news - 03/12/2006 Labrador wins, Coonhound places at NOI - United States
by Robert HarrisA Labrador Retriever from Littleton, CO, was cronwed NOIC at the AKC's Twelfth National Obedience Invitational Tournament. The two-day event was held in Long Beach, CA, on 2 and 3 December, 2006. Also amongst the finalists were two Golden Retrievers and a Bluetick Coonhound.
Renate Van Allen and NOC OTCH Chaseabout's Dances With Lions UDX9 JH MX MXJ ("Simba"), an eight-year-old Labrador Retriever, defeated Bridget Carlsen and OTCH High Times Belvedere's Duck Soup, a Golden Retriever, in the final round of the tournament on Sunday to be crowned National Obedience Champion (NOC). This is the second time Renate and Simba have won this prestigious event.
Bridget and "Soupy" were named first runner-up. Second runner-up was Dave Gannon and OTCH Breakwater Ice Skater, a Golden Retriever. Dave and Skater will be representing the AKC and the US at the Obedience World Cup competition at Crufts in March.
Third runner-up was Paula McCollum and her Bluetick Coonhound Smokin Bullet Jebediah Blue UDX. This team made a surprising strong showing, being seeded eighteenth at the start of Sunday's competition. Throughout the day, they created a big fan club as they first defeated the fifteenth seeded dog and then the third seeded dog to advance to the quarter finals. "Jeb" is Paula's first obedience dog.
The top obedience dogs, based on the number of Obedience Trial Championship (OTCH) points earned during the qualifying period, are invited to participate in the Invitational. This year, ninety-seven dogs were entered, representing fifty breeds and coming from thirty-one states.
On Saturday, each dog and handler competed in a total of six rings, showing under six different judges and completing all the exercises from the Open and Utility level twice. The top four from each of the AKC's groups (with additional wildcard competitors to bring the total to thirty-two) advanced to Sunday. Sunday's competition was a seeded, sudden-death competition comprised of five rounds. Each round uses a variety of exercises from the Open and Utility levels. Starting in the third round, each team was judged simultaneously by two judges. For the final round, each team completed a full set of exercises from each of the two levels.
