News & Announcements

Dear Friends, Clubs, Professional Trainers and Businesses,

The Eastern Ontario Retriever Club is proud to host the 2026 National Retriever Championship in September 2026 in Perth, ON. Planning for the event is well underway, and we look forward to hosting the top field trial retrievers and handlers from across Canada and the United States.

As you can imagine, hosting a National Retriever Championship requires fundraising to ensure a successful and quality event. The EORC would therefore like to ask you to consider supporting the 2026 National through one of the sponsorship options.

Click the button below to see how you can show your support.

Regards,

Ken Crosby,

2026 National Field Trial Chairman

Congratulations AFC-FTCH-AFTCH Maplepond Me Amigos QFTR (BLM,8.1) owned by Richard & Connie Dresser, and handled by Richard.  This double-header win in March 2026 at the Tallokas Retriever Club Of Georgia gave “Cisco” his AFC and qualified him for the 2026 National Amateur in June!

NEW FTCH GOLDEN  
OPEN DOUBLE-HEADER WEEKEND
Congratulations to New FTCH Heads Up Golden Warrior Prince JFTR QFTR, who won the FVRTC 2nd Open after winning the first Open yesterday. Laoch is owned by Melanie Towell and is trained and handled by Colin McNicol of Windy River Retrievers.

The NRCC Annual Members Meeting on January 25, 2026, had a commendable turnout, with 89% of member clubs registered and 52 individuals in attendance. The meeting featured a series of operational updates for the various committees, a thorough review of the 2025 National Retriever Championship, and an informative update on the plans for the upcoming 2026 event to be held in Perth, Ontario. The contributions and dedication of the retiring directors were also acknowledged with gratitude.

Several bylaw amendments were approved, with the most notable being Amendment 5.02 regarding the Number of Directors.  The summary list of bylaw amendments is below:

Proposed Change to the NRCC Club Policies and Procedures, the section titled Meetings with subsection Responsibilities of a Proxy: The proxy representative may carry the proxy vote for one (1) member.

5.02 Number of Directors

For the purpose of the election of the directors, Canada shall be divided into the following eight areas: The Maritimes (Nova Scotia & Newfoundland, New Brunswick & PEI), Quebec, Northern Ontario, Southern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta/NWT/Nunavut, British Columbia & Yukon.   There will be one director elected from each area.

6.03 Quorum – A quorum at a meeting of the Board for the purpose of transacting business shall be six (6) of eight (8) 75% directors. If a quorum is present at the opening of a meeting of the Board, the Board may proceed with the business of the meeting even if a quorum is not present throughout the meeting.

Section 7 Officers- Add:

11. e) The position of the President, 1st Vice President, and 2nd Vice President shall be filled by an Amateur as defined by the CKC Field Trial Rules and Regulations Section 11.3.

Subsection 7.01 Composition

7.01 d) Officers shall be limited to two consecutive one-year terms, with the exception of the Secretary and Treasurer positions. The Secretary and Treasurer term shall be two years and may be extended for consecutive terms or a single year.

Also, add the following:

7.01 e) The Executive committee positions are the President, 1st Vice President, Second Vice President, and Past President.

Thank you to the following retiring directors: Rick Regamble, BC – Yukon 2024 – 2026; Chris Mason, Southern Ontario 2022 – 2026; Doug Shepherd, Alberta-NWT 2019 -2026; Jim Andrew, Northern Ontario 2015 -2026, Jim Ling, Southern Ontario 2014 – 2026; Mike Zelman, Nova Scotia & NFLD 2014 – 2026.

The full Annual Member Meeting minutes will be available on the website next month. 

Hope Roberts and Walter Vessey have been appointed by acclamation as directors for the BC, Yukon, and Maritimes areas, respectively, for three-year terms.

At the first directors’ meeting after the Annual Members Meeting, the directors appointed the new executive officers for 2026 in accordance with the NRCC bylaws. The newly appointed officers are Darlene Broomhead as President, John McDonald as 1st Vice-President, Bernard Landry as 2nd Vice-President, and Doug Shepherd, who will assume the role of Past-President

Once again we have to say another sad farewell to a long time member of our retriever community.
Dr. Graham Bowman was a founding member of the Wild Rose Retriever Club, and a dedicated student of the field trial game who loved to share his knowledge, of both dog training & medical diagnoses.
Affectionately and fondly known as “Dr. Doom”, his insights were not always framed in the most positive light… but were invariably memorable and instructive. As a judge and a trainer he was a master of the retired check-down, as were his beloved dogs – Tikka, Jetta, Evie & Tessa. Those of us who were fortunate enough to train with him on a regular basis were … also well schooled. Many of us will miss those late evening phone calls where Graham diagnosed both retriever problems and medical ones.
His memory and influence will live on through the many handlers, dogs and judges he mentored and the insights he so generously shared. He will be deeply missed.
Our heartfelt sympathies to Rose, Tessa & family

Visit the tribute.