Geoff Cole retires from the sport

[Peter Betteridge]

Geoff has officially retired from retrieving trials recently even though he has not been active for the last 10 years .He is unbelievably busy as usual and his other pursuits have left him little time to spend on his dogs
I was fortunate enough to be able to take one of Geoff's bitches with his 2 dogs going to Kerry Webster and Kerrie Armstrong
Geoff's legacy and contribution to the sport is profound.He began trialing in 1985 and by 1987 he had won his first national with NRTCH Zeefree Black Joker at his first attempt
In the late 1980's Geoff undertook a fact finding mission in the united states to try and improve his dog training skills.He formed a life long friendship with US hall of Fame retriever trainer Jim Swan from texas
In 1990 Geoff established the Working retriever Club and began conducting training classes.I remember joining in 1991 and turning up to train with my very young lindenlake bitch RTCH Lindenlake Nikki (Gabby)
Geoff was always very generous with his time and newly acquired knowledge. Other early members of the club included Joe Vella John and Anne Newnham , John and Joe Cauchi and Jake Christiansen
at the time Geoff had 2 RTCH's Misty and Caddie. Caddie in particular revolutionized blind retrieves and line running in Australia Although not a great dog due to her average marking skills ,Caddie was the first dog to demonstrate the spinning sit and was very very well trained and very very decheated to a level not seen in Australia before this time
Geoff was the first Australian to organize a US professional dog trainer to come to our country and do a seminar Some of us still have the video of that seminar in 1991 and those that attended will attest to its excellence
It is Geoffs record at national level that has set him apart
He is the only person to ever win 4 nationals and only one of 2 people have ever won the national with more than one dog
His great dog NRTCH Truclass Ruff & Ready won 3 nationals in a row 1998 1999 and 2000
Ruff competed in 5 nationals for 3 wins a 60% success rate RTCH TRuclass Untouchable also achieved 2 4th places in nationals
Geoff has made up 5 RTCH's He competed in 9 nationals winning 4 of them which is a 44.5% success rate this is unparalleled in our sport
He was the first to import a US field trial bitch into Australia and the first to bring in frozen semen. He is also the first to judge a US field trial
I have had the privilege to be Geoffs close friend and training partner for many times and i can personally attest to his extraordinary ability to train dogs Without a doubt Geoff is one of the most innovative people I have ever meet. Like many others I feel greatly indebted to Geoff for all his help and support over the years
The sport will miss Geoff Cole but his contribution to Retrieving Trials has been immense and will not be forgotten and his achievements at national level will forever remain a part of the history of our sport