Ronnie Prudhomme's Roux definitely had a fairy tale year in 2004! Cinderella-Roux is what Barney Burks, a friend, aptly
renamed Dakota's Cajun Roux after reflecting back on this past season. Justin Tackett of the Super Retriever Series and
Waterdog recently exclaimed, "Ronnie Prudhomme's Roux is without a doubt one of the finest and most talented young dogs
in the country. Roux is the only chocolate to ever advance into a top seed at the SRS. He is as handsome as they come, big,
strong, and a solid marking dog, as well as being biddable. Bill Autrey has done a wonderful job with him in his
training."
In January of 2004, prior to Roux ever running his first Finished Test, Bill Autry stated, "Roux will set the chocolate
world on it's ear." With such a huge statement from a man like Bill Autrey, Roux had a lot to prove.
Roux started 2004 by running his first Finished test on February 28. Mr. Autrey was standing in the holding blind
prior to running Roux when he told Ronnie that there was something wrong with Roux's eyes. Anyone who knows Ronnie
and his nervous nature can imagine what was going through his mind. Extremely concerned, Ronnie asked what was wrong
with his eyes and if he needed to take Roux to the vet. Bill told Ronnie that Roux could not see the marks with his left
eye and could not see Bill with his right eye (Roux heels on the left). Bill couldn't help but laugh at Ronnie's "concerned"
reaction. Bill's demeanor then turned serious as he put his hands on Ronnie's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes and
said, "Ronnie, I have filled out the Grand entry form for Roux!" Keep in mind that this was at Roux's first Finished test,
and the Spring Grand was a little less than two months away.
Ronnie questioned, "Bill, you mean the Fall Grand, right?"
"No, the Spring Grand," Mr. Autrey replied.
Bill then qualified his statement by telling Ronnie that he could take only eight dogs with him to the Grand and seven of
the spots were already filled. Roux would have to compete against four other dogs for the last spot. These were much older,
more experienced dogs, not to mention that they were Hunting Retriever Champions already. Roux was 20 months old at the time.
For the next month, the competition was keen. During this time, Roux would have to earn his HRCH to even be considered for
the Grand. On March 28, Bill informed Ronnie that Roux had earned the right to be the eighth dog on his truck headed to
the Grand.
The Bryan/College Station Spring Grand was Ronnie and, his wife, Connie's first Grand. They were extremely nervous and
confided in me that "they had no idea what an emotional roller coaster a Grand could be." In the first series Roux did
well, but during the second series Roux had to be handled on a mark. Ronnie and Connie sweated out the third and fourth
series! Roux did not handle on any more marks and took all of his casts in each series to complete his blinds. Needless
to say, he passed the third and fourth series. Roux had made it to the final series - the Upland. Roux passed it with
flying colors and became the youngest retriever - at 22 months of age - to pass the 2004 Bryan/College Station Spring
Grand!
Mr. Autrey thought it might be a good experience for Roux to run in a Super Retriever Series. One was coming up in El Campo,
Texas September 30 though October 2. At this stage of Roux's training, Bill had suggested to Ronnie that it would be in Roux's
best interest to train only for the Fall Grand. So all of Bill's training was geared toward getting Roux's GRHRCH title
in the fall. Bill and Ronnie decided that they would not do any special training for the SRS, even though the marks and blinds
were considerably longer and dokkens were used instead of real ducks. Bill would just train for the Fall Grand, and let the cards
fall where they may.
They arrived late on September 28 in El Campo. The following morning, Bill and Ronnie had the opportunity to train with
Scott Baldwin and Cade Gentry prior to starting the competition the next day. Marks and blinds were set up, and Ronnie was
flabbergasted at how far away they were. All of the dogs did well in the training with the exception of Roux! He was
horrible, to say the least! Ronnie's nervous nature took over, and he was ready to go home, but Bill was able to convince
him into staying for the event.
For those of you not familiar with Mack's Super Retriever Series, it is a mixture of hunt tests and field trials. The
first two days of competition consist of two scored events. The scores for these events are compiled and the 12 top dogs
advance to the semi-finals on the morning of the third day. On the afternoon of the third day, the top five dogs compete
in the finals for the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. The dogs were seeded before they started and then reseeded after each
event. Somehow, Roux got the 27th seed out of 74 participants at the start of the competition. After completion of the first
day, unbelievably, Roux moved up to the 12th seed. After the second day, he moved up to the 9th place seed. Roux was
learning, growing and getting better day by day. The big chocolate was thriving on the competition and exceeding all
expectations! Upon completion of the semi final round, Roux had earned the second place seed for the finals. Roux excelled
in the final round taking the Bronze Medal and missing the Gold by less than 15 feet! Not bad for a 27-month old chocolate!
He became one of the youngest retrievers ever to pass a SRS qualifier. Roux is now one of the 12 dogs that will compete in the
Mack's Prairie Wings 2005 Super Retriever Series National Championship that will be held in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Roux had
also received an invitation to compete in a new competition that will be in 2005 called the "World Retriever Championship".
