MISSOULA, MT. — When Jack Jagoda casts his yellow Labrador to make a retrieve, he has all the confidence in the world that the dog can complete the task.

	Elvis, handled by Jack Jagoda of Goldvein, Va. retrieves a dummy during the opening round of competition in Missoula, Mont.

Within every retriever is the instinct to run and bring back an object. But there are times when Elvis is on a retrieve when it's obvious to Jagoda that Elvis' confidence might not be as high as his.

"Confidence is everything to a retriever," Jagoda said. "And if he's lacking in confidence he's not running at his full potential."

To the casual observer watching an event like the Super Retriever Series, it might appear as if these retrievers running and bounding about are just completing the age-old, instinctual act of picking up objects for their owners. Those that don't do it flawlessly are just not as well-trained as those who do.

In some ways that may be true, but in competitions the caliber of the Super Retriever Series it's a more likely scenario that something has happened to the retriever's confidence.

Bad decisions or bad timing by a handler can be the unintentional equivalent of a linebacker talking smack to an opposing quarterback to throw off his focus.

For trainers like Jagoda, it's called the psychological factor. And with confidence being such an integral part of this game, trainers like Jagoda guard their dog's confidence like an NFL coach guards his play book.

"If you don't do well, psychologically it really works on your dog," Jagoda said. "You have to keep that in mind when you go into an event like this."

An event like this is one that covers four days, two of which end with a cut in the number of dogs that advance and the last of which will result in a winner and an invitation to the 2003 ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

To make it through all of that a retriever is put through an enormous amount of trials and tribulations. For instance, in just the first few days of competition, retrievers have had to survive tall grass, much of it standing over their backs and all of it hiding the downed birds. With that is swirling winds moving in circles down from the Rocky Mountains on one side and the Bitterroots on the other that moves around scent and muffles the sounds of commands. If that weren't enough, the pressure of the competition, mostly felt by the trainers is translated to the retrievers.

"There are countless ways a retriever can lose confidence," Jagoda said.

They transfer that lost confidence by letting their instincts rather than their training take over, or by losing faith in their handler. All of it adds up to more whistles, more commands, more missed signals, and eventually more points or demerits.

The retriever might fare well enough to advance, but the impact of a bad day may carry over to the next day and even the next.

For that reason, trainers like Jagoda often hold back their efforts until the final day.

"I'm just trying to stay alive until the last day," Jagoda said early on in the competition.

For instance, in the seeding round, many of the retriever/handler teams had trouble with the course. Jagoda and Elvis were no different, but Jagoda insisted the score was the least important part of the day. Every dog advanced on that day, but some advanced better than others did and that difference wasn't necessarily seen in the score.

"If I put my dog in a bad situation today, he remembers that just like he remembers the good things he does," Jagoda said. "At some point, that memory is going to come back, and it's important that I don't put him in that situation. If it comes back tomorrow or in the final, we're doomed.

"That's why you take it easy, build up your momentum, and in the process build his confidence."

It's an interesting strategy, one the casual observer might never understand is taking place.

Jagoda's main worry is pushing Elvis by trying to be the top dog every day opens up more room for mistakes on his part. Mistakes that could eventually chop on the retriever's confidence, causing compounded mistakes the next day.

"I'm going for the cut," he said. "I'll take liberties on these first days that I won't on the last day."

Because points erase each day there's nothing lost. But everything can be lost if a retriever's confidence is gone.