Cream of the crop.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

CHESHIRE - The small black Labrador retriever sat and watched intently as a dead duck was tossed onto a peninsula of land jutting into the pond in front of her. Moments later the dog swam to the peninsula, passed within a few paces of the downed bird but still ignored it and then resumed swimming toward the distant bush on the other side of the pond.

FC-AFC Volwood's Peaches and Cream, or "Peaches" for short, was demonstrating the focus and skills that earned her the 2005 Purina Outstanding Amateur Retriever Award, one of the most sought-after prizes in the highly competitive world of retriever field trials.

"She's one of the top dogs in the country, no question," said Jack Vollstedt, Peaches' trainer and handler. "She's very good right now."

Vollstedt, 66, knows a champion retriever when he sees one. He's trained several in the 35 years since he attended his first field trial in southern California and got "hooked."

Seventeen times Vollstedt has made the National Amateur Championship Stake finals, including four with Peaches. One of his earlier dogs, "Volwood's Ruff and Ready" is in the Retriever Hall of Fame. Another, "Volwood's Mollie," ranks among the top five female retrievers of all time and is virtually certain to be inducted.

Peaches got the Outstanding Retriever Award because she earned more points than any other dog in the year-long competition. She won seven field trial competitions in 2005, in addition to being a finalist at nationals. A year's supply of dog food was her prize; Vollstedt and his wife, Florence, were honored at banquet where they got a plaque and an oil painting of Peaches by artist Ross Young.

Vollstedt has now won almost every major honor available to an amateur trainer of retrievers - including the Outstanding Derby Dog Award (for dogs under the age of two) and numerous "double-headers" (winning the amateur and open competitions at the same field trial).

The only thing missing from Vollstedt's resume is a national championship. And the disappointment of having that title elude him once more was evident as he talked about the 2006 championship event, held two weeks ago in Klamath Falls.

Peaches injured her foot during the first round.

"She stepped in a hole or something and rolled it," Vollstedt said. "I thought I might have to scratch her (entry)."

But the 7 1/2 -year-old Lab performed well with a wrap around her swollen ankle.

With 10 events spread over five days, nationals provide an extensive test for the top 100 retrievers in the country. After each event, the judges "drop" several dogs from the field, until only 15 remain for the finals.

Based on performances during the last test, the judges pick a winner. All the other dogs are awarded "finalist" points. There is no second- or third-place award, so the handlers never really know how close they came to winning.

"I ran awfully well this last nationals with Peaches, probably as good as I've ever run," Vollstedt said. "And I didn't win."

Most observers, he said, were surprised by the judges' choice for the trophy.

"That was disappointing," Vollstedt said. "But I have to look at it from the standpoint that I like the game an awful lot, and those things happen."

The retriever field trials began in the 1920s as a way for hunters to test their bird dogs. The sport requires dogs to perform a series of challenging, multiple retrieves over land and water at distances of up to several hundred yards.

Some of the retrieves are "marks," in which the dog watches the bird drop and is expected to remember its location. Other retrieves are "blinds," meaning it never sees the bird until - by following his handler's directions to the proper area - the dog finds it on the ground.

The dog that requires the least amount of "handling" in a series of retrieves usually wins.

"What it amounts to is the dog that disturbs the least amount of ground is showing the best," Vollstedt said. "When you run these dogs on 'marks,' some of them at some point will have a lot of trouble finding them. ... If you have to blow the whistle and handle them, that's a major fault."

Similarly, if a dog has been directed to a "blind" and then has to spend a lot of time finding the bird, that's also a fault.

During her demonstration last week, Peaches ran past the "mark" without even looking at it, then retrieved a bird that had been placed on the other side of the pond.

"Dead bird!" Vollstedt said when Peaches returned that bird to his hand.

"I'm telling her we're going after a different bird when I say 'dead bird,'" Vollstedt said.

On command, Peaches again took off in the direction indicated by Vollstedt. When he blew a whistle while she was swimming, Peaches stopped and turned her head. Vollstedt motioned to correct her, and the dog took off on a new course to retrieve the second "blind."

Only then did Vollstedt send her after the "mark" bird, which she went to straightaway.

"I send these dogs on their name on marks," he said. "I send them on 'back!' on blinds."

The process of developing a champion retriever begins while the pups are still in their litters. Vollstedt looks for a half-dozen different characteristics, including how a dog interacts with its siblings, signs of athleticism and, finally, whether it stops squirming when he picks it up and cradles it on its back.

"I'm really looking for a dog that will work with you," Vollstedt said. "Those dogs that continue to squirm in your hands are usually willful dogs, and I don't want willful dogs."

Vollstedt trains his dogs - he currently has five - on an 80-acre ranch set up for field trials. His place will be the site of a competition hosted by a local retriever club in September.

He also makes the facility available for other area trainers to use at no charge. Several other people were working their dogs on different areas of the property as Vollstedt put Peaches through her paces.

"Anybody can train here," Vollstedt said. "I'm kind of funny that way. ... I've been fortunate, and I want to make sure people that don't have facilities can use these. ...

"I have a real passion for dog training," he said.

He attributes his success as a trainer to "doing the little things that a lot of people skip over" and to "knowing when to correct them, and when not to ... that takes some experience, takes some ability to 'read' dogs."

But Vollstedt also makes a point of being his dogs' best friend.

"One of my secrets is that I really like the dogs," he said. "I've got this rapport with them that most professionals don't have the time or the inclination to have with all the different dogs they train, and so there are a lot of things I can do that are lot easier."