Photos from Fern Ridge Field Trial #2
It’s been over a month since I posted anything—for no reason in particular—but I wanted to get back into it with a photo post about the second field trial I’ve taken my dogs to this year.
As I chatted about with Charlie in my last podcast episode, Fern Ridge Tree Hound Club puts on field trials with scent drag races of raccoon, bobcat, and bear, as well as a treeing contest. This time, I only entered Finn and Coulee in the bobcat race and was overall very proud of how they performed.
While Finn had ran in the races before, this was Coulee’s first time. I wasn’t sure how she would respond to the bobcat drag, but to my surprise she ran it like a champ, getting 4th line in her first race and 1st line in the second.
Most of the time at the field trial the dogs just hang out and do nothing. It’s great for them. There’s so much external stimulation from the other dogs and people and general excitement in the air, it is a challenge for them but they quickly realize it’s best to just chill.
You’ll notice the bright orange line linking my dogs together. That is a length of 1-inch nylon webbing borrowed from my rock climbing gear bag. Stretched between two stainless steel tie out posts gifted to me by my mother who happens to be a premium Hound on the Run subscriber, thanks Mom, I have tied on locking carabiners about 4-5 feet apart to which the dogs are clipped. I need to add in swivels to prevent twisting issues, but with the locking carabiners, which are what you’d use to establish an anchor at the top of a pitch rock wall, I don’t have to worry about my dogs getting un-clipped. At some point I will replace the webbing with coated cable, but this setup has been working pretty well.
Finn and Coulee ended up running in the same second heat of the bobcat race. Justin offered to handle Finn for me which I took him up on right away so I could be sure to not make any handling mistakes which could lead to problems.
Finn is very easy to handle, and since we hunt with Justin a fair amount, was already familiar with his human chaperone.
I thought Coulee handled each of her events like a true professional. She heeled without me asking on the walk from the truck to the gathering place where the Calcutta auction is conducted. She sat at a heel for much of the auction and waited for cues from me. I couldn’t have been more proud of how Coulee handled herself amongst the excitement.
We posed for a selfie while waiting for stuff to happen. The structure behind us is a tall, sturdy structure built by men, strong, burly men, sons of men.
I was proud of my dogs for so many reasons last weekend, but highest on my list of praises for them was their ability to chill out. Especially Roux, sweet puppy Roux. Unfortunately Roux and Plum didn’t get to run in any events (they both back trailed to the start last time and I just didn’t want to bother) but from the moment I clipped them to the tie out until the moment I unclipped them to load in the truck, I didn’t hear a peep out of them. They just laid out on the cool ground and waited for something to happen. So easy. And that’s what I like in a dog.
The grounds of the field trial are beautiful, classic Western Oregon timberland. In this last photo you can see my dogs, my truck (currently with the canopy on to make hauling camping gear a little easier) and the trucks of the fellow houndsman in attendance. It was a great crowd with some excellent dogs and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the next trial.