Retrievers have been my great passion since the early nineties. From the beginning I was fascinated by their abilities in the field and from there it was only a small step into the competition world. In 1996 I imported a puppy bitch from the UK, and with the foundation of my FCI kennel in 1998 the story of Gunsight’s Labradors began.
Since then, I have successfully competed in tests and trials throughout Europe and the UK. I have made up two international FCI field trial champions, with the third on the way subject the show result. A few other personal highlights for me have been
• ChTCH Gunsight’s Autumn Sage – Top Dog Skinners World Cup 2003
• Int. FTCh. Gunsight’s Bracket – Top Dog European Retriever Championship 2007
• Int. FTCh./ IT FTCh. Flashmount Teal – Runner up Italian Retriever Championship 2018
• OFTW Gunsight’s Gorse Hatch – Winner of three International FCI Open Trials in 2023
Gunsight’s Hale, youngest member of my pack and a great-great-granddaughter of my English foundation bitch, finished runner up in two Novice Field Trials last season.
Over the years, I have represented Germany twelve times at the IWT with six different dogs – five times we were among the top five teams, twice we came second and once third. I was also part of the German team that won the Skinners World Cup in 2007 and came second in 2008.
After I started judging working tests in 2002, I became an official FCI Field Trial judge in 2008. Since then, I have had the honor of judging tests and trials all over Europe, including the FCI European Retriever Championship. Since 2014 I have been the German representative on the FCI Commission for Retrievers.
In 2018, I took part in the Kennel Club’s judges training seminar (J regulations) and successfully passed the exam.
In addition, I have been involved in the breeding committee for Labradors of the German Retriever Club since 2004. Since 2009 I have been lucky enough to combine my two passions – retrievers and writing – by writing several books about the Labrador for a major publisher and today I am co-author of an extensive online training program for Retrievers.
I feel very honored to have been invited to judge the IWT for the third time now. I am sure it will be an unforgettable event for everyone involved. I wish all the teams the best of luck – stay focused and keep picking!