Who's your Daddy?

Pedigrees are an important part of the sporting dog world. In some ways they are at the roots of competitions like the Super Retriever Series. Dog handlers and trainers look at bloodlines to see which have the most potential at becoming a top dog. And tests, like these, help gauge that potential.

Often at retriever trials, conversations are started with, "What dog did your puppy come from?" It's no different at the Super Retriever Series competition in Missoula, MT. But here, the focus has been on people, rather than retrievers.

For instance, two of the top three handlers in the semi-final round share the same last name — Fangsrud. Arman Fangsrud of Missoula is in second, while Eric Fangsrud of Ronan, MT., is in third. And they share the same bloodline. Armand is Eric's uncle. As for Eric's father, that's Roger Fangsrud, who happens to be in seventh place going into Saturday's round.

Retriever trials like the Super Retriever Trials often boil down to split-second decisions by handler or retriever. But most of those are made on the course.

This Super Retriever Series event, though, could boil down to decisions made well after the second-day competition was over.

Arman Fangsrud and John Terrisono were both faced with a difficult decision following Friday's round. Each of the handlers ran two dogs in the qualifying rounds and each of them qualified two dogs apiece.

Fangsrud qualified Ninja in second and Mahfi in 12th place, while Terrisono qualified Sundown in fourth and Titan in ninth. But Super Retriever Series rules say a handler can only advance one dog into the semi-final round.

Judging by the individual's decisions it wasn't as easy a choice to make as you would think.

Fangsrud opted to advance Ninja, the youngest dog at 2 1/2 years in the field, instead of the more experienced Mahfi.

"Ninja's smoking right now, so he's going with the hottest dog," said Justin Tackett, organizer of the event.

Ninja was the top dog on Thursday, and was second on Friday.

Fangsrud's thinking, however, wasn't shared by Terrisono.

Although Terrisono's Sundown qualified higher, he picked Titan to advance based on the dog's experience.

"He felt like going with the experience was more important at this stage in the game," Tackett said.

The only way either will know if they made the right decision is to win on Sunday.

Because Fangsrud and Terrisono qualified extra dogs, it allowed two dogs to move up in the standings that wouldn't have ordinarily qualified.

Those lucky dogs were Maggie, handled by Scott Martin of Gallatin, TN, who moved from 13th to 11th and Jake, handled by Jerry Holden of Clinton, MS.

The title may be deserved but you couldn't prove it to many of the competitors in the Super Retriever Series. The second day of the event was complete with freezing temperatures, windy gusts and the occasional splattering of snow.

The book by Norman Maclean and subsequent movie of that title made famous the passage: "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing."

In this area, the famed Big Blackfoot River joins the Clark's Fork River just outside of Missoula. Rock Creek, a blue ribbon trout stream, is just to the east. Montana's renowned fisheries are in the southwestern part of the state, about three hour's drive from Missoula. The Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson — the headwaters of the mighty Missouri — are just to the southeast.

The Big Air competition qualifying round will be held on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The competition has become so popular that last year during the finals at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games, organizers tripled the seating and brought in a Jumbotron just to accommodate the tens of thousands of spectators.

In Big Air, dogs jump off a dock while fetching a ball. The object is to jump the furthest. In fact, the world record is 24 feet.

Why is Big Air becoming so popular? Shad Field, from DockDogs, said, "Anyone with a dog and a ball can compete. You don't need a $15,000 professionally trained retriever to compete at even a national level."

Field feels that the simplicity and national recognition make Big Air popular as well.

Top dogs from the competition will advance to the 2003 ESPN Great Outdoor Games.