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2007 News
March 8, 9, 10, 2007 – Casa Grande, AZ
FBGDA
National Specialty
The beginning of March we packed the “German pup’s” bags and sent him off to
Nampa, Idaho for “Rabbit 101” training with Three Devils Kennels owner/trainer,
Jeff Funke. Jeff introduced “Miss Desi” to the rabbits in preparation for the
VJP test last year, so little Bodo-pup followed in her paw-steps.
No sooner was he merrily chasing the wily bunny around southwestern Idaho then
it was time to pack up the rest of the gang and head south to Casa Grande, AZ
for the 2007 FBGDA National Specialty. This, at least, was a familiar drive
since we lived in Phoenix for 13 years and traveled MANY times back and forth to
visit my parents in Montana. I think I could make that drive in my sleep.
The GOOD NEWS was that THIS time I had my brand new dog topper (custom built for
me last fall by Carlson Mfg. in Meridian, Idaho) and it made the trip 150 times
easier traveling with 5 dogs.
I went down several days early in order to help the dogs get acclimated to the
over 50 degree difference in temperature. It was worth it! Early in the week I
met up with Jim Cassera and “Ranger” one of our early pups and two of Jim’s
buddies from the Arizona Pointing Dog Club. We went out to the desert and spent
the morning working the dogs “Arizona style” in the desert. We had a GREAT time
and Todd and Harry were terrific (both professional trainers) and they helped me
get the dogs tuned up for the upcoming Field Trials. (A long, bitterly cold
winter had made it next to impossible to get the dogs out on birds before we
left. And it was a long time since hunting season.)
Wednesday I had Jeff fly the Bodo-pup down from Boise. Since we were going to
have distinguished judges from France (and The Netherlands) I decided to
interrupt his training long enough to show him in the Specialty Show on
Saturday. LATE that night Chris and his girlfriend Kerry also flew in so Chris
could handle the dogs in the Field Trials Thursday and Friday and in the show on
Saturday. That was a pretty short night for them. Of course the flight was late,
they had to rent a car, and the drive was over an hour south of Phoenix. YAWN!
Thursday morning we convened at the Desert Pheasant Recreation hunting preserve.
First up for us was D’Art [TopperLyn D’Artagnan]. Hunting with the wind, he cast
out perfectly and worked the wind back toward Chris, locating his first bird in
just a couple minutes. Unfortunately the wily Chukar avoided the shots and
managed to escape. Lucky for us D’Art remained perfectly steady throughout the
whole sequence. After all the dogs finished their runs, Judge Peter Rooijakkers
called D’Art back to finish the retrieve, which he did with his typical,
no-nonsense style.
Destinée did not have such a good day. (I’m convinced she decided she was on
“holiday” and could care less about hunting. She preferred to lounge in the
hotel room, flat on her back, all 4 feet in the air, enjoying her vacation.)
As everyone milled about the tent following the events the announcement was made
that there was to be a “barrage” or “run-off” for 1st Place. This was a first
for a UKC Field Trial. The participants were none other than D’ART and CHF CH
Vernon de l’Escarbot owned by Mark Dinsmore. We didn’t have a CLUE what to
expect. They took the dogs to a new field (without birds) and released them
simultaneously. The dogs were judged on their style of running. Vern was hot off
the starting block and by the time D’Art figured it out (he was busy hunting) –
the judgment was over. Oh well! We were happy to receive a Reserve Placement in
the Open Class.
The next day D’Art had on his ‘game face’ (as usual) and solidly handled 3
birds. The first was a perfect scenario with a cleanly shot bird that he
retrieved efficiently to hand. The second bird flushed over the gallery which
resulted in a “called safety.” No matter. It was only another minute or so and
D’Art had located his third bird. The gunners approached to flush the bird but
it refused to fly. It proceeded to run around in circles under D’Art’s nose (as
Chukars will often do). Again – D’Art held perfectly steady, in spite of the
overwhelming temptation. Judge J. Bordet called time. WHEW! This time D’Art got
the full monty – FIRST PLACE! All in a day’s work for him. Ho hum! “Now what
Boss?”
Saturday
arrived amidst fluff and flurry trying to get SIX dogs ready for the show, and
NO TUB. I have to say. I bet I was the CLEANEST person in the show, after taking
SIX SHOWERS to get the Arizona desert off the dogs. (No matter how dry it gets –
if there is mud to be found – THEY’LL FIND IT!)
First up was the little Bodo pup. He was his typical clown self and decided the
show ring was no big deal – just more people to impress – so he turned on the
charm. Judge J. Bordet gave a glowing rating of his conformation, rating him 1st
Excellent. Yippee! His first win.
Little Brother Leo [TopperLyn Gallant Bodacious] owned by Anne Johnson and
handled by her husband Glen Gunderson, won his class, Junior Male. D’Art
followed on to win his class – Senior Male. Back in the class for Best Male of
Variety – we were pleasantly surprised that Bodo was selected. D’Art came back
to win Reserve Best Male of Variety.
In the “Other Colors” Fonzie walked away with his class win, Junior Male, AND
Best Male of Variety. “HEEEEEEEY!” Way to go Fonz.
Desi woke up from her nap long enough to win her class, Senior Female and then
Best Female of Variety and Best Female. I swear . . . . I’m surprised I didn’t
find her in the massage suite, getting a paw-decure.
The Best Male competition ended up being between Bodo (O/W) and Fonzie (O/C).
Whodathunk? Bodo definitely had the game figured out by now and ramped up the
charm and took the prize. Again D’Art came in and was placed Reserve Best Male
(always the bride’s maid – does that work for guys too?)
In the Champion Class Draco went Reserve. I think he was feeling kind of like
the step-child and no matter what I did I couldn’t get “ears” on him to save my
soul. Papa Beau [NBOB GR CH TAN Beau de l’Hospitalier] won the Grand Champion
Class.
For Best of Breed we had Beau, Ed Smith’s CH Cliathan’s Mighty McSmith, and Bodo.
Maturity has its benefits and Ed and “Dr. Watson” took the top prize. I have to
say though – it was a pretty satisfying day as each of the dogs received
“Excellent” ratings from M. Bordet and we received MANY compliments on all the
dogs. We decided it was well worth bringing the “Pup” from Boise after all.
March 30, 2007 - Boise, ID
JGV-USA VJP
Back in the truck, we dashed back north to return Bodo to Jeff
so he could finish out his Rabbit 101 before the VJP two weeks later.
Jeff was out of town the day of the VJP so he deferred handling the pup to his
experienced trainer Mike Burden. Bodo was wound
up like a top all day which didn’t help matters. Tracking conditions were
miserable and although he had 5 rabbits he was not able to put together a solid
track to the judge’s liking. His field work was stellar, but his low score in
tracking netted him only 60 points which is still in the “Good” category, but
not what we thought he was capable of. – Back to the drawing board.
May 5, 2007 - Vale, OR
VHDF - HAE
May 5th we trundled back to Boise – well actually Vale, Oregon –
which is about 50 miles west of Boise for the inaugural Hunting Aptitude
Evaluation test of the newly founded Versatile Hunting Dog Federation. This was
a very special occasion for me as one of the judges of the event was none other
than Sigbot “Bodo” Winterhelt – my longtime friend and mentor. I won’t say how
long it has been since I had an opportunity to run a dog under him, but its
“been a while.” It was also significant that this was the first time Bodo met
“Bodo” – the pup he helped me get from Germany a year ago.
Once again the pup nailed the field portion of the test, solidly locking on
point on two birds. He had one opportunity to track a rabbit and one pheasant.
His tracking performance improved some over the VJP and he finished with a score
of 59 (good). Besides being significant because this was the first test
conducted by the VHDF – it was just a lot of fun. We just about ate ourselves to
death though thanks to hosts Bill and Lorna Tibbits. Oh boy – can they cook.
May 27, 2007 - Ronan, MT
NAVHDA – Natural Ability
Last, but not least of the marathon of spring tests – May 27
Bodo had his final performance at the Big Sky Chapter NA test at Ronan, MT.
(What? Not Boise again?)
First off was the water. In spite of my attempts to get his attention focused on
the task at hand – the (now becoming a “teenager”) pup decided to digress a bit
and investigate the areas around the pond. I finally got his attention “Oh YEAH
– sorry – I was just seein’ sumthin” and he completed the water test (4 times)
with his typical gusto.
The field portion for this dog, at this point, seems to almost be “a given.” His
style of run, use of nose, and search were consistent and typical of him;
thorough, efficient, and beautiful to watch. The gallery had the good fortune
that when he found his bird he happened to be on the right side of the hill
where they could see him flip a 180 and lock hard on the bird, true Breton
style. Judge Darin Tolzin had a huge grin on his face as we walked out of the
field. “That dog has a bit of a sparkplug in him, doesn’t he?”
In spite of a steady downpour of rain the rest of the day, Bodo managed to score
a 3 in tracking, (whew – his best yet) and ended up with 101 points and a Prize
II. (He would have got a Prize I had he not gone for a lark at the water. Hmmmm
– Cooperation? Whoops.)
June 14 - 17, 2007 - Kalamazoo, MI
UKC Premier
Here's a sneak preview . . . .
Past Accomplishments/
Archives
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National Epagneul Breton Specialty Show - Weatherford, OK
May 25, 2002 |
National Epagneul Breton Specialty Show and T.A.N - Plainfield, IN May 3,4 2003 |
North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association Natural Ability Test May 26, 2003 |
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National Epagneul Breton Specialty Show - Armour, SD April 2, 2004 |
Archive of News from 2004 | Archive of News from 2005 |
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Archive of News from 2006 |
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