Published: September 14, 2010

Merritt will be going to the dogs next week with the start of the Canadian National Retriever Championships on Monday, Sept. 20.

Seventy-two dogs from all across Canada and the US will be arriving (with their owners and handlers) to compete in the six-day competition, which will involve tasks on land and water.

The competition tests the dogs in bird hunting situations in challenging terrain.

Graham Tyler, Chairman of the 2010 Canadian National Retriever Championships Committee said tasks are divided into two categories: marking tests and blind tests.

For the marking tests three or four people will fire a gun and then throw a duck into the field. The dogs then have to go and find each of those birds in order but there may be obstacles in the way.

“To accomplish these tasks, the dog has to have a good memory,” Tyler said. “They have to be trained but it’s also instinctive.”

During the blind tests the bird is placed out in the field without the dog seeing where it is. The handler then directs the dog to the bird through a series of hand signals or whistles.

“Good judges will make the tasks very difficult,” Tyler said.

The competition will be held in the Kane Valley on a combination of public and private properties never used for trials before.

Tyler said local businesses, landowners and citizens, as well as the Mayor and Council have been instrumental in making the event successful.

“The committee has really relied on the locals because the whole championship is being held a couple of hundred miles from where the organizers live,” he said.