This past March, the National Bird Dog Challenge Association (NBDCA) held their national championship competitions in Davis City, IA. Scott Peterson, of Parkers Prairie, and his lab, Cherokee, along with Scott's partner, Shannon Brown of International Falls, were competitors in the championship this year. They came home with the National Doubles Flushing Championship title. To qualify for the NBDCA nationals, the dogs must first have one of the three top scores in their region. Then at the championship, the competitions are divided into four different categories: pointing and flushing singles, and pointing and flushing doubles. Cherokee competed in "doubles flushing," which simply means the team consists of two people and one dog. The two people were obviously Scott, both Cherokee's owner and trainer, and his partner, Shannon. They were the "Fiocchi Ammunition Field Team" and Cherokee was sponsored by NutriSource in Perham.

It was a four day event, but the team left two days early. This allowed a day for travel and rest, and a day for training. The spare training day allowed Cherokee to accommodate himself to both the new grounds and the weather. Cherokee was still relatively new to competing at the time of the event. He started about a year and a half ago, and at the time of the championship, he had only about four doubles and three singles events under his collar. That, however, did not slow Cherokee down one bit. In fact, he got the fastest time-down to the nearest second-in his division, giving him and his partners the win and the title. The title was definitely well-earned. Peterson spends around forty-five minutes to an hour daily on his training routine with his dogs, and it's a year-round practice. On those cold winter nights, January through March, when most of us were inside and under warm blankets, Scott was spending his free time (he's teacher by day) in the cold. Every night about nine or ten o'clock, he'd take Cherokee and the frozen fowl out to play a somewhat complicated game of fetch. He said he worked by the night-light, which is practically non-existent at that time of year, sometimes as late as one in the morning. I'm sure the dog wasn't the only one with a cold nose on some of those wintery nights. He said the training "made the dogs use their noses, not their eyes." Scott was definitely glad when the snow started melting, but the training turned out to be well worth while. Peterson got involved in training in 1997 and started slowly with a couple of labs. Then he got hooked. "Everybody's got their game. I guess this is mine." He now does almost 100% of all the training for his dogs. Along with training, he also breeds and sells puppies, and says that, since the win, puppy sales have taken a considerable jump. He currently has eight canines: five are well-trained and three are younger ones he's still playing with. Cherokee, definitely one of the five well-trained dogs, is Scott's "psycho-canine," which seems to be the dog's affectionate nickname. He's had Cherokee since he was a pup. Cherokee is a purebred chocolate lab and was practically born a champion. His father is the only chocolate lab to ever win field champ in Minnesota. Cherokee isn't the only one with a connection to past championships. Scott and his partner, Shannon, also won the championship last year with Shannon's dog, and in both 1998 and 2000, they had a connection to the title as well. It's hard to beat these accomplishments, but there are still goals for the upcoming year. Peterson said getting the dogs he wants qualified for Nationals is always number one. Number two? "Win it again," which he says is pretty much everyone's goal, although not many are able to say "again." These goals are definitely a step up considering that the first time he competed his goal was "not to look like a complete idiot." He said it has happened before, and a person just knows it's not the dog's fault. Some things can go wrong he admits. The terrain is an unknown factor, or the bird could be hit wrong and end up doing the "funky chicken," which adds time to the overall performance. The biggest fear, he says, is falling on your face after all the year's work. The best part though, is that while most hunting seasons generally run September-December, these hunters and their companions are able to continue the sport year-round. Afterall, "the difference between good, great, and excellent hunting dogs is the amount of exposure they receive and how often they're associated with the birds." Seeing how much time is involved in the sport, it's understandable then when Peterson says that most of the men involved are "hunters first." He says if you're just in it for the prize money, you're not going to win. There are too many other important aspects that need to be focused on. For one, the sport is an expense in itself. The best shells, training equipment, nutritional food-every advantage possible is wanted to be able to get that faster time. It may only shave a second off the overall time, but that second is what it came down to in determining the winner of this year's title. It broke the close running between Cherokee and two of his other competitors. For two, with all the care involved, it's not for the love of money, "it's for the love of dogs."