GRAND JUNCTION, Tenn. — At 4:27 Monday afternoon, Rick Carlisle could finally announce the champion for the 116th running of the National Championship for Field Trialing Bird Dogs.It was a long time coming, 22 days to be exact, but the wait was worth it all for Gary Lester of Gracey, Kentucky, the owner and handler for Miller’s Dialing In, a 4-year-old male pointer who located eight coveys of quail on Feb. 25. Miller’s Dialing In’s call name is “Speck.”Carlisle, director of the Ames Educational and Research Center for the University of Tennessee and one of the three national championship judges, called this year’s event “one of the longest he could remember” and said it included one of the largest fields (48 dogs).Due to cold, icy weather, the national championship, which started on Feb. 9 and originally was set to end on Feb. 21, lost more than a week of competition, testing not only the dogs but also the judges and spectators.In the end, it made for three happy men — Lester, Hall of Fame owner/handler Ferrel Miller and handler Ike Todd.

Todd’s dog, Quester, was in the running for the title with six finds on Feb. 15. Lester, Miller and Todd are longtime friends.One of the first things Lester did when he reached the steps at Ames Manor for the awards program was to ask the crowd of several hundred to bow their heads for a word of prayer.It was a fitting moment for a grueling event that saw 14 braces start with temperatures in the 20s and 30s, and was nip-and-tuck until the end on Monday.Todd said even though he did not watch Miller’s Dialing In compete, he heard the dog had done a “real good job.” And, he added, “He had a few more finds than us.”Before the competition, Todd said he told Lester that if his dog didn’t win the title he hoped Lester’s dog would win.“I am as happy for Gary as anybody can be,” Todd said, who helped in Speck’s early training. “Don’t get me wrong. I would have liked to have won it. I did play a part in this dog. This dog is very deserving of this championship.”Lester said Speck’s breeding goes back to Riggins White Knight, which won the title in 1968.

Miller brought along the breeding process for years, and Lester said, “I tried to carry on Mr. Ferrel’s breeding (process). It’s all come together.”When asked to describe Miller’s Dialing In, Lester said, “This dog tries to suit me the best of any dog I have had that was competitive. He was a little slow starting when he was young. He wasn’t as aggressive as what I like. But he just kept coming and getting better.”One more thing, Lester said, “He is very intelligent. He knows where to go look for birds. If he has found birds there before, he is going to go look again.”Lester said he has had Miller’s Dialing In on the road since Oct. 28. “I’ve been home four days since Christmas,” he said.Not that Lester is complaining.“Hey, this was a long haul here at Ames,” Lester said. “But we’ve loved every minute of it. This dog wants to please me.”Believe it, Speck certainly pleased Lester.Search and see photos of adoptable pets in the Rutledge, Tennessee area

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