1965 National Retriever Championship Winner-Trained by Cotton Pershall
Martens Little Smoky is a typical Pershall champion.
At Pershall's suggestion, John Olin bought Smoky as a 3-year-old from Trainer Frank Hogan of Hayward, Wis. for a reported $1,000, a bargain price, as it turned out. The dog had been bred by Lawrence Martens of Sauk Rapids, Minn., whose strain of Labradors was very much in vogue at the National?five Martens-bred dogs ran in the championship, and two of them, Smoky and Martens Stormy, trained and handled by Pershall, completed all 10 series in the trial.
AKC shows two registration #s. S986861 and SA986861
"Smoky had it from the start," says Pershall. "He had class, which covers most everything?speed, good nose, eagerness?and he was a very brainy dog. Lots of young fireballs just fold up under serious training, but Smoky was the kind of tough dog that could take correction and still enjoy the game.
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