Dennis Edwards & Coup – 4-year old Male
Sundance, Wyoming
Dennis Edwards & Coup – photo courtesy of Dale Hallebach
Dennis Edwards and Coup marked their first Meeker Classic Championship this year with a strong run during the Double Lift Finals. No stranger to the winner’s circle, Dennis was Reserve Champion in 2011 with Craig and in 2012 with Ben. This year, 4-year-old Coup read the sheep and worked them aggressively through the course to end up with a score of 137 and the Best International Shed. Nervous to qualify for the Semi-finals and the Finals, Dennis had confidence in Coup and knew they had make a strong run and move the sheep decisively. Contestants are given 30 minutes to complete their run during the Double Lift finals. Dennis and Coup finished their final run on Sunday with 7 minutes left on the clock.
Coup at home in Sundance, WY – photo courtesy of Dennis Edwards
Coup is out of Chuck Riley’s Moss and Jimmy Walker’s Jace, a bitch that came from Rene LaBree. Jace is a full sister to his Craig dog that was Meeker Classic Reserve Champion in 2011. Starting him as a pup, Dennis says that Coup was a bit hard headed and “toothy”- he tended to grip the sheep. But he’s always had the ability to read the livestock and work them accordingly. Not one to socialize much with the other dogs, Coup lives to work and keeps to himself otherwise. Loyal to Dennis, he’s a no-nonsense dog that continues to develop as he matures. Coup was the 2016 Reserve Texas State Champion and has been successful in other regional trials.
Dennis & Coup won the award for the best International Shed photo courtesy of Dale Hallebach
Dennis has been competing at dog trials for about 18 years. He started going to a few small arena trials with encouragement from fellow handler, Gerald Bunny, and later got hooked on field trials when he competed at the Kaycee Challenge in Kaycee, WY. He won Kaycee in 2009 with Ben. Dennis’ first trip to Meeker in 2008 was his first introduction to one of the really big field trials. “What an experience it was for me. I was in over my head, but what cool place to run dogs. It also showed me the level I needed to be training my dogs to. That has been quite a challenge.” Dennis has met that challenge by taking Reserve honors in 2011 and 2012 with two different dogs and now the Championship in 2017 with Coup.
. . .is that the smile of a winner?!! – Dennis & Coup Photo courtesy of Michelle Cox
Dennis and his wife Marlene make their home in Sundance, Wyoming. Dennis retired from the Powder River Energy Corp and spends as much time as he can working, training and trialing his dogs. When winter sets in at Sundance, Dennis heads south to Texas for the winter trials down there. Marlene still works as a nurse at the hospital in Sundance, but goes with Dennis when she can. They raised two sons, Joshua who works for the BLM in Kimberly, ID and Lucas who is serves as pastor at a Missouri Synod Lutheran tri-parish in South Dakota. Dennis and Marlene have 7 wonderful grandchildren and are very proud of their family.
Dennis & Coup during the preliminary runs Photo courtesy of Toby Leavitt
The community looks forward to seeing the handlers pull in to Meeker each year. It’s a time to catch up, share stories and spend some time together. Such is the case with Dennis and Marlene. A fierce competitor and good friend, Dennis is always willing to lend a hand, we’re happy to send out a big congratulations to Dennis and Coup!
Dennis & Coup await their turn in preliminaries Photo courtesy of Toby Leavitt