Notes - DNF = Did not finish the trial. DNP = Did not place

RAN PLACED Placed
DATES IN in 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th DNP DNF

NOVICE STAKES
18/05/74-03/08/74 5 4 3 1 0 0 0 1 0

RESTRICTED STAKES
27/10/74-24/05/75 7 7 4 3 0 0 0 0 0

ALL AGE STAKES
01/06/75-20/09/75 7 4 2 1 1 0 0 2 1
07/02/76-24/10/76 18 16 6 7 2 1 0 1 1
12/02/77-30/10/77 16 14 8 3 2 1 0 1 1
04/02/78-23/09/78 13 10 5 4 1 0 0 3 0
12/05/79-13/10/79 17 13 8 3 2 0 0 2 2
02/02/80-19/10/80 13 8 4 2 1 1 0 1 4
01/02/81-05/09/81 12 8 1 2 4 1 0 1 3
25/07/82-26/07/82 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
All Age Total 98 74 35 22 13 4 0 12 12
Note In '80-'82 I did not spend as much time training etc.

R T Ch DERBYSHIRE ACE A HEARTS (Cass)
CAREER RESULTS IN NON-SLIP RETRIEVING TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

1975 N.S.W. 2 nd
NATIONAL. (W.A DNF
A.C.T. DNP
VICTORIA. DNF
1976 N.S.W. 2 nd
NATIONAL. (A.C.T) 4 th
A.C.T. 2 nd
VICTORIA DNF
1977 NATIONAL. (W.A) DNP
N.S.W. 1 st
A.C.T. 1 st
VICTORIA. 1 st
1978 QUEENSLAND. 1 st
N.S.W. 1 st
VICTORIA. 1 st
1979 N.S.W. 1 st
A.C.T 4 th
VICTORIA 1 st
1980 QUEENSLAND 4 th
A.C.T. 3 rd
N.S.W. 1 st
VICTORIA DNF
NATIONAL. (VIC) 1 st
1981 QUEENSLAND. 4 th
N.S.W. 2 nd
NATIONAL. (N.S.W). 1 st
VICTORIA. DNF

R.T. Ch. DERBYSHIRE ACE A HEARTS.(Cass)
Sire - R.T.Ch. CASRAY BEAU Dam - SANDYCASADOR WISH
Breeder - Mr P. HALFORD (Derbyshire Kennels).Colour - YELLOW
Lived from 30/09/72 - 22/08/85.
Owned & handled by Mr W.S.Bailey from March 1974.

I buy my first dog (Sandy) as a burglar alarm and become fascinated by Non-Slip Retrieving Trials.

Many years ago around 1973, I was a keen fisherman and on one occasion I came in late at night and was too tired to take the outboard motor from my boat and lock it up. Quoting those famous last words "She'll be right" to justify my laziness. When I checked in the morning the boat was there but the motor had vanished.

The police suggested that a dog might help to discourage a repeat performance. So first thing on Monday morning I called in to the R.S.P.C.A. in Moore Park. I spent some time talking to a few dogs. One a nice yellow one, appealed to me, so I went up to the office and paid my $7.50, collected his lead and headed off to take my new friend home with me.

Before I could leave the office, a voice stopped me in my tracks. "Do you want his papers ?". This threw me, I was quite used to dogs that had a favourite old boot to chew, even an old bone or two, but papers !. Did he lie on them, read them, chew them or ...?. So I said, rather blankly, "Papers, what papers ?", "HIS PAPERS", was the rather terse reply. While I had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the answer, it seemed a little like the ideal political answer in that while it was brief and reasonably polite, it did not really tell me anything I did not already know.

Apparently these papers were important, so I tried a different approach. "How much are they ?", I asked. This time the reply came back with a degree of heat and speed that surprised me. "NOTHING, THEY GO WITH THE DOG". Well, I thought if they cost nothing and are apparently important to the dog, I may as well take them. So I said I would be happy to take them. In due course I found out about the papers, joined the Labrador Retriever Club of N.S.W. and started going to retrieving trials. I think it was at Campbelltown, during a demonstration day, that I saw Mr Bill Mason give an exhibition of retrieving with his dogs. It was fantastic, I had never seen anything like it. I could hardly wait to see what I could do with my good yellow dog, Sandy.

Since I had no idea as to how to start dog training I bought the first book that I found that appealed to me, as I went browsing through the book stores in town. This book was Dog Training by Amateurs by R. Sharpe, published by Country Life Ltd.

It seemed to me, to be just what I wanted, I certainly qualified as an amateur and it was directed to training a dog with field work in mind. Field work appealed to me as I had done some shooting on friend's properties to reduce the numbers of rabbits and ducks when necessary. I would recommend this book to anyone who is starting, especially if they have no previous knowledge of training gun dogs.

Later on I bought Training your Retriever by James Lamb Free published by Coward-McCann, Inc. New York. This is regarded by many as the standard reference work for training for retrieving trials. It is also well worth adding to your library. I competed in 13 Novice trials with Sandy from 25/03/72-17/02/73. I still remember the first one. When we arrived at the control point there was much shuffling of catalogues and subdued comment. Being a true Novice I thought that this came about as the gallery became aware that a possible new member had joined the trialling fraternity.

It was only when one of the stewards cross examined me as to whether I had the right dog, that the light dawned. Apparently they thought it was a bit odd, that I was competing with a yellow Labrador named Tsang Black Prince.

I explained that when I called in to the Kennel Control, in order to complete Sandy's registration, I was asked to nominate a few names for christening purposes. I was seeking inspiration, when I noticed that one of his ancestors was F.T.Ch.Stevaden Prince Valiant, so I thought it only fitting to nominate Black Prince as a very suitable name for one of his relatives. The fact that Sandy was a yellow dog had momentarily escaped me.

In due course I was advised that I was now the registered and accredited owner of a yellow Labrador dog, by the name of Tsang Black Prince, with all the rights privileges and prerogatives belonging thereto or suspended therefrom, or words to that effect.

Anyway we pressed on, despite these minor problems and managed to take a place in 9 of the 13 Novice Trials that we competed in. Although we had a few run-offs for first, we could never win one. That did not worry me, I was delighted with the way Sandy worked, not only in retrieving trials but also in the field when we went shooting. I was also making new friends and enjoying myself. I vaguely knew that there were Restricted Stakes and of course All Age Stakes, that was where the heavies were to be found. Serious people discussing Two birds, Double rise and Blind and similar mysteries. I watched them in action occasionally but found it totally confusing, so I went happily back to Novice where I felt at home.

In the days when I was competing with Sandy I saw a quote in a book about judging dogs. I think I borrowed the book from Wendy Andrew of Brierdene Kennels. It went like this ?People often ask me, how can you tell a Champion when you see one. I always reply. You will know a Champion when you see one. There is a look in his eye, in his bearing, in his intelligence, if you know dogs you will know a Champion when you see one?.

Accordingly I made a point of really looking at all the dogs before they competed and then looked at them in competition, to see how they matched up. I tried to develop a ?feeling of recognition? for a good dog. From then on I certainly tried to make a habit of really studying all the dogs I saw. Of course I also sought the opinions of people with many years of experience and endeavoured to learn from them.

After a while it became apparent that Sandy (Tsang Black Prince) had developed PRA, so he had to retire from NSRT and I had to find another dog.

Derbyshire Ace A Hearts (Cass) enters my trialling life and modesty becomes increasingly difficult to maintain.

I think it was about the middle of March 1973 when Peter Halford told me that he knew where I might get a good dog. When I saw Cass for the first time, he was in the yard at Peter?s place, just running around with the other dogs. I said to Peter ?What?s he like ?? Peter said ?I?ll show you? With that he picked up an old .22 rifle walked into the yard and swung the rifle to his shoulder. Cass was moving around with the other dogs, as soon as he saw Peter raise the gun, he froze. Every muscle stood out as he looked with total concentration, first to Peter as he raised the gun and then to where Peter was pointing it. Some of the other dogs showed a little interest but none with the total concentration that Cass showed. I had never seen anything like it. We took Cass out to do a retrieve or two. I had to hold him or he would have just taken off. He did not rely on his eyes to closely mark the fall. Just headed downwind of the fall, scenting as hard as he could. His dewlaps looked like the skirts of a hover craft as he concentrated on finding the scent that would lead him to the game. I have never seen a dog, before or since, that hunted with the same total concentration on finding the ?game as quickly as possible. I paid Peter a deposit and took Cass home with me.

Training and handling your dog in trials.

I think that there are two basic ways of training and handling a retriever. The way I chose was to endeavour to maximise my dog?s own ability to do the job ?on his own?. Retrieve to be effected quickly, quietly with a soft mouth.

The other way which is probably quicker is to get a dog that has, at least, some retrieving instincts and then make him so obedient and dependent on his handler that the handler effectively can do the dogs work for him. All the dog has to is to obey his instructions For example on a mark or a blind, all such a dog had to do is just take the exact line he was given and he would practically trip over the game. No real game finding was required, just total obedience.

There seemed to be several drawbacks to this method.

( 1) As I saw it the better and more intelligent the dog, the sooner he could became almost totally dependent on his handler?s instructions.

( 2) The dog was denied the opportunity of demonstrating and developing his own natural abilities, like marking, skilled use of nose and hunting abilities.

( 3) I could not see how judges could be expected to award points for vitally important retrieving abilities, if they were not demonstrated by the dog, in completing the run.

( 4) What would be the value of such a dog in the field, when wounded game whose exact position was not known to the handler, had to be retrieved ?

( 5) What would be the value of breeding future retrievers from such dogs. When their only claim to fame was their obedience in taking a line or other directions.

I did not enter retrieving trials with the aim of chalking up a massive score of championship points. All I wanted was to develop a good retriever that I could work with in the field, without embarrasment, because of his inability to demonstrate his natural abilities. Accordingly I gradually taught Cass his basic obedience skills, like Heel, Sit, Stay, Come, Over, Back, Fetch, willing delivery and working the line to a blind find.

My first objective when training or trialling was simply to allow Cass to do the job on his own and thus demonstrate his eagerness, intelligence, memory of marks, use of nose, physical fitness, tender mouth and so on. On blinds I wanted him to ?make his ground good? on the line to the ?fall? that I had given him. I wanted him to use his nose every inch of the way.

A top run, in my opinion, was one where I only had to say ?Fetch? and take delivery of game, a short time later. I would reluctantly help a little, when I felt it was unavoidable, after Cass had done his best to do the run, on his own. I wanted Cass to become the best possible natural retriever that anyone would be proud to take shooting. Knowing that he could be counted on as an eager retriever of dead and more importantly of wounded game with the courage to face any cover and the determination to find the game, every time, as quickly as he could.

COMPETING IN NON-SLIP RETRIEVING TRIALS

I remember asking Bill Loftus ?How can you tell if a young dog is going to be an outstanding dog?. He replied that in his opinion, a good dog would be lucky to even finish one of his first 6 All Age Stakes, having regard to the difficulty of the runs and the skills of competing dogs and handlers.

Cass earned his title after he competed in ?his? first three stakes that carried Championship points. The first one was an All Age Stake that we failed to complete, a week or two later we came second to Tammy in the 1975 N S W Championship. We then won our next All Age Stake (in which Tammy competed) held a week or so after the ?75 N S W Championship.

Although Bill Loftus could see that Cass represented competition for Tammy he never failed to help me with good advice that helped me on many occasions. He appreciated the work of good dogs. His attitude was to always do your best to win but that to be beaten by a better dog ?on the day? was no disgrace. In fact it was a source of pleasure to watch good dogs and useful in improving our knowledge of what good dogs could do.

His advice when competing was never to expect to handle an inexperienced dog in the way that the more experienced handlers were doing with their dogs. Instead only expect your dog to do what you knew he could do and handle him accordingly. Lastly ?never gamble? and remember that if other dogs are having problems you will get problems too?.

One of the factors that assisted us was the quality of the ?opposition?. For example Bill Loftus and R T CH Kaemajae Tammy, (Tammy) were surely one of the all time greats in N S R T competition, others were not far behind.

Many of the other handlers had years of experience to call on. I was effectively a ?Novice? handler in ?All Age?. So I just concentrated on training to develop Cass?s natural abilities to the maximum. Ideally in trials I could just hold the gun and Cass would do the job ?on his own?. I generally just waited until Cass had done what he could and then I would try to help him, if necessary. I remember that we had failed to finish an All Age Stake because I had waited too long, before helping Cass. John Palmer could not resist saying ?Bill, you are a wonderful trainer but a hopeless handler:. He was probably quite right. All I could say in response was ?That?s lucky for the rest of you !?. For a moment there was a stunned silence and I thought I might end up ?in the river?. Then everyone started to laugh.

On another occasion Ray Ashendon gave me a piece of verse at a trial. It read ?Oh it?s hard to be humble, when you have a good dog like Cass?. All I could say was ?I hope it stays that way a bit longer?. To their credit they all laughed, but I tried to remember the advice.

Triallers are a special breed they all want to do well but they appreciate the work of good dogs and will always help. Peter and Eddy Halford with their advice and help in training. Bruce and Wendy Andrew for help with knowledge about dogs in general and use of their property for my training. They were also an essential part of the training days held by the Labrador Retriever Club of N S W. I helped with advice on training.

John Palmer and Ron Cooper were my main training partners, at the weekend. As a severe asthmatic I could never have managed without them. They carried all the gear, set up the runs and by running their top dogs gave me an insight into what skills were needed to tackle each run.

It was in 1978 that my late wife was operated on for cancer (she died in 1983). She wanted me to continue competing with Cass. But I was no longer prepared to put as much time and effort into training and trialling as I had been doing. I wanted to spend more time with my her and family.

When I mentioned retiring Cass to a few of my friends they all said ?You can?t retire until Cass has won a National?. Accordingly after discussing it with my wife, who said she was making a good recovery. I decided to still gradually reduce my involvement in All Age and see what we could with the 1980 National (being held in Victoria) and the 1981 National (being held in N S W). Anyway we competed in and won both. Modesty returned when I did not finish the following Championship in Victoria, so we retired from serious competition.

I think competing in Championships is a good experience for any serious trialler with a reasonable dog. I know I was very nervous, at first about competing in a State title let alone a National. Reality is that a state title is usually held over one day and so runs are hard from the start. All the top competitors from that state will be there, so competition is serious.

A National is usually held over 2 days, Judges do not want to risk ?losing the field? on the first day. So serious runs tend to commence on the second day. With the benefit of hindsight I think we could have done better if we had included a few more Nationals.

I had two problems with travelling. One was to find the time the other was my asthma. When I went to W A to compete in 1975 I soon finished up in hospital. They were kind enough to let me out to compete, but I was history anyway. I think we went out of the Championship on the first run, because I sent Cass for the wrong retrieve first or something. Then found a cosy spot in the sun and went to sleep.

John Palmer was good enough to make the trip with me and I sure I must have ruined the trip for him. Not that he ever said anything and was most supportive. Anyway I decided then to limit my wanderings to N S W, Qld and Victoria.

People who never saw Cass compete often ask ?What sort of a dog was he ? ?.

Perhaps a few descriptions of actual events in training and trials will help ?to paint a picture of him?

IN TRAINING FOR NOVICE

Peter and Eddy Halford had always told mer not to run Cass before he was competitive for the stake he was entered in. One day we put on a ?training examination run? and ran our dogs over it. I thought Cass was fantastic. So I said to Peter ?How did we go ??. Peter looked at Eddy, with a straight face, then turned to me and said ?Well, the dog?s alright?.

NOVICE TRIALS

In one novice trial under Mr Ken Martin, Cass scored 50, 50 50. Ken said it was the highest score that he had ever given in a Novice Trial and predicted a bright future for Cass.

On another Novice Trial, Cass came back so quickly that when he braked to stop, he skidded and crashed into me.

I often asked Judges for their comments as to good or bad work, so that I could add to my knowledge of what was required. This time when I asked the Judge if he had any comments about how Cass had worked, especially if had any faults. He said ?He worked alright, but you should get his brakes fixed?.

RESTRICTED

Competing in retrieving trials has its funny moments. I remember competing with Cass on a fairly hard double mark, in a Restricted trial. When we had completed our run I asked Peter Halford how he thought we would score. Peter looked sorrowful and shook his head, saying ?Not too good?. I was stunned as I thought we had done a top run. So I asked why he thought we would not get a good score. With a straight face he replied. ?When you sent Cass for the first time, the Judge sneezed and his glasses fell off. You had finished both retrieves before he finished putting his glasses back on. I don?t think he saw anything to give you a point for. Needless to say, we top scored the run and won the trial.

ALL AGE

I remember competing in Tamworth under Mr Don Livingstone. The area was covered with a variety of burrs. On the last run, Cass took off like a rocket in his usual fashion. Picked up the game and turned to come back. As he turned he trod on a large three cornered "burr". As the judge said in announcing the results. "The winner is R T Ch Derbyshire Ace A Hearts, on the last run this dog came back more quickly on three legs, than the rest went out on four".

Later on after Cass and I had retired from serious competition. I was out training with Ronnie Cooper, who wanted to run his new dog against Cass to see how he went. After we had finished we met Peter Halford with his new good dog, Drum. Peter was getting him ready for the upcoming Championships.

Peter asked me if he could do a few runs against Cass. I naturally agreed. At his request I picked a good blind. Peter, always polite, suggested that I run first, which I did and Cass had a good run. When Peter tried he ?lost? Drum on his first attempt, but did alright on the second attempt. Then Peter asked me to pick a few marks, again Cass ran first and did a better run than Drum on each one. I could not help saying to Peter ?I think Cass retired too soon ?? To which he replied, with considerable sincerity, ?No mate, you retired at just the right time. Of course I did not tell Peter that Cass?s run on the blind was his second try on that run.

At our first Championship trial, Bill Mason told me that Cass was the best young dog he had seen in years.

Some of the best compliments that I received were given when we were competing in Victoria. For example after Cass had won the Championship of Victoria for the first time. Apparently the judge (Mr Jack Thompson) commented that he would be quite happy if he never judged another trial as he had enjoyed the privelege of judging the best young retriever he had ever seen.

ALL AGE - SINGLE MARK.

This was a single mark over a lovely grassy paddock in Victoria. The only item of local interest which detracted from the beauty of the day, was that we all had to file past a dead cow that was producing an odour that could have knocked an elephant over at 50 yards. Fortunately the area where the run was being held was upwind of that smell factory.

Many of the dogs seemed to have some difficulty with this run as the grass was long enough to partly obscure their vision and there were no land marks in the area of the fall, to help them remember the location of the game. Still dogs could hear the game fall and could see it clearly in the air and as it fell, so it seemed a pretty straight forward run to me.

When I sent Cass, he fairly flew through the yellow grass. If you have ever seen a fox, in a lightly grassed paddock who has decided that he has urgent business elsewhere, you will know what I mean. Cass streaked out, winded the game and was back with it, in no time.

After we had completed this run, I was standing with Cass, watching the other competitors when Carl Sietens came up to me and introduced himself. I had not met Carl previously, but I did know he was a man, dedicated to G.S.P's. Accordingly I was a little surprised when he said, "Where can I get a dog like that !, I did not even know that Labradors could move so fast. If I can get a dog like Cass, I will gladly trade in my G.S.P's.! "

After Carl had gone, another spectator came up, who had been timing the dogs with a stop watch. He told me that the quickest dog was a top G.S.P. who had taken just 63 seconds to effect the retrieve. He told me that a few of the G.S.P people were in the midst of congratulating themselves on their choice of breed, when Cass stunned them into silence by completing the retrieve in 61 seconds when his turn came.

I had seen both runs and had noticed that while Cass may have taken a little longer than the G.S.P. to cover the ground, he marked the fall more closely and had then located the bird more quickly than the other dog.

1978 VICTORIA CHAMPIONSHIP.

This is one Championship I will long remember for two runs in particular.

One run was a double walk up along the bank of a small river. The area that we had to walk on, was quite slippery and well studded by cattle hoof marks where they had earlier sunk into the mud somewhat. First bird came up on our right and was cast in a low arc to travel parallel to our path, but "away" from us, to land on the edge of a watercourse that ran across our front and fed into into the main river, on our left. When the dog was on his way back with the first bird a second bird was to be cast from a position, to our left and behind us, to travel parallel to our path and land behind some decoys in the main body of water, to our left, but ahead of us.

I had been sitting with Cass, in the blind, which was an area of fairly long grass. After a while I found that my asthma was affecting my breathing, so I stood up and took a few doses from my inhaler. Being nervous and a bit embarrassed about having medication in public etc, I fumbled and the inhaler which is springloaded, promptly shot out of my hand and disappeared into the grass. This was a demonstration of the natural perversity of inanimate things, which never fails to operate at the most untimely moments. Anyone who has bought a new car, which they want to show off to their friend's will know what I mean. It will wait until everyone is assembled and then it will refuse to start or something.

In the middle of this my number was called, with the added injunction of "Hurry up, they are waiting for you". As I hurriedly bent down to pick up my ventolin inhaler, I spiked my right eye on a piece of the local scenery As a result I went off to compete with my right eye weeping copiously, to do a walk up, which a few of the handlers had mentioned to the Judge as being too hard for the handlers to see.

Accordingly I started my walk up, trying to look to the right, with my left eye (without making it too obvious to the Judge), not an easy task as a walk up is supposed to be a surprise shot, for both dog and handler. When the first bird went up, I stopped and my left foot slipped into one of the pot holes the cattle had left behind them. I just managed to hold my balance on my right leg and aimed the gun in roughly the right direction, at the ?bird?. (For technically minded readers I probably led my target by about 50 yards) at a range of some 110 yards.

After I fired I looked down and saw that Cass had shoved his head between my legs, so that he could see what I was firing at. He was obviously doing his job, without worrying about my problems. I very gingerly moved my left leg back to safer ground, without breaking his concentration and released him from a sort of scissors hold. I paused a moment and then sent Cass.

He disappeared into some heavy cover on the direct line to the fall, when I saw him on the far side he was still going flat chat to the fall, pulled up within a yard of the tussock it had fallen into, picked up the game and came charging back. On his way back he had to go through the same heavy cover where he would be out of my sight and when he came into sight, he would have had only about 20 yards of open ground, to cover before he reached me.

Since the second shot, to my left at a bird being cast into the water, would have to be taken very quickly, while he was covering that open ground. It was necessary to save every fraction of a second. So I closed the gun early and raised it, almost to the normal firing position, while Cass was coming back through the cover. When Cass cleared the cover he saw that I was looking to my left with the gun almost to my shoulder, so he promptly stopped and looked to where I was looking. The Judge naturally wanted the dog to be moving when the game was cast, so I lowered the gun and called ?Cass come?.

As soon as Cass was underway again the Judge signalled for the game to be cast. I fired at it. Cass stopped, turned towards the fall and put his front feet up on a little bank between him and the fall, so that he could look down at the bird lying in the water on the far side of the decoys. He then turned towards me and ?nodded?, as though to say, "She'll be right". Back he came, delivered the first one and then retrieved the second one, when I sent him.

Naturally I was concerned about Cass stopping as he had, I thought it showed great intelligence and effective teamwork on his part. However when I asked a few handlers, they mostly felt Cass would have been penalised for stopping without orders. So after the trial I asked one of the Judges about it. I was glad to hear that he agreed with me, that it showed a high degree of intelligence and a marvellous degree of teamwork that few dogs were capable of.

The last run of this trial was also one I will long remember. The Judges announced that for the last run, they were only calling on those dogs that they felt had a chance of winning or placing. I was very relieved to hear my number called, as I felt we had quite a bit of catching up to do, as I was sure we had not scored well on some of the earlier runs. So down I went, to see what was in store for us. As Cass excelled at marking I would have been delighted if it had been a good hard triple mark and blind. I was told that the last run would be a tough single mark.

I felt that we were trailing the field by at least 10 or 12 points, perhaps more, so the possibility of making up that difference on a single mark seemed an impossibility, given the quality of the dogs we were running against. The mark was a good clear one, so I did not think many, if any of the dogs would have been troubled by it.

Only about six dogs were called up and Cass was one of the last ones to run. We stood at the firing point in a grassy paddock, with a line of trees and cover which apparently clothed the banks of an almost dry creek that ran across our front, probably about 130 yards or so away. Behind the trees was a hill that was sloping towards us. Bird was cast from the side of that hill from behind the trees. When cast it rose clearly above the trees and then fell behind them. Spectators were allowed to take vantage points on the hill to watch the work of the dogs, provided they kept still, while the dogs were running (which they did).

To my surprise all the dogs that ran ahead of us, had trouble, some were even called in. When our turn came, I walked up to the firing point, faced the muzzle of the broken gun towards the point where the bird would come into view and closed it, without moving the muzzle away from the desired direction. Cass had learned to look in the direction indicated by the gun. Cass quickly concentrated on looking in the right direction, so I got ready to fire from my shoulder as soon as the game was cast. I wanted to fire as early as possible, so that the noise of the shot would not prevent him from hearing the sound of the fall. Hopefully Cass would hear the fall, to give him some additional idea of the location of the game. After firing I always paused to let Cass listen for the sound of the fall and study the terrain he had to cover to take the most direct line to a position downwind of the fall. Then I slowly lowered and broke the gun without breaking his concentration on the fall.

This pause after firing is very important, especially in training, as it allows your dog to study the terrain he has to cover and firmly fix the location of the fall by reference to the terrain, it also demonstrates his steadiness to shot. Just to check that he knew where it was I said quietly to him "Where is it ?" he just lifted himself slightly as he flexed his muscles ready to go and continued to look to the fall. So I just said "Good dog" quietly and then "FETCH". Loudly enough for the Judge to hear.

Cass shot off like a rocket but as he was taking a good line, I did not worry unduly when he disappeared into the cover between us and the fall, (well not for the first ten seconds or so, which seemed like 10 minutes). Anyway all I could do was wait, for what seemed an eternity. When next I saw Cass he was on his way back with the game. I was delighted. We had finished and in my memories would be two magic runs that I would never forget, win, lose or draw.

In due course we were all assembled for the announcement of results. In Victoria they invariably announce first place last, which I think is an excellent way of giving a last shot of excitement at the end of a long day. The Judges were Bob Maver and Kevin Bowtell. Kevin had the honour of announcing the results. To the best of my recollection, his comments were as follows.

"The fourth placed dog was R.T.Ch. Casray Hector, from N.S.W. owned & handled by Mr Ron Cooper.
The third placed dog was R.T.Ch. Yamba Toucha Class from N.S.W owned by Mr & Mrs Loftus and handled by Mr Bill Loftus.
The second placed dog was R.T.Ch. Kaemajae Tammy from N.S.W also owned by Mr & Mrs W. Loftus and handled by Mr Bill Loftus.
All of these dogs have done excellent work over very testing runs and thoroughly deserve their placings.
Now we come to the winning dog, this dog was 10 points behind coming into the last run, but he did the finest mark I have ever seen and richly deserves his win. This dog is another N.S.W dog and he is R.T.Ch. Derbyshire Ace A Hearts owned & handled by Mr Bill Bailey".

After the trial I returned to earth long enough to speak to a few people who saw Cass when he was out of my sight on this last run. This is something I have always found useful to do, as experienced people, who were close to your dog, can often give you an excellent idea of how your dog has been working. After all when your dog is 100 - 150 yards or more away from you, it is very hard to know what he is doing, in any detail.

Cass apparently came straight through the screen of trees, on a good line to the fall and about five yards downwind of the game. He obviously noticed the spectators, but did not allow that to interfere with his work. They told me that he had maintained his initial line and had only started to slow down, a few yards before he came level with the fall and just a few yards downwind of the game. He had scented it almost straight away, then swung in without wasting any time and picked it up on the run and then went flat out back the way he had come. They said it was almost as though he knew where it was, all the time and that if they had not seen him do it, they would not have thought it was possible, for any dog to mark the fall, so accurately.

Later on when I was talking to a few of the Victorian handlers, one of them said that someone had asked Charlie Ball, whether he thought Cass had any faults. Charlie Ball was something of a legend in the training and handling of gundogs and rightly so, in my opinion. So I listened intently to see if I could pick up a clue or two, as to where Cass needed improvement. Apparently Charlie thought for a while and then said, "Well, I know he does have one fault, a very serious one at that, then he paused until someone said "What is it ?". Charlie replied "He lives at Bill Bailey's place, not mine".

1980 N.S.W. CHAMPIONSHIP.

The 1980 N.S.W. Championship was one of the hardest trials we ever ran in. Every run was a testing run and the last run was one of the hardest blinds we have ever had to do. In my opinion it was hard but fair and a very interesting run. Only four dogs remained in the trial to contest this last run. They were all NSW dogs and they were to compete in the following order.

No: 14 Bill Loftus with R.T.Ch. Yamba Toucha Class(Touch).
No: 11 Bill Bailey with R.T.Ch. Derbyshire Ace A Hearts (Cass)
No: 15 Bill Loftus with R.T.Ch. Kaemajae Tammy.UD (Tammy)
No: 19 Ron Cooper with R.T.Ch. Casray Hector (Hector)

It was getting late in the day and the light was beginning to fade, so that there was no time to waste and certainly if your dog was disobedient or working in the wrong area, you could not expect to be given much lattitude.

As a run it had aspects similar to one we had failed on at Minmi, under the same judge. On that occasion I had sent Cass into a swampy area where people had been shooting ducks, to do blind in a swampy area full of game scent. He became so interested in the scents he was working that he did not pay any great attention to me. Also the noise he made as he worked quickly through slushy mud and water largely prevented him from hearing my commands, especially as there was a strong wind blowing into my face, as I tried in vain to handle him.

This run was an even longer run it appeared to me to be a good 150 yards and in the opinion of many could have closer to 200 yards. That did not worry me as I felt it was a fair test for the quality of the dogs competing that had survived one of the most demanding Championships we had ever competed in. When the chips are down tough fair runs give the best dogs a real chance to show what they are capable of. Mediocre runs favour mediocre dogs.Anyway so long as Cass could hear me on a blind or see the fall on a mark I had no diffifulty with long runs, as he had done many 200 yards + runs in training.

The run we now had to do, was a double blind, as follows. The left hand bird had to be retrieved first and then the shorter right hand bird. The left hand bird was certainly one of the longest retrieves we had ever had to tackle in a trial. The distance itself did not worry me, as Cass had done longer runs in training, many times.

What did concern me was the question of control when Cass was say 2/3 or more of the distance to the game. This was because there was a strong wind blowing in sustained gusts, diagonally towards us and from left to right. Also the light was beginning to fade, so that Cass may have had some difficulty in seeing my hand signals by the time we were due to run. In addition there was a loudspeaker in use at some event being held further up the river, on our left, which could have been loud enough to mask the sound of my whistle or voice commands, especially as Cass moved further away from me and closer to where the loudspeakers were.

Dogs were to be sent from the top of a bank, across about 10 yards of water, then across fairly open terrain, which was often flooded when the river was up. This area was full of interesting scents, especially for a dog like Cass, as it was an area that was often used by ducks and other game. At the far edge of this ground, dogs had to cross another area of water, probably somewhat wider than the first area of water. Dogs then had to locate the game, in some cover, probably about another 20-40 yards up the far bank.

It seemed to me, that the main problems would be the following, especially on the left hand retrieve, which had to be retrieved first.

As the wind was coming diagonally from our left and towards us, Cass's natural inclination would be to work to his right, across the wind and moving further away from me. Since dogs cannot know the depth of the fall on a blind find with any certainty, the better ones soon learn to work across the wind, so that they can search for the game more effectively when it is upwind of them. In effect they are searching a bigger area by moving across the wind.

As well, in the great majority of retrieves the dog finds the game when he is moving away from his handler, rather than by coming closer in. So I expected Cass to work across the wind to his right as he moved further away from me. However if he went too far to the right and was also moving to the right when he reached the second area of water and I was not able to control him, because of the wind and the loudspeaker noise, he could easily go out of my control and out of the trial. It seemed essential to me that he should be moving from right to left when he reached our side of the second area of water.

In my opinion, he would be able to wind the game for himself from our side of the second area of water if the wind was as strong as I expected. Should the wind drop, then I was sure I could handle him back a little more, so that he would still wind the game for himself. I had no intention of finding the game for him.

However if he arrived too far to the left of the scent stream from the game and kept moving left, he would be out of the trial, unless I could stop him and move him to the right. If the wind was blowing hard, I might not be able to control him and that would be the end of the trial for us. The loudspeakers that I mentioned were on the main river, to our left, so the further left he went, the more likely they would be to blanket my commands. Anyway I was confident of Cass's ability to scent the game for himself and also to respond to any commands that he heard, even if he was 200 yards or more away from me.

So I decided that I would give him a line to keep him initially to the right of the game and well downwind. Then I would stop him well before there was any chance of him not responding, move him a little to the left and stop him again and then push him back again and so on. I wanted the message to get through to him that the game was diagonally to his left and back. Ideally I wanted to start him quartering across the wind in large legs that got shorter as he got closer to the spot where I expected him to be able to scent the game for himself.

Of course I also had to make sure that he did not go too far to the right, on his way out and scent the second retrieve. Although it was well to the right, it was in an interesting looking spot that I felt would attract Cass's natural hunting curiosity. Over the years I had always endeavoured to help Cass retain his natural hunting instincts and also acquire a reasonable degree of control, so that if it was necessary, I could quickly get him into the area where he was then expected to find the game for himself.

My next task was to see if I had any points up my sleeve, by trying to assess where we stood in the scoring, by comparison with the other dogs. Of course in every trial, especially in a Championship, it is important not to waste points by giving apparently unnecessary commands.

It seemed to me that this was a run where Tammy's great strength on blinds would enable him to do a good run, however I felt he was probably well behind Cass, as I knew he had done at least one rather disastrous run and Cass had not given very much away in his other runs, so far as I could tell without knowing the actual scores.

It also seemed to me that Bill Loftus would be more confident of completing the run with Tammy than with Touch and so I felt that if he thought that he might not have enough time to complete the run with both of them, he might decide not put too much time into handling Touch, unless she was obviously going to do an exceptionally brilliant run. If he struck early trouble with Touch, he could ask the Judges permission to withdraw her, on the grounds that she was not working up to the standard required. If the judge agreed, that would put additional pressure on the remaining dogs to work consistently well, if one of their number had already been withdrawn for poor work.

It also thought that we were probably also well ahead of Touch and Hector. Even playing safe it seemed to me that I probably had a lead of possibly 10 - 15 points on the rest of the field, from what I had seen or heard of the work of the other dogs. However we still had to complete the last run and anything could happen.

Touch had done some brilliant work on occasions but was not as consistently reliable as Tammy. Hector had won the trial at Minmi that I referred to earlier as Ronnie Cooper could control him much more closely than other handlers could control their dogs, but he was also used to being kept under tight control, which generally meant that he only went a relatively short distance and was then given another command and so on. On a long run such as this, being the last run in a Championship, and running last, with the light failing. I thought Ron and Hector might easily run out of time and daylight as they would be running against the clock even more than Bill and I.

So in summary I felt that we could afford to lose a few points, for possible overhandling, provided I did not lose control and probably still win the trial. As the run was a double blind, Tammy would probably do as well as Cass, if not better. Touch would possibly give Bill more trouble than he would expect from Tammy and he might ask to withdraw her, this would give more daylight time for the rest of the dogs, including Tammy and also put additional pressure on the remaining dogs, especially Cass, who had gone out of control on a similar type of run at Minmi under the same Judge. Hector would probably complete the run alright if time and nightfall did not beat him. While I knew that Hector and Ron Cooper had certainly had their share of problems during the day, I also knew that they were often better on tight handling runs than any other combination, as they had shown at Minmi.

If all dogs completed this run, I felt it was probable that Tammy and Cass would score pretty evenly and that both would score ahead of Touch and Hector. If I was right and of course I did not know the scores awarded by the Judges so far, I could afford to lose a few points and still finish up with a good total score for the trial and perhaps even chalk up our fourth N.S.W. Championship win in succession.

Touch ran first and it was not long before Bill showed signs of concern about the way Touch was handling the run. So I was not surprised to see that Bill was soon engaged in earnest conversation with the Judge, who then indicated to Bill that he could withdraw Touch, which he did without delay.

We were next to run, so when I sent Cass I gave him the line as indicated above to the left hand ?bird? and away he went. However just as he was crossing the first area of water, a small fish jumped in the water about 10 feet away from him and to his right. Cass turned and looked towards the sound of the splash and saw the ripples. He then looked at me as though to say, "Is that for me ?". He had of course had some experience on retrieving wounded ducks that dived to escape etc. So I just said "No" and waved him back along the line I had already given him to the blind find that I wanted him to locate.

He took the line that I had given him pretty well and all my subsequent directions, as I had planned. I did not rush my commands as I wanted him to take enough time so that he would be sure to concentrate on the commands that I gave him. He duly reached the near edge of the second area of water, pretty much where I had planned for him to finish up. I then signalled him to the left, although he was facing correctly to my left. But I wanted to make sure that he would work into the stream of scent from the game and not make a U turn and start working in the wrong direction. He kept working to my left and when I saw his tail start to wag as he turned into the wind, I certainly heaved a sigh of relief. He followed the scent straight across the water and worked up to the game in the cover, picked it up quickly and headed back to me, at full speed.

As he came back I started thinking about how I would handle him, when he returned, so far as the "diving duck" distraction that had interested him as he went out was concerned. I knew that he would be panting somewhat when he returned, although he was very fit. This first leg would have involved in going almost flat chat in a series of sprints for at least 150 yards going out. Coming back was a non stop gallop as he brought the game promptly and gently to hand.

I always believed in letting a dog settle down and get his bearings, before sending him on another retrieve unless time is short. So I had planned originally, to pause, while I put the retrieved game in my bag, shifted the gun into my right hand etc. However there was a possible complication, the "diving duck". It had fallen well to the left of the line that I had planned to give Cass to his second blind. If he did not remember that distraction, it would not matter but if he did remember it and knowing Cass I was virtually certain that he would. I could easily lose points for having to handle him, away from it. After all I did not know whether the judge had seen it or what his attitude would be to any handling required, to get Cass to take a line over it or past it.

I felt tempted to send him for the second retrieve, before he got his breath back and before he remembered his "diving duck". Needless to say, when he returned to heel, he looked without delay, to where he had seen "his duck". I knew then that if I gave him a line well clear of it, he would either have had to be given a line excessively downwind to the right, or too far to the left which would have put him a long way upwind of the game he was to retrieve next.

He knew that the command right back meant to go past the first one and pick up the one further out. So mentally crossing my fingers I gave him the line I had originally planned and said "Right back".

Away he went swinging slightly to his left as he went. This was not totally unexpected as there were three things pulling him in that direction. The memory of his last retrieve and all the interesting scents that he had just worked through, his natural tendency to go straight to the other bank, rather than to swim diagonally and lastly his "diving duck". To play safe I gave him another right back command and away he went without hesitation. Because he had gone a little too far left he was now on a line that would put him about 20 yards upwind of the game he was being sent for.

I could have stopped him and moved him across to my right and then pushed him back. However he tended to move out very quickly and as game was planted in a hollow, I expected that winding it would have been rather difficult, especially if he was moving quickly. So I let him take the line he was on. Only stopping him and pushing him back, to make sure he was listening to me.

When he was past the right hand ?game?, (upwind and to its left), I stopped him, moved him across to my right, stopped him again and then called him to me. I knew he hated to come in without finding the game he had been sent for. As I expected he came relatively slowly towards me. This was fine as I felt scenting conditions would be tricky in the area of the game and so I wanted him to take his time and get it right the first time. When I thought he was about to strike the scent stream from the game, I called out "Easy". This told him that the game was in that area and upwind of him, (as we had practiced this many times before). Sure enough his tail started to wag, as he picked up the scent, he then located the game after a bit of quartering and brought it quickly and gently to hand.

Cass and Tammy were the only dogs to complete the run, as Bill Loftus had called Touch in and the judge had called Hector in. When the total scores were announced Cass had won the Championship on 237 points with Tammy 45 points behind on 192 points. As a matter of interest Cass and Tammy's scores were fairly close on that last run, being 35 and 29 respectively.

After the trial was over and the results announced, it was interesting to note that although Bill Loftus had experienced one disastrous run with Tammy, he had persisted and did not give the trial away, as some handlers would have been tempted to do. As it turned out Cass had an enormous lead going into the last run. As he was 77 points ahead of Hector, 39 points ahead of Tammy and 26 points ahead of Touch. However it would have done him no good at all, if we had ?bombed out? on the last run, as the rules require all dogs to complete all runs and I had no reason to argue with that.

There is a great deal of emotional tension when running a dog and like all the other competitors I was naturally pretty nervous, as apart from anything else I knew that if we won this trial, it would bring Cass's record in the N.S.W. Championship to four straight wins, following his two earlier second places, from a total of six starts.

The following are the scores (later also published in the Journal), I think they are interesting and well worth studying by anyone interested in competing in trials.

I think it is important to get an idea of the sort of work different judges approve or disaprove of and why. Then you can make sure that you bear this in mind as you train your dog.

Hopefully when your dog runs he will display the work that the Judge approves of. I tried to develop Cass so that he demononstrated all the good work and none of the bad work, in the judges opinion.

* Top scorer on run Points per run.
Dog NAME TYPE OF RUN SB DM DB DM DM DB
No: RUN No: 1 2 3 4 5 6
14 R.T.Ch. YAMBA TOUCHA CLASS 33* 43 41* 26 33 0
11 R.T.Ch. DERBYSHIRE ACE A HEARTS 29 49* 37 38* 49* 35*
15 R.T.Ch. KAEMAJAE TAMMY 10 39 36 33 45 29
19 R.T.Ch. CASRAY HECTOR 20 40 16 30 19 0

* TOP PROGRESSIVE SCORE IN TRIAL - PROGRESSIVE SCORE
NAME OF DOG RUN No: 1 2 3 4 5 6
14 R.T.Ch TOUCH A'CLASS. 33*76 117* 143 176 0
11 R.T.Ch DERBYSHIRE ACE A HEARTS 29 78*115 153* 202* 237*
15 R.T.Ch KAEMAJAE TAMMY 10 49 85 118 163 192
19 R.T.Ch CASRAY HECTOR 20 60 76 106 125 0

1981 N.S.W. CHAMPIONSHIP - DOUBLE MARK.

Another run that I will long remember with pleasure, was in the 1981 N.S.W. Championships. This was an interesting double mark. The firing point was on a flat area of rock at the junction of two little creeks that flowed towards us and then joined into one stream that flowed down our right side. If you can visualise a Y shaped stream, with handler standing at the left of the stem of the Y.

There was a strong wind blowing from right to left. The first bird was cast from right to left and landed in the fast flowing water, in the right hand fork of the "Y". The second bird was cast from a position about 90 degrees to our left, after the first bird had been fired at. Both birds were short retrieves, probably no more than 40 yards. Bird in the water was to be retrieved first, as a strong current was sweeping it quickly towards us and into some broken water and small rapids.

All the dogs that I saw run before us, crossed the shallow, fast flowing water to the handler's right and then ran along the right hand bank until they were approximately level with where the game had fallen. All these dogs passed the bird as it was being swept past them by the current. As they were now upwind of the fall they did not scent it and eventually had to be directed to the game by their handlers. They then had considerable difficulty in finding it as the current was sweeping it the other way into an area of broken water and rocks. So handlers had to call their dogs back and then move them across over the rocks, into a fast flowing creek, to find a bird that was being buffeted by a strong current and rough water, full of eddies and turbulance from submerged rocks.

When our turn came,I did not close the gun until I reached the firing point. This achieved two things. Firstly it was safer to carry a broken gun over slippery rocks and secondly I wanted Cass to have a quick look at the terrain. I took my time firing at the first bird, as I wanted Cass to see it splash in the water AND THEN SURFACE AND START TO DRIFT TOWARDS US.

Then I turned and fired at the second bird, which by then was already on its way, so Cass did not have time to see it well if at all. That did not worry me as I did not expect him to have a great deal of trouble with a 40 yard blind, (if it came to that).

Since I wanted him to do a top run on the bird in the water, I made sure that he saw that one down properly. When I sent him, in my usual way, he went on a dead straight line into the fast flowing water, over the blue metal and slippery rocks that formed the creek banks. I noticed that the line he had chosen would mean that he would have to swim and leap through the water a few yards from the left hand bank of the creek. But I also noticed that the line he had chosen kept him to the downwind side of the fall. He swam and scrambled along, keeping to his line, until he scented and then saw the ?bird? floating downstream towards him and also moving to the left, (ie towards his side of the creek), as the strong wind pushed it across the current. He then curved to his right and swam towards the bird. As he met it, he just opened his mouth and the bird floated into his mouth. I was so excited and concentrating on watching him, that I had forgotten to check the position of the second mark, (I usually refreshed my mind as to the location of the next bird, once Cass had secured the first one). To play safe I gave him a line to hunt towards the second mark as though it was a blind. Someone told me later that Cass was already in the area of the fall, when I called ?Easy? for him to stay and hunt that area. I explained that I did not want to take any chances, as I was not sure that he had seen it fall and the area was one where I could easily lose sight and control of him and possibly lose so many points that we would virtually be out of the trial.

As a matter of interest we scored 51 points on this run. Our scores in this Championship were 45, 53, 51, 53, 48.50 = 250.50. This meant that we came in second to Peter Halford's up and coming dog Drum (R.T.Ch. Wishmore Saturn) by one point. (We had our "revenge" the next week-end by winning the National by one point from Peter and Drum).

WALK-UP BLIND IN ALL AGE

One cold damp morning in Victoria we had to walk, with dog at heel, towards a 5-6 foot windrow of logs and fire over it at a blind. Windrow stretched for hundreds of yards to our right and about 25-40 yards to our left. Handlers sent their dogs to the left and handled them as best they could to their right. They all had trouble as dogs were often out of sight. When my turn came I thought I would let Cass decide which way to go. Afterall he would know the direction in which I had fired. So I just fired and said ?Fetch? with a general wave of the hand towards the ?game?. Cass prompltly took off, quickly but carefully over the heap of logs effected the retrieve, with a little help and came back over the logs.

I handed in the gun and the ?game? and tried to look as though we always worked this way.

ALL AGE - TWO BIRD

I think this was his first experience of a two bird so I was a bit nervous. As Cass came back with the first bird, I fired at the second ?bird? as it was cast while Cass was in long grass over his head. When I sent him for the second ?bird? he raced back to where he had been when I had fired the shot. Then he stood up on his hind legs to have a ?good look? at the area of the fall and promptly completed the retrieve to hand.

Before I conclude I would like to pay a tribute to all the people who gave and many who still give unselfishly of their time and effort to make retrieving trials possible. All the stewards, judges and other people who attended to all the details, without which trials would stop. Good trials require good judges, stewards, handlers and dogs. The hardest part of all, falls to the Judges. Some seem to have an eye for a good run. Others just do not seem to have that ability. I think it is true to say that a few pots of paint, some brushes and a piece of canvass do not make a painter. In the same way, a copy of the rules, a paddock and a few dogs, do not make a Judge.

Those who are involved in trials, will know what I mean, for those that are not in the retrieving business, perhaps I can explain it this way. Suppose you were asked to determine the relative ability of 30 high jumpers, over three tests. You then progressively set the height of the bar at 12", 24" and then 36". Each competitor is then assessed by you, on all aspects of his jumping ability. Does he jump cleanly, is he steady until you give him the signal, are his shoe laces tied correctly etc. etc. all the things you consider as being important in a competent, well turned out jumper. Someone who will be a credit to himself and to the sport.

All this is fine, but what about the jumpers who can clear 60", what opportunity have you given them to offset their loose shoe lace penalty, say, by earning additional points by jumping far higher than anyone else. This is the knack which the best judges have, to set runs which allow the best dogs to show fully what they can do, without making it impossible for the weaker bretheren to stay with them, for a little while, at least. It is a blend of knowledge, experience and the recognition that Judging is an art. In brief the best judges have an ability to set runs which enable points to be earned by the dog's significant abilities, less deductions for significant faults. Not simply by giving the best score to a dog who has lost no points but earned none either.

Getting back to the stewards, Judges etc who are essential to trials. When things go wrong, they seem to catch it but when things go well they often get little recognition. Triallers are under considerable pressure when competing so I suppose the odd explosion is to be expected, however the work of Judges, stewards and others involved can be every bit as stressful and I think that should be kept in mind by competitors.

May I also pay tribute to my family who supported my dedication to an odd sport that involved, getting up at the crack of dawn, training and competing with dogs. Especially to my wife who actively encouraged my participation. In later years she had serious health problems which were of concern to us all, but she still encouraged me to keep on with the dogs. She had her first operation to remove cancerous tissue in 1978, her health seemed quite good for a while then started to get worse, she passed away at the end of 1983. I think it would be marvellous if the enormous support of our families could be given greater recognition in some way. So far as I am concerned I could never have trained and competed to the extent I did without that back up.

When Cass died on the 22/08/85 it was a sad day for me and my family and friends, but at least he suffered little pain. I would like to apologise if I have seemed somewhat biased in Cass's favour but I think that if you are fortunate enough to have a very special dog in your life and in your heart, you will understand and make allowances.

A quotation which I read years ago and which I never forgot, is credited to William Beebe (1877-1962), the first Curator of Birds, New York Zoological Society. It reads as follows."The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived though its first material expression be destroyed, a vanished harmony may yet inspire the Composer. But, when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must come to pass before such a one can be again."

I hope we always remember that because there have been many magnificent working retrievers doing what they alone can do, over the years. I hope we never degenerate to the point where the ideal retriever in competion is little more than a remote controlled robot fitted with a scoop to pick up the game.

I would like to repeat an obituary that appeared in the Newsletter of The Labrador Retriever Club of New South Wales which I think says it all. Although retrieving is a very competitive sport, it is also a wonderful sport where many valued and long lasting friendships are made. After Cass died I was surprised by the number of people who expressed regret at his passing, some even gave or sent me photographs they had taken of him while he was competing and told me how much pleasure they had derived from watching him work, as only he could. To all of you, our thanks.

VALE - RETRIEVING TRIAL CHAMPION DERBYSHIRE ACE A HEARTS - CASS.

During one's involvement in the dog world, one often meets a dog that it is a great pleasure to know. When that dog is one man's working dog, to get to know him well is not only a pleasure but a privilege. Such a dog in my time was Bill Bailey's Cass. Born on 30/09/72 of a "go-ey" mother, Sandycasador Wish and a proven father R.T.Ch. Casray Beau, winner of 2 National Retrieving Championships, Cass was given to Bill by his breeder, Peter Halford. It was thought that the dog had potential, even if there were doubts about the handler, at that stage !

Gradually they got their act together, sustaining it solidly over a period of 7 years when Cass was competing in Championships. His finest years started in 1977 when he commenced a run of 7 straight Championship wins th