Local dog trainers prep for national event

After passing the hunt test in 2018, Ehney Camp and Mickey Lathem are looking to pass it again with the help of their trained dogs.

Camp and Lathem compete in the American Kennel Club (AKC) Retriever Hunting Tests each year in hopes of becoming one of the few people to win a Master National plate. AKC Hunt Tests simulate a duck-hunting scenario in which the handler and dog overcome obstacles to complete their mission.

These tests are pass or fail, with the dog having to pass six tests to advance to the Master National event. There, the handler and the dog compete in four to five extremely difficult tests. If the dog completes these tests, the handler wins a plate.

Camp said this is the Super Bowl of dog-hunt tests.

“If you like to duck hunt and love dogs, this sport is for you,” he said.

Camp said after losing a close companion, Rudy, in 2016, he started looking for another dog to be by his side during duck-hunting season. That led him to Carter.

“He was an awesome dog,” Camp said of Rudy. “He was my best friend and, when he passed, duck hunting wasn’t the same. I decided in 2016, I wanted another Rudy. I bought Carter and went to see a lady named Aurelia Carter, who helped me get Rudy and get him trained. She was a first-grade teacher in the Mountain Brook system for many years but retired and has been training dogs ever since. I drove to Thomasville and worked daily with her for a full year. She introduced me to the training and competing arenas, and I was hooked.”

Ever since then, Camp has competed in hunt tests. Carter, just over 2 years old, has already received the Master Hunter title.

Camp and Lathem competed in 2018 in Roseburg, Oregon, where Lathems’s dog Dixie and Camp’s dog Pride (owned by his sister, Margaret) passed the hunt tests on the first try, earning them both a plate. Dixie is a yellow labrador retriever, and Pride is a black labrador retriever.

This year, Camp and Lathem have passed the qualifying event again and earned a spot in the 2019 Master National AKC Hunt Test in Cheraw, South Carolina. The event was scheduled for Oct. 17-27.

Before he left, Camp said he hoped to win a plate for the second year in a row.

“There is nothing cooler than building a dog from a puppy into a sidekick and teammate that you can be proud of and take anywhere,” Camp said.

Camp said this sport holds a special place in his heart and being able to compete is a dream come true. While it is relatively unknown, Camp said the sport is for people who love hunting and dogs.

“It’s time consuming and requires serious dedication,” Camp said. “But the reward is something I can’t describe.”