“Lucy”
FC-AFC Trumarc's Too Hot To Handle
A tribute to a truly great dog by the man whose heart she owned, William WilbanksJoanne and my journey with Lucy was a little bit of a fairytale, fate and destiny. It began several years before Lucy actually graced our lives. The Lab I had grown up with passed away shortly before Joanne and I purchased a yellow lab puppy named “George” out of the newspaper, along with a book about dog training. Little did we know where it would lead.It did not take long to realize that what was happening with George was different than what was in the book. We decided it was time to consult a professional. Not knowing where to find a trainer (and this being prior to the Internet), we opened the Yellow Pages. There we found Vondalia Kennels in North Kansas City, MO. To our great fortune, a trainer named Evan Graham was working at the kennel.
All I wanted out of George was a good hunting dog, having never heard of a Field Trial or Hunt Test. So Evan began working with George, who began showing progress. After a short time Evan encouraged Joanne and I to come out training. When Evan learned that I had been shooting competitively for several years, both International Skeet and Sporting Clays, he quickly put me to work shooting flyer pigeons. One day Evan commented that I should shoot flyer ducks at the Field Trial and it all began.I was told to pay $10 to join the Kansas City Retriever Club to be allowed to shoot at the flyers station, I though “What a deal! They give me the ammo and I get to shoot ducks. How can you go wrong?” Little did I know!
I still remember pulling onto the trial grounds and seeing a “Dog Truck” for the first time. Joanne and I stepped into a new world where we found people who would become some of our closest friends, a world with which we would become intimately close. Eventually, I was introduced to the two fine gentlemen with whom I would be gunning the Open; Loren Morehouse and Bob Motzel. I will never forget when they showed me how to throw a live duck and told me you throw for a while, and after a few dogs, we will switch. I watched the dogs in amazement and listening to one gripping story after another from Bob and Loren, I did not even realize that morning had given into afternoon, and I was still throwing ducks, having never taken my gun out of its case.When it was over, Bob and Loren told me how great I had done throwing the ducks. Having never fired a shot: didn't matter, the damage was done; I wanted to know more about this “Field Trial” Stuff.Joanne and I quickly became active in the retriever club, running “George” in the early days of the Hunt Test program. I had a 3 leg pattern in a local city park
I would run George on early in the morning when no one was around. One day I was out running this pattern with George when a police car pulled up.The policeman was Brent Miller, a KCRC club member. Brent and I instantly became best friends and hunting buddies. One day Brent called to tell me Bill Eckett had a litter of puppies coming out of “Ziparoo” and “Little Misty of Tulsa”. Brent wanted to know if Joanne and I wanted to go in with him as partners on one of the puppies. We accepted.Brent called Bill to get us on the list for a male. At our Spring KCRC trial we asked Bill how the puppies were doing. Bill informed us that unfortunately there were not enough puppies; we would not be able to get one. We were, of course, very disappointed but we understood.
A few weeks later Bill Eckett called to tell me someone had backed out on a female. He wanted to know if we were interested. I said “Yes! But I needed to check with Brent. Brent purchased a puppy since we did not think we were getting one from you.” I called Brent. To my great pleasure, Brent said “Yes” and we were in the field trial game.I clearly remember the day we went to Bill's to get our puppy. Julie Anderson was there. She had been taking care of the puppies giving them the greatest of love and attention. Still being very naive I thought we would pick a puppy. I was told “No, there are all spoken for. That is your puppy there.”
And there she was...Lucy was the runt – small enough to fit in your coat pocket. She had a skinny little tail, and that long “trademark” nose. Lucy was nothing like the bruising, ice busting brute you think of when you picture a Labrador. In fact, I cannot tell you how many times people unfamiliar with the game would see “Lucy” and ask me, “is that a full blooded Labrador?”. I just smiled and said, “Oh, yeah.”Time quickly passed. Eventually we sent “little Lucy” on her first trip south with Evan Graham Lucy progressed well. As we approached the Spring KCRC field trial time Evan encouraged my to have some fun and enter her in the Kansas City and Jayhawk derbies.
Although I had been training (and handling dogs during training), the KCRC Derby was my first time handling in a field trial. Just a few days before Lucy's 1st birthday I handled here in our first Derby together. We made it to the last series. I was disappointed Lucy and I had not finished, but I was excited we made it so far in our very first Derby.The following weekend was the Jayhawk Field Trial. Evan couldn't make it to the trial; he asked me to handle a dog named “Bart”, who I had handled many times in training. (“Bart” was owned by Dick Reid, and better known as “Blackwater Bart II” later went on to have an incredible All-Age career with Bill Eckett.) On Sunday afternoon, Joanne and I headed home from the Jayhawk trial with a Derby 1st place for “Lucy” and a Derby 2nd place for “Bart”. Later I would cherish this trial in many ways, but mostly for the raw youthful talent that rode in the back of our Suburban that day – the beginning of what they would become.That first Derby win was the start of many memorable trips to the line for Lucy and me. Lucy's derby career came to an end with a 2nd place finish at St. Louis the following Spring. Lucy accumulated 49 derby points with 35 of those being 1st place wins and 3rd on the Derby List.
The next few years brought several changes. Lucy quickly became All-Age Qualified, but Evan Graham quit training dogs. We sent Lucy to be trained by Bobby George, who handled Lucy to her first Open win at Sunflower. Lucy continued to mature and develop with everything starting to come together that Spring in 1996 when we traveled to the Missouri Valley Retriever Club Spring Field Trial.Lucy was still being trained by Bobby George, who I rode with to the trial. I was entered to handle Lucy in both the Open and Amateur, as was the case whenever possible. Things went well in the Open, and on Saturday afternoon Lucy and I took the Blue Ribbon in the Open, completing her FC title. Needless to say, a good time was had by all on Saturday night celebrating Lucy's title, and Bobby's first Field Champion.On Sunday morning Lucy and I ran the Amateur water blind. We did well, leaving the line confident we would be back for the water marks. Busy running and wining the Open on Saturday, I had not watched much of the Amateur. I had no perspective on how everyone else was doing. Everything was quickly put into perspective as I was walking back to the truck from the water blind. Northup Larson walked up to me and said “You have a good chance of winning a double header”.
As the read the callbacks for the 4th series and gave the running order for the dogs, Lucy and I were the last ones to run. As we went t the line it was ours to win; no one had stepped on all three birds. The gallery erupting in cheers on the last one because everyone knew they had just watched Lucy win that Double Header. Bobby and I replayed every bird a hundred times on the way home with those 2 blue ribbons handing from the mirror. That weekend Lucy became a Field Champion, an Amateur Field Champion and qualified for the Amateur National in Stowe, Vermont.We retired Lucy in 2002 where it all began, at the KCRC Spring Trial. Lucy finished with 87.5 All-Age points, 49 Derby points, National Open, 3 National Amateur's along with being a finalist in the 1999 National Amateur. Her last All-Age placement came just a few days before her 12th birthday when she received a 4th place in the Amateur at the Topeka Retriever Club Trial.
We all remember the high points, but it's the little things they did that made them unique, gave them personality and made them great. How Lucy would always know where the line was, waiting there for me having already picked out every gunner in the field. How when Lucy came in with the bird she would stop in front of me, turn to look tat the next bird down and back into my side, never taking her eyes off the very spot that bird landed. How as I dropped my hand to send Lucy she would cock her head to the left ever so slightly to tell me she had it; “cut me loose Dad”. I will forever remember and long to hear again, Lucy's tail thumping on the floor whenever I came into the room.
*Editor's note: Before leaving me to go to Bobby George, I handled Lucy to her first Open point; a 3rd at the Jayhawk Retriever Club. She had been close to placing several times before, but that was her first all-age placement. Evan Graham
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