chickamauga Choo Choo! Owned by Dr. and
Mrs. Mac DuBose and handled by Lynne, “Chicka” makes a truly outstanding
National Amateur Champion. Besides her exceptional drive and determination, she
has battled injuries that would have sent most dogs into retirement and yet has
gone on to win one of the very toughest retriever trials in the entire country.
The
2004 National Amateur was held in the Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area and on
private grounds in and around Batavia, New York. “It was spectacular,” Lynne
recalls, “marshy, with rolling hills and lots of water... very demanding
terrain.” There are 10 tests, 5 on land & 5 in water, for the 6 day competition.
Usually the difficulty level increases
as the trial progresses although this National started with an unusually
demanding 1st & 2nd series. Of the many national competitions Lynne has competed in, she
considers the 2004 Amateur one of the toughest. Fortunately, Chicka’s marking
skills were at their peak and she didn’t have to hunt many birds, she pretty
much went right to them. “Each series was a thrill to run with Chicka,” Lynne
says, and of the 10 series, the fifth and the tenth stood out.
“The
fifth series was a particularly challenging test,” as Lynne describes it.
“There were 4 marks, 2 of which were flyers and 2 dead bird-retired marks-the
longest of which was about 200 yards. The flyers were visually close to each
other and a high number of dogs had to be handled. It was a beautiful series
set in a hay bale field with interesting terrain but the hay bales did confuse
the dogs. We had all kinds of weather...from hot to cold and rain to sun, plus
difficult winds. Additionally, it was a ‘mixed bag’ of birds, which is the most
difficult form of retrieval in terms of game. The dogs become keyed into the
scent of the first bird retrieved and then have to re-focus on very different
scent for subsequent birds of different species. It really was a make or break
series.”
The
10th & final series was a “stem winder,” Lynne recalls, where “anything
could have happened. The dogs ran from a dike with a canal of water in front of
it. The canal altered the line the dogs took to each bird so that when they
crossed and came out of the water they had to re-orient themselves to get to
the bird. There were 3 live birds, 2 of which were close enough to truly test
the dogs’ steadiness. A flyer at 50 to
75 yards is very exciting to the dogs, especially one with the desire of a dog
like Chicka. Fortunately, she stayed by
my side! The long retired bird was
thrown in extremely high cover and was very difficult for the dogs to focus on
with those 3 flyer guns up close. There
were brilliant marking dogs in the last series who would have made fitting
National Champions. I was grateful that
Chicka marked all 4 carefully and came out on top.”
Chicka’s
victory is all the more impressive when you consider the obstacles she overcame
just to make it to the 2004 National Amateur.
She has had removal of 2 separate ruptured lumbar spinal discs and total
replacement of her right hip due to injury/infection. The rehabilitation following these multiple surgeries could not
have been accomplished without the skilled and innovative care of Dr. John
Sherman at VetHab Clinic of Raleigh, NC.
In spite of her remarkable natural and trained abilities, she could
never have competed at this Olympic level without this long and arduous
rehabilitation program. The injuries
she sustained were the result of years of her reckless, high speed retrieving
style. As recently as January 2004, we
were concerned that her field trial career was ended. Chicka’s desire to retrieve inspired all of us to not give up.”
Lynne’s
husband, Dr.Mac DuBose, whose Lab, “Zinger” won the 2002 National Open and was
our Lab of the Month in January of 2003, offers some heartfelt perspective on
his winning team: “Chicka’s been through a lot, including multiple injuries and
severe muscle wasting. It took a lot just to get her ready to run the trial.
She’s probably spent more time in rehab in the past 2 ½ years than she has in
training, but Lynne never gave up on her. We suggested that it might be time to
retire Chicka, but Lynne wouldn’t hear of it.”
Chicka’s
interesting name comes from her place of birth: Chickamauga, Georgia. The Choo
Choo part comes from Chickamauga’s close proximity to Chattanooga, Tennessee,
familiar to many from the song “Chattanooga Choo Choo” that Glenn Miller
popularized in the 1940’s. Born May 21, 1996 to a litter from breeder Phyllis
Garner, Chicka stood out from her siblings because of her “intrepid puppy
behavior,” Lynne recalls fondly. “At just 6 ½ weeks of age, she was the one who
was willing to leave her littermates and go exploring. She was so lively and
alert and already eager to retrieve, even then.”
The
DuBoses started her training the day they brought her home. “It was very clear
from the beginning that her enthusiasm would need to be controlled, even at
that young age,” Lynne remembers. “When she saw something thrown, she would
whirl, twirl and do somersaults, trying to get away to go get it. It required
both of us for training even one so small because it took one of us just to
hold her!” Chicka’s first success showed just how precocious she was: at only 4
months of age, she won a Puppy Stake, competing against dogs that were up to a
year old. “She won with a mighty swim across a large pond...full of sticks and
lily pads,” the DuBoses recall with amazement.
At
approximately 7 months old, Chicka moved to Right Start Kennels in Wisconsin to
train with Jim VanEngen in his young dog program. Even in this early stage of
training, her natural ability became as evident to Jim as it had to her owners.
She next trained with Andy Attar at Autumn Run Kennels, also located in
Wisconsin, and at two years of age, she started training with Mike Lardy and
Dave Smith of Handjem Retrievers. Chicka continued to train seasonally each
year at Handjem, except for the extensive periods of rehabilitation over the
past 2 ½ years.
At
just two years of age, Chicka began to place and win in All Age field trial
events and she qualified herself for the National Open at an unusually young
age-just 2 years and 5 months. She did so by winning her 1st of
three “Double Headers” which occur when
an Amateur handler wins both the Open Stake (competing with professionals) and
the Amateur Stake (competing only with other amateurs) in a weekend trial,
which doesn’t happen very often. She has been a finalist in
the National Open and the National Amateur several times, but this is her first
National win.
At
home, Chicka enjoys the devoted attention of the DuBoses. “We like to have all
our dogs in the house, particularly at dinner time... that’s our ‘family time’
and they each have their own special spot. When asked what Chicka’s favorite
toy is, Lynne laughs, “it’s the one some other dog has! She waits until they’re
not looking and then grabs their toy. She stockpiles them! She’s quite a
character.”
Each
day brings at least one training session plus her daily re-hab exercises,
including “power walking.” When asked what the future holds for their Champion
Chicka, Lynne says “with luck and careful management, she’ll be able to
continue in competition.” For this spirited Lab who lives to retrieve,
retirement is probably not on the near horizon. “We won’t retire her until she
tells us she needs to be retired!”
Tail End:
If you’d like to learn more about field trials, we invite you to visit the
following links:
Working Retriever Central
All Labs’ Field Glossary
The American Kennel Club
(AKC)
Field Trial Rules and
Standard Procedures for Retrievers
Retriever Journal
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