‘Cedar’ top dog in retriever contest

Kevin Begin of here is one proud dog owner.
“Cedar,” his yellow Lab, earned a perfect score of 100 points in the advanced division to win top spot at the Four Paws Retriever Contest held in conjuction with the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
She beat out “Cabela,” owned by Sherry Loveday, bumping last year’s champ into second place with 95 points overall.
It marked the third time “Cedar” had placed in the annual event, having taken the juvenile class as a puppy in 1996, and then a second-place finish in the intermediate land and water retrieve in 1997.
Dogs were judged for control, attentiveness, quick response, direct line both to the dummy and back to its master, holding the dummy, and releasing it when told.
They also were judged on self-motivation and their natural desire to retrieve–the quality both Begin and organizer Dawnn Taylor said made the grade for “Cedar’s” all-round performance.
“I don’t believe I’m a [great] trainer, I just have a natural dog,” Begin said Monday. “I give her all the credit.”
“She just loves to [retrieve] and is super exuberant about doing that,” agreed Taylor. “She has so much natural desire, I think she would [retrieve] all day.
“That’s something you can’t really teach them,” she added.
New to the retriever contest was “Madison,” owned by Tammy and David Grinsell of Fort Frances. The young Lab, entered in the intermediate land and water retrieve, came away with a third-place showing in both categories.
Although “Madison” dropped the dummy on both retrieves, and was slightly distracted by the large crowd on hand, Taylor called the dog’s overall abilities commendable given her age.
“I think she did wonderful. She’s only 18 months old,” reasoned Taylor.
“She was a bit distracted as any dog is if you get a crowd. [But] distractions are a part of the game and believe me, there was a lot down there,” she stressed.
“I’m very happy with her,” Tammy Grinsell said of her dog’s inaugural performance. “It was a learning experience for her and helped teach her to do her job and ignore the rest.”
Meanwhile, “Sherlock,” a four-month-old dachshund owned by Jennifer Harvie, captured both divisions of the juvenile land and water retrieve–winning as much for being amusing as for the fact he was the only entry in his class.
“He was our entertainment value,” chuckled Taylor. “He didn’t do any retrieving on land and just sort of danced around. And he wouldn’t even go near the water but Jennifer did a wonderful job.”
Harvie, who works here at the Times, said she entered her puppy to get him used to other dogs and was very proud of his attempts. She also was given permission to bring her own rope toy for the pint-sized canine, who wasn’t much bigger than the dummy Taylor used for the other dogs.
“I threw [the toy] and he ran out there but then a dog barked and he just sat there and looked around,” smiled Harvie. “So I went out there, picked up the toy, and put it in my mouth and ran back with it.
“He was very proud of me, too,” she laughed.
“We’re going to start a rigorous weightlifting program, and I’m going to enter him in the intermediate class next year,” she mused.
Other results of the retriever contest saw “Rocky,” owned by Sandy Tibbs, take top honours in the intermediate land retrieve while “Sam,” owned by Roseanne Kellar, garnered second place.
In the intermediate water retrieve, first place went to “Kiaya” (Chris Bazinet), with second place again going to “Sam.” “Smudge” (Sandy Tibbs) tied with “Madison” for third.
“Cabela” (Loveday) grabbed first place in the advanced land retrieve while “Cedar” (Begin) took second. But “Cedar” then took top spot in the advanced water retrieve, followed by “Cabela.”