Sean C. Morgan
Field of Dreams owners Kirsten and Paul Fulk were counting their first Gun Dog Expo a success as it focused on an area that often gets more periferal attention at outdoors shows: gun dog and bird hunting enthusiasts.
Things were “going good,” Kirsten Fulk said. “I wish attendance was higher, but it’s our first year.”
As of Saturday afternoon, she estimated that about 1,000 people had attended the expo, held Friday through Sunday at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center.
The vendors were feeling like it was a good show because it was so focused, Fulk said. They had more contacts than the Portland outdoors show, which has an annual attendance of 65,000, mainly because of the focus. A show like that includes much more than gun dogs.
Also, the show is held in February just after wild bird season ends, in January, and just before the end of hunting on preserves, in March.
During that time of year, hunters aren’t eager to buy anything because they would have to store it until August when the next season starts, and they’re tired, Fulk said.
“We’re tired. Our feet are tired. Our dogs are tired. Our wallets are tired.”
Dog training also is notoriously slow that time of year because dog owners don’t want to train and let the dog sit half a year.
A show in June, focused on gun dogs, addresses those issues.
The show had about 60 vendors and exhibits, including Sweet Home’s Hevi Shot, a shot manufacturer; the Wildlife Ranch, a pheasant reserve in the Holley area; and Field of Dreams.
Others included the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, which trains dogs to search for survivors in disaster areas, such as the 9/11 ground zero and Haiti following the 2010 earthquake; the Oregon State University veterinarians hospital; and a variety of businesses. The OSU program recently opened a sports medicine rehabilitation program for canines and equines.
Fulk had people asking about how to get booths next year, she said.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife provided its first public presentation of new rules regarding dogs and raptors. The new rules take effect July 1.
Meanwhile, dock dogs competed, jumping for distance into a pool of water, and experts provided a variety of seminars and demonstrations.
Among those, the NDSDF gave demonstrations of their dogs at work on a mini rubble pile. Hunting personalities Dez Young of “Hunting with Hank and “Dash in the Uplands” and Scott Linden of “Wingshooting USA” also provided demonstrations.
The Fulks have operated Field of Dreams since 2001 after moving to Sweet Home the year before.
At their kennel, east of Sweet Home off Highway 20, the Fulks train and board dogs. They also rescue animals from shelters.
They take the problem dogs, the hard cases, Fulk said.
Throughout the year, Field of Dreams also runs “Oregon Bird Dog Challenge” tournaments.