GRHRCH Elvis, MH

“All I want is a hunting dog.”

These words were the answer I gave to Chuck McCall when he asked me what I planned to do with the puppy I was buying from him. I had been referred to Chuck by a mutual friend when I decided I was too old and fat and out of shape to sludge through the mud and muck at the mouth of the Mississippi river when retrieving my ducks. We agreed on a price and Chuck asked me if I wanted him to go with me to pick out the puppy. I asked him if he would pick it out as he was the pro trainer and I had never picked out a puppy in my life. He said he would and I went to get the dog when my wife and I got back from vacation one week later. I’ll never forget Chuck opening the door with the puppy cradled in his arms. Talk about love at first sight!!! Chuck asked me what plans I had for training the dog and I told him I was going to train him myself as I had read Water Dog and knew what to do. (Ha, ha, ha!!!) He told me if I ever had any questions about training, feel free to give him a call. I’m sure he regrets saying that more than anything he’s ever said. Needless to say, I called him quite frequently. I’d take Elvis out to his house once a month and see what Chuck had to say about his progress. Every time, he’d say he was doing fine, just keep up what we were doing. Elvis was five months old when the duck season opened in 2003. I’d take him with me and my hunting partner and leave him at the camp when we left to hunt at daylight. After the morning hunt, we’d come back in and eat breakfast then go back out and bring Elvis along. I’d hold him while my partner shot the birds. It did not take me long to see that I had a special dog. I told my wife that it was not fair for me to train the dog and she agreed to send him to Chuck for a few months. Chuck forced him and got him through the T drills and when I picked him up, invited me to train with him and his group anytime I wanted. I took him up on his offer and began training with the “Big Anderson” training group. As Elvis progressed in his training, all of the members kept telling me I ought to enter him in hunt tests. I’d never contemplated it and did not take their advice. The next duck season arrived and Elvis was great. We hunted in the marsh and in flooded timber in North Louisiana. The duck season ended and I thought, “Now what can we do?” You guessed it. I entered the Lake Charles hunt test. We ran seasoned and he promptly broke on the walk up both days! Being a former high school coach, I was not about to quit after failing. We corrected his breaking behavior and he promptly passed four straight seasoned tests for his HR title and moved on to finished. I failed him three straight times with my handling errors, then we passed four straight tests for our HRCH title and set our sights on the Grand. Coincidentally, our club hosted the next Grand. I told Chuck I knew Elvis was ready to run the Grand and then asked him if he thought I was ready to handle him in a Grand. His reply was, “You’ll never know until you try it.” So we entered and fortunately passed it. On the way to the ribbon ceremony, Chuck commented, “Now we know.” I did not realize what he was talking about and asked him what he meant. He said, “Now we know you are ready for the Grand.” Talk about an emotional high! From there, we set our sights on getting the Grand Hunting Retriever Champion title. The guys in our training group had titled thirteen Grand Champions at that time. I asked Chuck if any of them had passed their first two Grands, and was told that none of them had. So, that became the goal- to be the first dog in the Big Anderson training group to pass its first two Grands. We went to Stillmore, GA that fall and went into the fourth series needing to run clean as we had handled on a mark in the second series. Coincidentally, Kevin Bearden, one of our club members, was one of the judges at that series. He came back to the holding blind and asked me if I had any questions and I told him I didn’t. We picked up the marks clean and all we had left was a 137 yd blind to run. Elvis ran about a hundred yards straight at the blind pole then slid off to the right a little. I stopped him, gave him a “left angle,” and he promptly ran as if I had given him a left “back.” I stopped him and gave him a left “over” and he took it about two strides and turned “back” again. I stopped him and gave him another “over,” which he took and picked up the bird. I knew we would not be the first dog in our training group to pass our first two grands. We got ones from each judge and did not get called back to the fifth series. We went out on the second series in the next Grand, again due to handler error and then out on points again in the fourth in Michigan. By the time the Georgia Grand rolled around, my wife had retired and told me she wanted to go with us to Georgia- that she was going to bring us good luck. Boy, did she. We passed and, finally, got that ever elusive Grand Hunting Retriever title.

No one can achieve a Grand title by themselves. It takes an unbelievable amount of help. I’d like to thank the members of the Big Anderson training group who helped me so many times: Ron Anderson, Jason Moore, Bob McCall, Scott Arceneaux, Mike Chamberlain, the late John Pritchett, and Dennis Weber. Also, Jay Rabalais, Chuck Dowling, and Nalton Thompson- guys that live close to me and trained with Elvis and me from time to time. There is absolutely no way that I can thank Chuck McCall enough for all he has done for Elvis and me. He has ALWAYS taken the time to answer any questions and explain his answers to me. I had no idea how “technical” training a dog can be. Chuck has helped me to understand why we do what we do, if that makes any sense. Finally, I want to thank my beautiful bride, Lea, for allowing Elvis and me the time and money that it has taken to achieve the absolute ultimate in hunt tests, the GRAND HUNTING RETRIEVER CHAMPION title. We were gone many hours and spent many dollars training and testing. Elvis and I appreciate it and we both love you more than anything in the world.