Last Days for Jake?

Jerry Holden of Clinton, Miss., was trying to give his Labrador, Jake, another shot at qualifying for the ESPN Great Outdoor Games at the Super Retriever Series in Missoula, Mont., but the test may have signaled to him that Jake is ready to retire.

"This is the first time I noticed a physical limitation with Jake that may indicate he's at the end of his playing days," Holden said. "He couldn't hear my whistle on the long mark."

When Holden tried to handle 9-year-old Jake on the blind retrieve at 250 yards out, he simply couldn't hear the whistle, especially in swimming water, where getting an audible signal is harder even for the younger dogs.

"I had an emotional moment back at the truck after he ran," said Holden. "It's kind of like when you realize your dad can't beat you at arm wrestling any more."

Although some retriever handlers may have had to deal with the first-time jitters of performing for ESPN cameras and national television, Jeff Smith of Missoula, Mont., didn't have that to contend with that Saturday.

Smith is a veteran television cameraman and producer. In fact, from 1984 until 1989 he was a partner with ESPN's Tom Miranda in a production company that produced trapping videos. Smith now publishes "Montana Living" magazine.

Randy Huenergardt of Florence, Mont., had three dogs in the Big Air competition Saturday in Missoula. Dixie's Little 4 Barrel (Dixie) and two of her pups, Our Little Breath of Fresh Air (Wendy) and Dixie's Little 4 Barrel (Holly), scurried down the dock in a flash. "They are fast, but they don't jump so high," Huenergardt remarked. "They're Hunt Test dogs so they learn to jump efficiently when hunting or competing." Holly showed up her mom and sister with a respectable jump of 14 feet, 5 inches. The three dogs were almost indistinguishable from each other in their diminutive size of 20 inches tall and approximately 50 pounds.

According to Huenergardt, "They are a great size for tests or hunting. They're fast, but they don't wear out easily."

Jack Jagoda made the trip to Missoula from Goldvein, Virg., to try to qualify for the Great Outdoor Games in the Retriever event, but he had an ulterior motive — he didn't want to compete against his partner, Phyllis Gireaux, who competed in the Great Outdoor Games in 2002.

"Phyllis will be at the Stuttgart event in March, and she's tough," said Jagoda.

He and his Labrador, Elvis are sitting pretty leading the field going into Sunday's finals. Jagoda is the co-founder of the North American Hunting Retriever Association , or NAHRA, the largest hunting retriever association in the world.

DB's Cracker of Club Mead (call name Ritz), is handled by Eric Fangsrud of Ronan, Mont., in the Super Retriever Series.

Ritz has a host of titles, such as Field Champion, Amateur Field Champion, Canadian Field Champion, and Amateur Canadian Field Champion. He was the Purina high point amateur dog of the year in 2001 and after qualifying in second place in Saturday's competition he may be well on his way to being a Great Outdoor Games champion as well. But the Black Lab attained two titles this year that may have meant the most for those who know him. Ritz won the Amateur Field Trial in California in February, 2002 while handled by his owner Don Berard. A month later Berard, a beloved member of the Montana Retriever community, passed away. Only a month after his death, Berard's nephew, Jim Mitchell handled Ritz to another amateur title in Spokane, WA.

"It's incredible for a dog to win two back to back titles like that with two different handlers," said Randy Huenergardt, another Montana trainer and competitor. "The dog has a lot of heart."

Berard's widow, Mary watched the competition Saturday and recalled the special relationship the dog and his owner had. "Don handled Ritz to his first Derby win when he was only 10 months old. So his first and his last trial with Don were good ones."

There were three Fangsruds in Saturday's Retriever event — brothers Armand and Roger, as well as Roger's son Eric. The three relatives also handled dogs that were related. Ninja, handled by Armand, and Lil, handled by Roger, are both pups out of Ritz, handled by Eric. Eric Fangsrud with Ritz, and Armand Fangsrud with Ninja, advanced to the final round.

Forty-three dogs entered the Big Air qualifying event Saturday. There were 27 black Labradors, five Yellow Labradors, three Golden Retrievers, two chocolate Labradors, two Chesapeake Bay retrievers, a German Wirehair Pointer, a Boxer, a Shepherd/Labrador mix and a Karnelian Bear Dog.

Rick Oswald of Diamond Lake, OR loves working with his black Labrador, Thunder.

In fact, they have been working all summer on speed and "doing lots of dock work" to try to qualify for the Great Outdoor Games in the Big Air competition.

Os, as he his known, is determined to qualify. So determined, that this is his third attempt. Last March, he traveled from Oregon to Little Rock, AR to jump Thunder in a sanctioned Big Air event. Then in May he came east again to the Northfield, MN Super Retriever Series event. He came up short for the 2002 Great Outdoor Games, but he's giving it a third shot in Montana. The miles on his truck may pay off this weekend, as he qualified 12th Saturday to advance to the Semi-Finals on Sunday.