The Tenth Annual Top Dog competition was held on Saturday March 8, 2026 at the west grounds of the Des Plaines SFWA. The weather was cooperative and we had a nice spring day for the eleven single person – one dog entries and the nine two person – one dog entries. We ran two bird fields and got the event concluded by the early afternoon.
The top three dogs and handlers in the one person competition were;
First Place DD Merlin with handler Brett Zollers with a score of 94 and a time of 5:56.
Second Place GSP Tia with handler Andy Caron – Owned by Chuck Horvath with a score of 90 and a time of 9:37.
Third Place GSP Lucy with handler Brett Pomrenke with a score of 86 and a time of 13:53.
The top three dogs and handlers/gunners in the two person competition were;
First Place Vizsla Ezra with Kate Keenean and Sam Vesely with a score of 92 and a time of 7:25.
Second Place GSP Adele with Brett Pomrenke and Tony Mattingly with a score of 84 and a time of 5:59.
Third Place GSP Payton with Darren Wesson and Marc Bretall with a score of 70 and a time of 14:51.
The Top Dog Committee members Chuck Horvath, Perry Dlugie, Nathan Selep, Dave Wolfe, and Tony Mattingly would like to thank this year’s participants as well as give a shout out to the following judges – Christine Selep, Perry Dlugie, and Dennis Nowak. Thank you to the following volunteers John Singh, John Tryner, Reinhard Gergen, and Dave Wolfe.
We hope everyone had a great day and look forward to seeing you again at Top Dog 2027.