Well, he’d not a place
Now down to last brace
Hadn’t paid entry fees
Couldn’t, less this one got one of three
He was desperate
More than that
Out of place Read more
Last Brace
Blog
Thoughts on the Southwestern Championship
There are no more storied or scenic prairie field trial grounds than the Johnson Ranches near Trail City, South Dakota, where the Southwestern Championship moved from Arkansas many years ago, thanks to Marshall Loftin who summer trained there more than three decades. Read more
The Hole
Every dog has got a hole
The old wisdom says
How to work round it
Every handler’s test
Won’t back
Circles back
Head trails
Tail trails Read more
Fred B. Leggett Jr.
Fred B. Leggett Jr. died July 5, 2025 at his home in Danville, Virginia. He was eighty-eight years old and predeceased by his wife, Joan Allen Leggett, who died November17, 2024. He is survived by his children, Fred III, Will, Mike and Helen Reynolds. Read more
A Prayer for Bird Dogs
Oh Lord, I pray
Prairie training and trials
Will not go away
For genetics show
It takes the strongest
To breed on Read more
The Southwestern Championship (1967, 1968)
By David A. Fletcher I fondly remember two Southwestern Championships. The 1967 Championship, a premier event on the major circuit, was held near Booneville, Arkansas starting November 20, over what was called the “Sanitorium Grounds”. This was my first assignment working for the American Field as a full-time reporter on staff in the southern United States. I knew well the 30 or so professional trainers who came to the Canadian Read more
The Joy of the Hunt
Some hunt to watch the bird fall
The wise hunt to see the bird fly
After pointed by a bird dog of one’s own
Or of a competitor or of a friend
Therein lies the true joy of the hunt Read more
Sage Advice on Backing
Once upon a time
A customer brought Arthur
A puppy to be trained
So he could run her as a derby
Arthur kept her six months
Then called the customer
“You can come and get her”
Which the customer did Read more
Intent to Harm
Ben Reach never dreamed such a sinister thing could happen at a bird dog field trial. He was riding as the reporter, last-minute substitute for a no-show at the Deep South Open All-Age Championship.
It was March, and the handlers entered were here in Southwest Georgia seeking end-of-season Purina Points toward All-Age Dog-of-the-Year and a slice of the $35 thousand purse to be divided 20-10-5 among Champion, Runner-Up Champion and Top Qualifier (the event was run with 40-minute qualifying heats and one-hour finals among as many call-backs as the judges felt worthy, usually about twelve, or two days of finals-running worth. Forty dogs were entered. Read more
Ben & Sam
Ben and Sam were creatures of habit. Long habit.
Octogenarians now, they had been friends since childhood, volunteer professional colleagues in helping Sam’s patients and Ben’s clients the many decades they had practiced law and medicine in Albany serving rich and poor in the Quail Belt, a 50-mile stretch of fertile, gently rolling land between Albany and Tallahassee containing a hundred plus estates known for over a hundred years as Yankee Quail Plantations, rich-snowbird refuges from the winter temperatures, snow and ice of northern wealth pockets. Read more