Prior to the National, the training group drove all the way down to Georgia to find warm weather.. An early cold front made water too cold to train further north. They also trained in Tennessee for a day on the way to the St Louis area. The NRC Stake area finally warmed up for good training the few days before the opening.

The training group included others in addition to the twelve dogs qualified from Mike’s truck. The additions were Dennis Voigt with his 2002 Canadian National Amateur Champion, John Cavanaugh with two dogs, and Charles Hayes with one dog. Additionally Chris Ledford with a few dogs participated some of the time. Some owners who were not running their own dogs came along to watch.

John Cavanaugh is standing.
Chris Ledford is in the holding blind.
Seated left to right are Dennis Voigt,
Charles Hayes, Mary Howley and Mac DuBose

Dave Smith looking out at a
test that he is has just run.

A typical water blind at one of the training sites
that is often run in Pre-National training.

The Training Crew...

Helping with with the setups with great shooting and throwing were Ben Vallin, Roger Mannock, and Ray Voigt. Later in the St Louis area, volunteer Steve Hamilton threw on some training days.

Roger Mannock and Ray Voigt who gunned and threw.

Steve Hamilton who helped gun and throw near St. Louis.
Steve had attended several of Mike’s workshops
as both an observer and handler.

Ben Vallin and Mac DuBose 

Ben is assistant trainer for Mike Lardy and a great shot. He had run Zinger to an Open win in his professional debut in September. 

Mac, who runs Zinger the majority of the time, had been unable to be at that trial.

Mac and his wife Lynne were attending a ceremony celebrating their NAFC FC Hattie Mc Bunn being inducted into the Retriever Hall of Fame. Lynne had run Hattie to her National win as well as many other wins and placements. Note that Lynne won another National Amateur with Gusto’s Last Control a few years prior.  

This makes three National wins for the DuBose teams --- a rare achievement.

Mike Lardy's total National titles for dogs he has trained now total 18 National level wins.

More totalretriever.com reports
and photos from the National:
- The Winner
- Ninth and Tenth Series
- More National Pictures
- Finalists