Awards & Recognition

A 3-year-old white-and-orange male Pointer, Touch’s White Out, called “Sam,” is the winner of the Purina Top Field Trial Bird Dog Award.

A string of six Pointers that earned 15 placements and 2,543 points in all-age competitions put professional handler Andy Daugherty of Grovespring, Mo., on top to win his second Purina All-Age Handler of the Year Award.

Mohawk Mill Blaze excelled on finding wild quail and won the National Amateur All-Age Championship, earning enough points to make the 4-year-old white-and-liver male pointer the Purina Amateur Top Field Trial Bird Dog Award.

Striking with precision and displaying unwavering endur­ance, GR NITE CH ‘PR’ Feelin Big powered through the competition to win the Autumn Oaks Nite Championship.

Owner-handler Alexandra “Alex” Washburn of Bruce, Mississippi, had a feeling that the 2016 National Amateur Retriever Championship in Stowe, Vermont, could be the last shot for her 9-year-old male to win a National.

With two sharp-tailed grouse finds in a fast-paced one-hour horseback stake, a 3-year-old Pointer named Fireline edged to the front of the competition to win the Saskatchewan (Canada) All-Age Championship.

A pleasing, determined and seemingly tireless 3-year-old Pointer called “Patch” commanded the field with eight finds to win the National Championship for Field Trialing Bird Dogs in February in Grand Junction, Tennessee.

Balancing high energy with excellent steadiness to wing and shot, a far-ranging white-and-orange Brittany named “Kate” won the Mid-America Brittany Championship with pizzazz this past April in Raymond, Nebraska.

A hard-charging 8-year-old male black Labrador Retriever called “Mickey” propelled through 10 challenging land and water series to win the 2016 National Retriever Championship this past November in Bonham, Texas.

In the final hourlong stake of the United Kennel Club’s National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA) Performance Classic, a hard-charging 7 ½-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer drove to the front with precision, speed and stamina.

Striking first and finishing strong, a Treeing Walker Coonhound called “EZ” won the Autumn Oaks National Grand Nite Championship on Labor Day weekend in Richmond, Indiana.

A talented, young Bluetick Coonhound called “Allie” hunted with independence and treed with accuracy to win to win the 2017 United Kennel Club Grand American Nite Hunt in January in Orangeburg, South Carolina.