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janet kosnik

This was a bittersweet trip for me; heading to BC for their yearly spring field trial. It was the first time I was attending this field trial. My late friend and avid Walker man, Farley Smith, from Fort Steele, BC, had invited me many times in the past but now, able to attend, I was going after he has passed on. That was the sad part. Even though Farley could not be there, I was able to spend time with his wife and my friend, Donna.

We both attended the trials. I brought 4 dogs to enter but my young female, Ladybug was in her first heat and could not participate in the events. Stuck in the dogbox for much of the time, she sure wanted to join the other hounds. Better luck next time, Ladybug!

This was the BIGGEST field trial I had ever attended. There were over 200 individual dogs entered in the events. Wow, now that’s a lot of dogs! Events began on Friday afternoon with a cold-nosed bear drag, which was around 3 miles long. They figure everything in kilometers up there so I was constantly converting to miles. Oh, those Canucks! The drag was laid an hour before dogs were turned loose. I believe there were 66 dogs turned out together for this event. I had no idea that when I entered Angel, my spayed female, that it was gonna be such a big blowout. I guess I should have expected it with all the entries. All I was hoping for was for Angel to make it all the way to the tree with the bear hide in it. She and my other hounds had not really been on any bearscent up to this point. So making it around to the tree would be an accomplishment and would make me happy. Angel did better than that…she came into the tree about 10th, just after the tree had closed. And she treed HARD! I had to drag her away from that tree. I was very proud of her! There was also a veteran hound race for all dogs 8 yrs. and over. These were the opening events for the 3-day field trial. More on Saturday and Sunday.

Donna Smith offered me her couch while I was up at the trial. Her house was only 30 minutes from where the trial was held. So, it was back to her place after the bear drag for the night. Early Saturday morning, events got underway again. It was very well organized with judges already being selected long before the trial began. Good planning! There were bear drags, coon drags, treeing contests, and the kids’ bench show over the next 2 days. Lots of heats for every event, so many dogs.

I was asked by Kyle Hope, a member of the East Kootenay Trail Hound Association, to give a clinic on Saturday on showing before the kids bench show. I brought my own bench and used my GR CH male, Sonny Boy to demonstrate. In the full sun at noon, I was HOT and so was Sonny! But we made it through with club members listening to my tips on showing and what to look for in a hound that you want to bench. I was then corralled into helping to judge the bench show. It was fun and all the kids who participated got a ribbon and the best male and female of the breed got another. They all were happy and they really tried hard to stand those hunting dogs up on the straw bales. And that was no easy feat!

Not all my hounds are field trial dogs but I still gave them all a chance to run in their heats and tree the hide in the tree. Up in BC, they can’t use a live animal in a field trial. How weird! A dead coon in a cage for the treeing contest! Don’t let your dog get too close to that cage or else you can kiss a win goodbye! Fortunately, the double treeing was held just as it was getting dark and my 2 girls thought it was time to go hunt. They were first in the contest until John Cassidy’s 2 chop-mouth redbones from Alberta beat them out for the win.

There were delays, as is usual in any field trial, some were VERY long and I was losing my patience and interest in the upcoming heats my dogs were in. But somehow, all heats were run and hounds won…but not mine. I don’t have too much luck at field trails with my dogs but it’s still fun to go and socialize with the other houndspeople and give the dogs a chance to run and tree. I didn’t hear or see anyone upset over the results of the events. All seemed to be good sportsmen. I was very impressed ‘cause I see bad feelings and hear harsh words over some of the results at our state trials. I don’t think it’s necessary but it happens.

The BIG event was the last one. It was THE cougar drag, a 4-5 mile single heat blowout. There were, get this, 99 hounds entered in this yearly event! No shit! Yes, there were a few tried and true hounds that made it to the finish line, or should I say, tree. But others were seen chasing a flock of wild turkey. It took some people hours and hours to locate their hounds. Thank goodness for tracking collars! I couldn’t imagine sending a dog out in an event like this without a tracking collar on.

The pictures below are of the giant tent put up each year for the signup, food vendor and awards ceremony. The other one is of the start line for the cougar drag. The picture doesn’t do it justice but you can get a feeling for just how big it is.

If you are ever in the western part of the US or near BC in early spring, make an honest effort to attend this great event. Your time there will be well spent and you will have a great ‘ol time. Canucks are a friendly bunch and will do their best to make you feel at home.

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