How sweet she is.

Lokie hops out of the truck and, nose to the ground, hustles through the sagebrush searching for the scent of a bird. The small black lab has already made her morning run in the dog trials. This current jaunt is just a chance for her to stretch her legs, poke her snout into a few places and, of course, find a person to nuzzle against in the hopes of receiving a nice long scratch on the back.

She circles back to her master, sits at his feet and looks up at him with big adoring eyes.

"She's just a neat little girl," Blake Wilson said of his trusty sidekick, giving her an oh-so-good scratch on her back. "She's just a sweetheart."

While Lokie's gentle disposition sure makes her a sweetheart, her hunting skills are doubly sweet - Lokie was crowned a local champion last weekend. She earned first place in the flushing division in the National Upland Classic Series hunting dog trials held by the Sage Brush Hunt Club at the Robinett Bird Farm on the outskirts of Casper.

It was a typical top-notch performance from Wilson's "rock star of a pointing lab," he said.

The National Upland Classic Series, a division of the National Kennel Club, sanctions dog trials held by hunting clubs across the country and holds a national tournament in March. Some Upland Classic events attract as many as 160 dogs of a dozen different breeds from several states. Two Wyoming chapters in Casper and Cheyenne put on dog trials throughout most of the year.

Last weekend's nasty storm front made for a smaller than usual turnout at the dog trials this time around. Competitors from nearby states cancelled because of the snow, but about 15 hardy Wyomingites and their canine companions made it to the show outside Casper to compete on Saturday and Sunday.

A dog trial simulates an upland bird hunt, except it's timed and scored by a judge. Three live birds raised at a game farm - usually chukars, quail or pheasants - are set in various spots in the field without the hunter's knowledge of where they are. The birds pretty much stay put hiding in the brush as the hunter and dog take to the field in search of them.

The clock is running. Each dog has up to 20 minutes to find all three birds. Some dogs, like Lokie, are so good it only takes about five minutes to find all three. To score high marks, when the dog locates a bird it must stop and hold a point before flushing it. It also must retrieve it after the shot, bringing the bird to hand without the hunter taking a step. The dog is scored by a judge on style points for how cleanly and effectively it completes each action.

The hunter's job is easier said than done. When the bird flushes, shoot it. Sounds easy, right? Well, sometimes that's the hardest part. The person is more likely to make a mistake than the dog, Wilson said.

"Usually if the dog didn't win it's because of the hunter. If you miss a shot, 90 percent of the time you're not winning."

Chris Carlile of Casper, who organized last weekend's dog trial, had a tough morning run on Saturday when he missed a shot.

The scoring is "based on the dog and the hunter can screw it up," Carlile said. A good dog knows when its master has goofed. Some dogs are more forgiving than others.

"They know. There are some dogs that if you miss one or two shots they stop hunting. They won't hunt for you if you miss," Carlile said.

On his next turn, Carlile's dog Daisey, a 2 1/2 year old English pointer, hunted up three chukars in four minutes for him and that time all his shots were on target.

The tournaments are usually worth a few hundred bucks for the winners and the competitors accumulate points throughout the year vying for Top Dog honors, the dog of the year award. But the trials really aren't about winning prize money. The events are more about friendly competition and a chance to hang out with other hunters and dog lovers and to train their dogs for the real hunting season.

"There's no bitching and moaning" about the scoring or judging, Carlile said. "Pretty much everybody's just middle-class guys - all hillbillies."

"It's something to do when the geese aren't flying," Wilson said.

Most of all it's an opportunity to go outside and let their dogs do what they love to do - run like the wind chasing down the scent of a bird.

Pointing Division

First Place - Jasmine, owned by Mike Skadsem of Gillette

Second Place - Max, owned by Mike Skadsem of Gillette

Third Place - Jax, owned by Chris Jerup of Riverton

Flushing Division

First Place - Lokie, owned by Blake Wilson of Cheyenne

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Think your hunting dog has the right stuff? Come out and give it a whirl. The next dog trials in Wyoming will be held March 1 in Meeteetse.

"It's a fun sport that anybody who has a good hunting dog can come out and try. It's affordable and just a fun group of people," said Blake Wilson of the Cheyenne Hunt Club. "If you like to hunt and your dog does a pretty good job you can come on out and probably do pretty well."

To enter your four-legged friend in the Meeteetse competition, call Bo Allen at (307) 868-2526 or John Fernandez at (307) 868-2603.

For information about joining the Central Wyoming Sage Brush Hunt Club, call Chris Carlile at 259-0653. For the Cheyenne Hunt Club, e-mail blakewilson@chyarber.com.

If your dog (and you) could use some training before the next competition, the Robinett Bird Farm offers dog training and bird farm hunting. Call Guy Robinett at 472-1194.

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