Following the Scent: Bird Dogs, Their Handlers, and Field Trialing Author Christopher Eckhoff takes you through a two-year stint campaigning his bird dogs in field trials throughout the country. His love of the sport and his dogs quickly becomes evident as he takes special pleasure in sharing his many experiences. 187 pgs. A 187-page book for all those who enjoy field trials by Christopher Eckhoff. Christopher thoroughly examines various elements with field trialing that are common for all breeds of bird dog performance events whether they are pointers, flushers, or retrievers. Christopher explains in his own words about his adventures and journey with his own dogs, describing his best moments, as well as how poor runs can happen, and how you can learn from them. Christopher proves that he's in the business of training and breeding bird dogs and he's very good at it. Chapters Page # Setting the Scene 1 You Can't Tell the Players Without a Program 9 The Fox Creek Classic 13 The Golden Triangle 23 Interleague Play 27 Judging The Dogs 31 Ethical Bird Dog Handling 41 The Nationals 45 Some Final Thoughts On Judging 53 It's a Rainout 59 The Perfect Run 65 Home Turf 75 No Good Deed Goes Unpunished 81 Double Duty 89 A Perspective On Field Trialing 97 Decisions and Problems 103 Follies in Field Trials 107 It's Not All About Winning, Really! 121 The Regional Championship 127 Judging The National Endurance 2002 135 Fun in The Sun 143 The New Season Begins 147 Turmoil in My Program 151 Turmoil, The Story Continues 157 Bozeman Bound 163 Beautiful Billings, Montana 171 A Region on the Ropes 175 The Last Hurrah 181 About the Author 187 A Little about Christopher Eckhoff Christopher Eckhoff has been published in Gun Dog and Pointing Dog Journal magazines among numerous other publications. The author has been a bird dog trainer for over 30 years, the most recent 24 years professionally as his only profession. He is the owner/operator of Upland Kennel which is located in easter Montana. Christopher has been heavily involved in bird dog field trials since 1979. He earned field championships with four of his own dogs and currently runs dogs in the AKC Master Hunt Test program.
