ONLINE HED: NASHDA World Shed Dog Champion Calls Plymouth Home
Fur and Fame One of Plymouth’s own pooches has worked his way to the position of top dog.
by Maggie Kelly
Photos courtesy of RUSSell IVERSON
The regal champion Queensland Duke of Leicester is lovingly know as Lester to his owners, Russell and Cynthia Iverson.
Any dog lover can tell you that their pooch is far more intelligent than we give him or her credit for. Russell and Cynthia Iverson of Plymouth have some bragging rights, though, as their Labrador won a world championship at just 18 months old.
Queensland Duke of Leicester (Lester, for short), a British black Labrador retriever, won both the junior and open divisions of the 2014 North American Shed Hunting Dog Association (NASHDA) world shed-dog championship in April under trainer Josh Miller, owner of River Stone Kennels in New Richmond, Wis. This alone is a big deal, but taking into account Lester’s youth and the speed with which he succeeded, makes him a bit of a fast legend in the dog world.
For those of you not in tune with the world of dog championships, shed hunting is hunting without a gun. Rather than looking for pheasant, another popular sport for dogs, the dog and owner/trainer seek the antlers that deer, moose or elk have shed (hence the title of the competition).
“The cool thing about shed hunting is that everyone can do it,” Miller says. “We’ve had people come in who aren’t hunters, but who want to hang out in the woods.” And for those who do hunt, it’s a good way to keep their dogs in the hunting mindset off-season.
As for Lester, retrieving is his specialty, but it’s no accident. His preliminary training, or puppy training, started at home when he was about 6 months old, and he left home for the first time at around 8 months. While he got the standard “sit, stay, heel” at home, his particular puppy training introduced him to birds and gunfire “to wake up those genetics,” 11-year training veteran Miller says.
After that, the Iversons made the assessment that Lester was highly skilled. “Even the breeder said he was one of the top dogs he’s seen out there,” Russell Iverson says. This is saying a lot, considering British Labs are thought to be one of the best hunting dogs in the world.
Miller knew right away that Lester was something special, he says. He has what Miller calls the X-factor. “You can’t put your finger on why he’s special, but it’s there,” he says, so he continued working with Lester to find out what talents he was hiding.
This was made clear at the championship, when Lester flew through the competition. “They have to find six sheds [antlers] in 15 minutes or less, but these sheds are parked or planted in a 5-acre parcel, so 15 minutes isn’t a lot of time,” Cynthia Iverson says. “When he did his last course of four [at the championship], he did it fewer than four minutes,” Russell adds. “He was flying.”
Since then, Lester has achieved doggy fame, appearing in multiple outdoors and dog hunting magazines, at seminars, and on cable channels Outdoors and Sportsman. He hasn’t let this attention get to his head, though, and the Iversons say that balance is the key to successful training.
“Don’t overdo the training,” Russell says. “We’ve been through a lot of dogs … Everybody wants to think it’s immediate and natural for them, and it might be,” but that’s just not the case for every dog.
Earning the trust of your dog is the first thing you need to do, Cynthia says. Letting them understand that you are there for comfort and protection will earn their trust and make training so much easier. “Sometimes people, I think, are too harsh on their puppies … I think it makes him a little leery of you and other people around you,” she says.
Vacations are a key part, too, Russell says. Lester can spend months away from home for training and competitions. “When he’s at home, we try to relax him, because he’s been in so much training,” so they’ll take him up to their land in northern Minnesota and let him swim, one of his favorite activities.
“Lester, he’s got that switch,” Miller says. “A dog that, in the house, can be relaxed, calm, your best buddy, then go out into the field and turn it on.”//
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Josh Miller focuses his training on hunting dogs in multiple specialties. Want to learn more? riverstonekennels.com
Any dog lover can tell you that their pooch is far more intelligent than we give him or her credit for. Russell and Cynthia Iverson of Plymouth have some bragging rights, though, as their Labrador won a world championship at just 18 months old.
Queensland Duke of Leicester (Lester, for short), a British black Labrador retriever, won both the junior and open divisions of the 2014 North American Shed Hunting Dog Association (NASHDA) world shed-dog championship in April under trainer Josh Miller, owner of River Stone Kennels in New Richmond, Wis. This alone is a big deal, but taking into account Lester’s youth and the speed with which he succeeded, makes him a bit of a fast legend in the dog world.
For those of you not in tune with the world of dog championships, shed hunting is hunting without a gun. Rather than looking for pheasant, another popular sport for dogs, the dog and owner/trainer seek the antlers that deer, moose or elk have shed (hence the title of the competition).
“The cool thing about shed hunting is that everyone can do it,” Miller says. “We’ve had people come in who aren’t hunters, but who want to hang out in the woods.” And for those who do hunt, it’s a good way to keep their dogs in the hunting mindset off-season.
As for Lester, retrieving is his specialty, but it’s no accident. His preliminary training, or puppy training, started at home when he was about 6 months old, and he left home for the first time at around 8 months. While he got the standard “sit, stay, heel” at home, his particular puppy training introduced him to birds and gunfire “to wake up those genetics,” 11-year training veteran Miller says.
After that, the Iversons made the assessment that Lester was highly skilled. “Even the breeder said he was one of the top dogs he’s seen out there,” Russell Iverson says. This is saying a lot, considering British Labs are thought to be one of the best hunting dogs in the world.
Miller knew right away that Lester was something special, he says. He has what Miller calls the X-factor. “You can’t put your finger on why he’s special, but it’s there,” he says, so he continued working with Lester to find out what talents he was hiding.
This was made clear at the championship, when Lester flew through the competition. “They have to find six sheds [antlers] in 15 minutes or less, but these sheds are parked or planted in a 5-acre parcel, so 15 minutes isn’t a lot of time,” Cynthia Iverson says. “When he did his last course of four [at the championship], he did it fewer than four minutes,” Russell adds. “He was flying.”
Since then, Lester has achieved doggy fame, appearing in multiple outdoors and dog hunting magazines, at seminars, and on cable channels Outdoors and Sportsman. He hasn’t let this attention get to his head, though, and the Iversons say that balance is the key to successful training.
“Don’t overdo the training,” Russell says. “We’ve been through a lot of dogs … Everybody wants to think it’s immediate and natural for them, and it might be,” but that’s just not the case for every dog.
Earning the trust of your dog is the first thing you need to do, Cynthia says. Letting them understand that you are there for comfort and protection will earn their trust and make training so much easier. “Sometimes people, I think, are too harsh on their puppies … I think it makes him a little leery of you and other people around you,” she says.
Vacations are a key part, too, Russell says. Lester can spend months away from home for training and competitions. “When he’s at home, we try to relax him, because he’s been in so much training,” so they’ll take him up to their land in northern Minnesota and let him swim, one of his favorite activities.
“Lester, he’s got that switch,” Miller says. “A dog that, in the house, can be relaxed, calm, your best buddy, then go out into the field and turn it on.”
Josh Miller focuses his training on hunting dogs in multiple specialties. Want to learn more? riverstonekennels.com
