Spokane-area gun dog trainer participates in elite national field trial
HUNTING DOGS -- Cheney-area hunting dog trainer Dan Hoke of Dunfur Kennel received a high honor this year when one of his dogs was selected to be the first German shorthaired pointer to participate in the U.S. Shooting Dog Invitational Championship in Arkansas.
The annual Invitational is a competition of the top dozen open shooting dogs in the United States. "They represent the very best 12 field trial shooting dogs in the nation as determined by a point system calculated for a one-year period," the event website says.
The three-day event takes place in February at the Camp Robinson Wildlife Management Area near Conway, Arkansas.Traditionally the dogs are English pointers or setters.
The GSP that Hoke handled is Big Rock V Kobe, owned by Kevin Prescott.
The dogs ran an hour on Saturday, an hour Sunday, and 1 1/2 hours on today. That's a test in itself!
An Arkansas pointer won the winner-take-all event. No other places were named. Hoke said he and Kobe were honored simply to be in the field.
The 2017 champ is CH Hale's Southern Touch, owned by Jeff Hale and handed by Shawn Kinkelaar.