Black Panther is a "rags to riches" story, the product of a breeding of hunting stock resulting in a dog that qualified for 7 consecutive Nationals. Triever, as he was called, was an unruly hunting dog that displayed unusual ability, but was unsteady. A chance meeting between his owner and Orin Benson provided Benson an opportunity to test his training style on the unsteady dog. Black Panther was sold and the new owner added 1949 Snuffy Beliveau as the handler for the of western portion Triever's field trial career and went back to Benson for May to October. A field champion at 2 years of age Back Panther accumulated 172 1/2 Open All-Age Points. He was a finalist in the 1947 National and back to back in 1951 and 1952. The 1951 National had five dogs called back to run the 11th series. After the 12th series another dog was declared the winner while many thought it should be Black Panther. Triever was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997 the same year as his handler Orin Benson. Benson and Belivue both used the same technique for competition, run him on the blinds and let the dog select the order for the marks.

Black Panther was originally owned by Charles Cutting who sold him as a three year old after the '46 National to C.W. Carlson for the unheard of sum of $5000.00. In 1947 Triever had 7 Open wins for the new owner and was the high point open dog for several years. In 1949 he placed in every trial where he had been entered. During the 1952 National the last series had cover of multifloral rose. Triever dove through the hedge on the way out to retrieve the last bird and returned by the same route with one eye closed. Doctors were able to cure the resulting infection in the eye but were unable to restore the sight to the eye. He was retired to the life he had know as a young hunting dog. At a little over thirteen years of age his strength had declined and it became necessary to put an end to his suffering.

The offspring of Black Panther include Bench Champion Manzanal Phalarope, Field Champion Nic-O-Bet's Black Candy and Canadian Field Champion Williwaw Of Trab.

Contributed to Working Retriever Central! by Richard Halstead, Lino Lakes, Minnesota.

(Statistics are from Retriever Field Trial News Obituary for Orin Benson published shortly after his death in 2005.)