Pre-National
Training Information | First,
Second, and Third Series
Fourth,
Fifth, and Sixth Series | Seventh,
Eighth, and Ninth Series
Tenth
Series | Finalists
and Winner | Celebration
| Intro Page
After Ten Series of demanding tests over seven days --- out of the 89 competing dogs running from the 93 that were qualified --- fifteen dogs had made it to the end with one dog/handler team emerging as a clear winner.
The Winner
#10 FC AFC Five Star General Patton
Handled by Mike Lardy
Owned by Deb Bredeson and Elly Muth
Mike Lardy with judges Myron Chidester,
Jackie Mertens, Larry Wharton
This was the Seventh National Winner that was handled by Mike Lardy. No other handler has ever achieved that number of wins.
The two other Finalists handled by Mike were:
#82 FC AFC Redline Wilderness Hanna Go
owned by Robert and Leta Rovelstad
#53 2000 NFC FC AFC Maxx’s Surprise
owned by Sherwin Scott
Mike heading for the award area with his three Finalists.
The 2003 National Open Championship win brings to nineteen the National winners that Mike has trained:
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Seven National Championships handled by Mike;
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One Canadian National Championship handled by Mike, and
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One National Championship, Nine National Amateur Championships and two Canadian National Amateur Championships handled by his clients.
Mike has set a new record of 33 Finalists handled at Nationals by one person. In 2002 Mike ran his 30th National Finalist; an achievement that ties him with Cotton Pershall for the all-time record number of Finalists run by a professional retriever trainer. Cotton's first Finalist was in 1942 and his last in 1973. This record had stood alone for almost 30 years until November 2002. In addition to the
33 National finalists handled personally by Mike, numerous Handjem-trained dogs have been Finalists with their owner-handlers or Mike’s Assistant , Dave Smith.
We hope you enjoy browsing through the daily events throughout the competition:
Pre-National
Training Information
First, Second, and Third Series
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Series
Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Series
Tenth
Series
Finalists and Winner
Celebration
Winner's Party
California
Winner's Party
Wisconsin
Intro Page
For other information about the National, go to
