By Tom Cross-
For the first time the United Kennel Club (UKC) will be holding a national championship shed dog trial competition. Not only is the championship trial new, but chosen as the site for this first-time event is McCoy’s Poplar Flats near Bentonville in Adams County. Chad McCoy lobbied for the event and after UKC officials surveyed the facilities the deal was sealed in the fall of 2017.
To be known as the UKC Elite Shed Dog Series, this first national trial is hoping to turn into an annual outing of premier shed dog competition showcasing the finest shed dogs from throughout the United States and Canada.
Becoming more and more popular, a shed dog is not a dog that lives in a shed, but a dog trained to find and retrieve shed deer antlers. Bucks shed their antlers in late winter after the rut and shed hunting is becoming as popular as hunting mushrooms. In Adams County you can do both at the same time.
Erin and Rob Lewis of West Union have been competing in shed dog events since 2017 and amassed over 100 awards with their two yellow labs, Tuff and Link.
“We love to deer hunt and we enjoy shed hunting in spring,” said Erin. “We decided to add a dog to the family to be able to find more shed antlers but with two boys it had to be a family friendly dog, so we chose a yellow lab”
Erin pointed out that several breeds compete in the competition. “Labs, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, German shorthairs, English cocker spaniels and even a pit bull from an animal shelter compete in these events.”
Erin and Rob are both licensed judges and Erin will be siting on the panel of judges for the Adams County event.
According to Lewis the dog with the fastest overall time wins the championship. Lewis said a shed dog course is 50 yards wide and 100 yards long with five shed deer antlers planted on the course. The dog that retrieves all five antlers the quickest wins.
“Any dog that completes the course and finds and retrieves all five antlers in under three minutes is usually a first-place dog,” said Erin. “The course is timed to 15 minutes.”
Dogs can compete in three categories: Youth (children under 15), Working, and Championship. Dogs competing in Youth or Working class are only required to retrieve four antlers, in the Championship class a dog must retrieve all five antlers. A championship dog will run the course three times combining the times to determine a winner.
Courses are all laid out differently according to Lewis. “Some courses will be in woods, cornfields, pasture fields, cedar thickets or weedy CRP fields. At the Adams County event one course will be laid out so spectators will be able to watch the dogs work.”
Erin says she expects at least 40 dogs to compete in the weekend event. Competition usually begins around 9 a.m., wrapping up by 2:30 p.m. Spectators are urged to arrive before noon. Two trials will be run on Saturday (April 27), and one trial on Sunday (April 28). At the conclusion of the last trial, a National Champion Shed Dog will be crowned.
The championship event will be held at McCoy’s Poplar Flat, 2064 Popular Flat Rd., West Union. For more information go to https://www.ukcdogs.com/article/ukc-shed-dog-national-championship?news_id=12&view=recent or phone (269) 343-9020 or Chad McCoy at (937) 430-4999. 