by Chris Robinson

Every breed has a written standard, some of which have remained unchanged since they were written more than a hundred years ago by people who actually used a breed for the purpose for which it had been developed. Others have been changed significantly, ostensibly for the purpose of "modernizing the breed," but actually to incorporate aspects of conformation that have become fashionable in the show ring.

In many situations, when the breed standards have been changed or where conformation traits that are undesirable for effective field performance have become acceptable in the show ring, the people within a breed whose primary interest is field work, noting that these changes will actually inhibit the dog’s ability to perform in the field, have declined to go along. The result of this division has been a deepening of the gulf between show and field types in a number of breeds to the point where, with some, a dual championship has become a virtual impossibility. Labrador and Golden Retrievers and English Springer Spaniels come immediately to mind as breeds suffering from this fate.

DC AFC Hope’s Tap-A-Keg Another of the five dual champions owned by the Tighes.	DC AFC BISS Country Road’s Navigator Another of the Stouts’ dual champions, was the 2007 AKC Top Gun Dog All Breeds Winner.
DC J&M Tex’s Easter Belle James and Mary Crawford’s first Brittany who also turned out to be their first dual champion.	DC AFC Chikamin’s Tub O’ Gold Gordon and Carolyn Theilen’s dual champion, won or placed in 20 all-age stakes and was six years old before she entered the show ring.

The breeds that have strongly resisted the temptation to change their standard and have had active judges’ education programs designed to hold the conformation judges to that standard seem to be the ones that have fared the best at avoiding the disaster of having dogs that are beautiful to look at but worthless when it comes to doing the job they were bred to do or dogs that are superb performers in the field but are a conformational mess. A-mong the sporting breeds, if the number of dual championships mean anything, the Brittany people have been extremely successful at avoiding this show/field split. Not only do field and show Brittanys look alike for the most part but Brittanys have earned more than 500 dual championships at latest count.

Why have Brittanys been so successful where other breeds have struggled? James and Mary Crawford, who have had twelve dual champions, gave a lot of the credit to the American Brittany Club itself. "The make-up of the ABC officers and board of directors plus the entire membership is diverse with field trial, hunting and show people represented but the ABC is dominated by field people. The primary focus of the club is on field performance. The ABC is not a show club and this has kept the breed improving in the field. You can’t have dual champions without field ability. Breeding to outstanding field trial dogs and selecting pups with good conformation from those litters has kept the dual champion concept very much alive in the breed. Also, our breed standard, with its height restrictions, has kept the Brittany much the same for many years. Certainly our regional clubs deserve some credit as they have many active members who encourage new members to achieve whatever their Brits are capable of doing. These local clubs get new people and their dogs involved in the sponsored events such as field trials, hunt tests and dog shows."

DC AFC J&M Ace High Jax Another of the Crawfords’ dozen dual champions. "Jax" is an American Field Champion and a runner-up American Field Champion.

Judy Tighe, who with husband Tom has owned five dual champions, four of which they also bred plus an additional five they bred that were owned by others, added, "Our judges’ education committee tries to instill in all show judges that this is a field breed first and foremost. A ‘ripped out’ coat and ribs showing are not to count against a dog with good conformation and movement in the show ring. Certainly a dog with a slightly damaged coat or one that’s a bit thin but is put together nicely and moves well is preferable to a fat, rolling dog that could not last in the field."

A dual championship, in addition to dedication, training and handling skills and a very talented dog, requires a considerable investment in both time and money. "We start our dual prospects as an eight to ten week old puppy," said Karen Stout who, with husband Marvin, has owned four dual champions. "They are introduced to both field and show. They get the freedom to investigate creeks, holes, hills and brambles to develop stamina and a love for birds. We teach them how to be stacked, handled, groomed, baited, and gaited on lead so they have those basics for the show ring early on. We usually start the pups in the show ring at six to nine months of age. They then alternate between field and show depending upon the time of the year. Spring and fall are the trial season, summer and winter are show season. About 18 to 24 months, they need to learn to be steady to wing and shot in the field so we take advantage of this down time for field trials before they are ready to enter the adult stakes to finish them in the show ring. Frankly, it is much easier to get the conformation championship on the dogs because they only have to beat other non-champion dogs to finish. In the field, they must beat field champions, American Field champions and even national champions in order to earn the ten points necessary to get an FC so the field championship is much more difficult and a much bigger challenge."

Mary Crawford added that there was another really good reason for doing most of the conformation ring work early in the dog’s career. "When they are running in puppy and derby stakes, we concentrate on showing them during these two summers. Then, if they should happen to sustain an injury in the field while running in the adult stakes, they will already have their conformation championship."

DC Country Road’s Razzle Dazzle One of Karen and Marvin Stout’s dual champions. Among her many accomplishments, "Roxy" owns a Brittany Specialty BOS.

However, Gordon Theilen DVM took just the opposite approach with his dual champion, DC AFC Chikamin’s Tub O’Gold. "Tubby was a big running bitch who could beat males and females of all other pointing breeds. She was a true bird dog and an athlete. While I know that some folks try to finish a promising young field dog in the show ring before they are fully mature as this eliminates the possibility of the dog being over-sized, Tubby was six years old and had been a field champion for three years before she went in the show ring. She was a natural as a show dog and easily finished her the champion part of her DC. It is difficult to trial and show at the same time though and most dual champions are achieved by concentrating on one title at a time. There are also some regions in this country that have judges that do not understand or like field dogs in the show ring. Field dogs are more physically fit and have much more prominent muscle masses that, to the touch, are very solid. Most strictly show dogs, on the other hand, are flabby in muscle masses and usually have longer coats. It also requires a lot of time and money to get to both dog shows and field events."

Just how ex-pensive is a dual championship? Very expensive, say those who have done it. "Roughly the same as the cost of getting a college degree," said Stout. "If you are going to compete at the next level—one hour stakes and the national championships—the price goes up."

"You don’t want to know the price tag for a DC!!!" said Tighe. "When we finished our first dual several years ago, the estimated cost was $10,000. Today the price is easily triple that amount and probably that’s a conservative figure with the high fuel costs we’re seeing now. Vehicles, trailers, horse or horses, motels, entry fees, training fees, handler fees, birds, etc. over the course of four or five years can add up. But in the end, the accomplishment to us is well worth the price."

Crawford said they put a DC on one of their Brittanys for the bargain price of $3,500 but he was an exception and that sum did not include travel expenses. "He finished all three championships—his field championship, amateur field championship and conformation championship—in one year and it is really rare for them to finish that quickly. The $3,500 figure was for his field training, entries and a professional handler in the show ring but Jim, my husband, handled him in the field which cut the cost substantially. If we had used a professional handler to campaign him in the field, the cost would have been much higher."

NGDC DC AFC Hope’s Dandi Don One of Tom and Judy Tighe’s dual champions, was the winner of the 2000 American Brittany Club’s Open Gun Dog Championship.

There are other obstacles that must be overcome to achieve dual champion status besides the expense. "This isn’t a once-in-awhile sport," Crawford said. "Owners must be dedicated. In addition, you have to have dogs that have natural talent, field ability, de-sire, stamina, nose and range to be able to successfully compete in field trials. Of course, you can have the world’s greatest field dog and complete dedication on the part of the owner but if the dog is not also correct from a conformation standpoint, a dual championship is unlikely. Actually, we were very lucky with our first Brittany. We entered her in our club’s hunting test because we had purchased her to be a hunting dog and a pet. One of the judges told us that if we had her trained, there was no doubt she would become a field champion. So, we had her trained and Jim ran her in field trials. Then other club members told us that Easter had excellent conformation so we decided to show her. Our first Brittany turned out to be a dual champion!"

"It is never easy to have all the elements come together in one dog. You must have correct conformation as the basis and then add trainability, bird-finding ability, athleticism, temperament and the desire to compete at the highest levels. It is also a formidable challenge to get the right dog, the right trainer, the right handler, lots of birds, good training grounds and let’s not forget, a lot of luck to compete successfully and beat the best in competition," said Stout.

CORRECTION

In the story titled "Special Awards for Special Dogs" in the April issue, a German Wirehaired Pointer was identified as the only dual champion sporting dog to have ever won best-in-show. This was incorrect. According to Dr. Karen Erickson, DC Set’r Ridge’s Solid Gold CDX MH, an English Setter bred, owned and handled by Melissa Newman, had eight best in show wins as well as bests of breed at English Setter specialties.

In addition, Jessica Carlson, Historian for the American Brittany Club, provided this information: "There are in fact several BIS/DC Sporting dogs, including two Brittanys: DC/AFC Award's Rusty Ridge Jake MH (who had 3 BIS wins, one of which was after he was a DC), and DC Classic's Can Do Andrew. I know there is at least one BIS/DC German Shorthair, who was also the the top-winning GSP show dog in history with 49 BIS and won the Sporting group at Westminster twice, DC NMK's Brittania V Sibelstein (she became a Dual Champion after her retirement from the show ring). In English Setters, there is DC Set'r Ridge's Solid Gold CDX MH HDX CGC who had 8 BIS and also became a Dual after retiring from the show ring. Currently, a Dual Champion Brittany Bitch is #5 in our breed, and the #1 Gordon Setter is a Dual Champion. I don't know the stats on all BIS winning Dual Champions, but based only on what I 'do' know, I would bet there are a few more that I don't know about."