The braces are set for the 109th running of the National Championships for Field Trialing Bird Dogs – but it certainly wasn’t easy.

Even with only 36 dogs in the event, the drawing (and pre-drawing speech) took more than an hour due to several issues that never would have occurred to me.

First, there’s a new rule that prohibits handlers from running twice in one day. So anytime handlers were drawn for back-to-back braces on Saturday night, those dogs had to be held and placed in another brace to avoid violating the rule.

To further complicate matters, there is one female dog in the event that’s actually in season right now. That dog, named Hat’s Off, is owned by Burke Hendrix of Hernando, Miss.

For obvious reasons, Hat’s Off couldn’t be paired with a male dog. So Ames Plantation Superintendent Rick Carlisle had to finagle the braces to pair her with Whippoorwill Firebox, another female.

It certainly wasn’t as simple as drawing 36 names out of a hat.

Speaking of names…

That’s always one of my favorite things about this event.

While the dogs have simple field names like Jack or Kate, their kennel names are always really fancy and really cool.

This year, we have Heyu Two Pete, House’s Snake Bite, Mega Diamond, Phantom’s Last Dime and my personal favorite, In the Shadow.

Female dogs are always kind of a rarity in this event, and this year is no different. Only four of the 36 dogs are female, including one from Oakfield, Ga., named Short Skirt (another pretty cool moniker).

Setters are also a rarity at the National Championships. There are only two setters competing this year against a field of 34 pointers.

If you’re planning to attend, remember your horse must have a negative Coggins test, or you won’t be allowed to ride in the gallery.

Also, stallions are not allowed in the gallery. A couple of years ago, a stallion actually rared up on the back of another horse, hitting a rider in the back.

If you’re in the gallery or watching from one of the roadside crossings, be sure not to interfere with the dogs.

I know my first instinct when I’m around a dog of any description is to reach down and pet it. But if you do that during the National Championships, you could actually hurt that dog’s chances of winning and cost its owner thousands of dollars.

Just leave the dogs alone until the brace is over. You don’t want to be like that poor assistant football coach from Texas who inadvertently touched a live ball during the first half of the Holiday Bowl.

I know I don’t.