A big shout-out and thanks to Pruina Pro Plan for the outstanding Workshop sponsored by Nestle Purina in Thomasville, GA on March 7 and 8, 2024. The free workshop featured Mike Lardy and Steve Yozamp and was held at the Parramore Fish Pond property, one of the sites used at the 2023 Master National. The topic was “Communication is Key,” and both field trial and hunt test handlers attended the workshop, with eight handlers running dogs on a total of three series. Mike and Steve gave training tips and answered lots of questions from the handlers.
Many thanks to Karl Gunzer, Ray Voigt, Mike Botts, Kelsi Toth, Pat Burns and Raymond Cacchio from Purina Pro Plan for their support of all retriever sports, but especially their support of the Master National Retriever Club and the 2024 Master National. Thanks also to David Carrington of Avery Sporting Dog for their assistance with the event.
The two-day event was part of the Nestle Puria Outstanding Retriever Awards Banquet. On Friday, three retrievers were awarded trophies for Outstanding Derby Dog, Watermark’s Chevalier, Outstanding Amateur Dog, FC-AFC Flawless Execution – Flex, and Outstanding Open Dog, FC Outback’s Rising Star. Congratulations to the owners, handlers and trainers of these outstanding dogs.