The 2nd Annual Fall Festival was well attended with nearly 50 handlers and even more dogs. Labs, Goldens, Poodles, Boykins, a Springer and Irish Water Spaniel made up the roster of dogs. The range was from dogs who saw their very first bird to the dogs that were fine tuning for the Master Nationals and HRC Grand in just a few weeks.
Hosted by Parkdale Kennels, club members Butch and Bev Higgins opened their doors and training grounds. Their hospitality was infectious and everyone seemed relaxed and ready to have a great day.
One of the highlights was being able to introduce a number of junior handlers to the line with a trained dog. Everyone cheered as they successfully sent the dogs and took the birds after the retrieve.
The weather was mostly overcast with a bit of misty drips in the afternoon. Nothing that a bit of waterproof camo couldn't hold at bay.
Barb and Bev laid out a spread of food at lunch that kept everyone going to when we finished a full day of activities that evening.
We were delighted to see so many new folks, many of which had never participated in an HRC hunt test environment. A good number took the time to join the LCHRC and we plan to reward them with lots of new friends, training days, and swap stories about hunting with our dogs.
Thanks to all that made this a success. And plan on joining us next Fall with your dogs for a day of retrieving, good food, and good folks.
There is a gallery page of photos from this years event here.
