EPIC Southeastern Game Fair

The EPIC Game Fair is this September 23-25 at the Foxhall Resort & Sporting Club.

There will be events for man and beast. Dog events include a "Meet the Breeds" session where you can meet and greet some good-looking sporting breeds. A Eukanaba vet and nutritional pro staff will give seminars and "ask the pro" sessions. Hands-on dog training is available, but it requires pre-registration. There is also the ever-popular dog dock-diving contest.

Firearm representatives will include shotgun manufacturers Beretta, Caesar Guerini, Fausti, and Famars. There will also be dealers of hunting equipment and fine guns Willoughby McCabe & Co and Kevin's of Thomasville and online dealers VintageDoubles.com and GunsInternational.com.

There will be equestrian events, fly fishing demonstrations (the Club is located near the Chattahoochee) and various shooting and archery events. Camp day!

The Foxhall Resort & Sporting Club is at 8000 Capps Ferry Road in Douglasville, Georgia 30316. At least, that's what the address says. The location on Google maps puts it north of Newnan, south of Villa Rica, east of Carrolton, and west of Atlanta, which is pretty much anyone's definition of the middle of nowhere. You will have to demonstrate your orienteering skills just to show up, but it promises to be a fun outing.

WSSCA Nationals

The report from nationals can be summarized in a single world: water. Or two words: rain and water.

The storms that hit Alabama on Thursday and Georgia on Friday swept across Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday and wiped out the show. The hotel lost power Saturday evening during the WSSCA banquet, after only two tables had been served.

The Harrisburg Kennel Club asked WSSCA members to pick up their dogs, but leave behind crates and equipment. There were dogs lost and then found, a lot of confusion. There was a lot of help and camaraderie as members helped others find their misplaced dogs, and, later, helped one another break down crates and tables and corral towels and tools to move things to a safe place. On Sunday, under sunny skies, a swap meet ensued to sort everything out. The Sunday show was canceled, and WSSCA members left with tales to tell.


The Harrisburg Kennel Club took on water at the 2011 washout. (photo by Crystal N.)

Westminster

This weekend. Kim Parkman of Pocotaligo Kennels will be there with her little brown Boykin Spaniels, Peach and Sly. Rindi Gaudet will handle the two dogs in the first ever showing of Boykins at the Westminster.

The Welshies will be represented by several great dogs.

• CH Rock Springs Hawk Of The Battle ("Gavin")
• GCH CH Heatherstone's Jopa Blue ("Winston")
• GCH CH Holly House Empres Josephine
• GCH CH Rolyart's Full Of Grace JH ("Grace")
• GCH CH Statesman's Corinthian ("Starbuck")

Gavin (Kit Goodrich) was 2010's Best of Breed at the 2010 WSSCA National Specialty.

Winston (Shannon Gandee) was 2010's Best of Breed winner at Westminster.

Empres Josephine (Holly House) is a WDX.

Grace (Shelley Traylor & Cindy Ford) was a 2007 and 2008 Westminster entry and is a Junior Hunter.

Starbuck ( Meghen Basel and Susan Riese) was Winner's Dog at the 2009 WSSCA National Specialty.

Get the popcorn ready!

2011 Westminster invitees

The Westminster Kennel Club has invited these Welsh Springer Spaniels to the 2011 show February 14-15.  Listed in alphabetical order (not by ranking):

• CH Rock Springs Hawk Of The Battle ("Gavin")
• GCH CH Heatherstone's Jopa Blue ("Winston")
• GCH CH Holly House Empres Josephine
• GCH CH Rolyart's Full Of Grace JH ("Grace")
• GCH CH Statesman's Corinthian ("Starbuck")

Gavin (Kit Goodrich) was 2010's Best of Breed at the 2010 WSSCA National Specialty.

Winston (Shannon Gandee) was 2010's Best of Breed winner at Westminster.

Empres Josephine (Holly House) is a WDX.

Grace (Shelley Traylor & Cindy Ford) was a 2007 and 2008 Westminster entry and is a Junior Hunter.     

Starbuck (Meghen Basel and Susan Riese) was Winner's Dog at the 2009 WSSCA National Specialty.

Good luck to all!

More scenes from the weekend WSSCA Regional Specialty

Penny and Ryan ready their dogs.  This is for all the marbles with BOB.

Marta likes what she sees with this little dog.

Mary prepares J Clark.  Tucker at right.  Not sure who's at left.

Frank and Larsen get ready to rumble.

After the Rally, Frank and Larsen celebrate their passing score.

Chance demonstrates the "Welshie Sprawl."

Scenes from the WSSCA regional

Some of the finest WSS's in America were in Atlanta at the WSSCA Regional Specialty.

The spectators were lively and supportive of all of the entries.

 

Rally at the WSSCA Regionals

The Dogwood chapter of WSSCA is sponsoring WSS Regionals in Atlanta this weekend.  Larsen and I are participating in Rally, as is Larsen's breeder, Susan W. and many others.  There are over 70 dogs entered in conformation on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend.

Today, Larsen got his first leg in a Rally Advanced title, scoring an 82, and basically being a good little dog throughout the obstacle course.

Friends MaryAnne, Jamie, and Susan also locked on some qualifying scores, with MaryAnne's Chance copping a 96 or something along those lines in Rally Excellent.

Tatum shares Susan's pleasure with her performance in Rally  Novice.

Donna and Logan finished with qualifying scores in Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent.  Logan earned a Rally Championship title for his work.

 
MaryAnne and Chance engage in a little horseplay before their turn.  Chance earned a Rally Excellent leg with a score of 96.

Larsen seems to be studying the scoreboard as he waits his turn in the Rally competition.  Larsen earned an 83 and his first qualifying leg in Rally Advanced.
 

Scenes from the weekend

This must be the place.

Meghen prepares one of her charges.

Showtime.

Over at Rally, contestants step off the course.

MaryAnne and Chance wait patiently.

It's our turn!

Chance scores a passing grade and earns an advanced Rally leg.

Kim enjoys a lighter moment in the Boykin ring.

Back to business.

A fun, but long weekend.

Gentleman's C

Larsen earned his second Rally Novice A leg on Saturday, scoring a gentleman's C of 74 (a 70 is required to qualify). 

In my opinion, he did fine until we got to the far end of the room, near the gallery.  Larsen broke away a few steps, put his nose over the fence and started air scenting.  What he was after, I haven't the faintest idea.   It wasn't fried chicken or other food, he's smelled that before.  Sue R. thought it may have been a bitch in heat.  Another contested later said that someone popped open one of the doors to the arena and he may have been smelling the outdoor air that wafted in.  Whatever it was, it left me flat-footed and unprepared and made him seem like a disobedient dog.

We finally got back on track, finished a very tricky course, and earned the green qualifying ribbon. 

We are heading back today, Sunday, for our try at the third and final leg.

The Dogwood WSS club members prepare their dogs for the ring.

Got a leg

Larsen finished in 4th place in Rally Novice this morning to earn his first leg (of 3) toward a Rally Novice title.  He might have finished higher but for operator error.  It turns out I let the leash drag, which looks sloppy (according to the judge) and so nicks you a point.

Larsen was his usual happy self, and of course beside himself when he saw Susan W.  But when he went into the ring his head and tail droopped, which the judge pointed out to me.  Was he nervous?  But once we got going, both of us forgot all about it.  He basically stuck next to me when I told him to heel and sat near me when I told him to sit.  That is all there really is to Rally Novice.

MaryAnne and Chance earned another leg in their quest for the more advanced Rally Excellent title.  Chance was totally distracted in the ring for some reason, but he did what MaryAnne asked and looked good doing it.  Little Chance has filled out and is a nice looking dog.

Larsen relaxes in the hallway after returning home from his Rally outing.

 
Chance earns another leg toward his Rally Excellent title.

Rally-O this weekend

Tomorrow and this weekend Larsen and I will participate in Rally Novice A.

Rally is a watered-down version of Obedience. In Rally, dog & handler complete an enclosed obstacle course.  (In the Atlanta show, the course is indoors and marked off by a low gate.)  The obstacles are traffic cones with road signs that tell you and the dog to do something.

In the sign below, the handler and dog are asked to (1) come to a halt; (2) hup or sit; (3) go into a down position; and then (4) get up, come to heal heel and proceed to the next station.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Novice A level will have lots of wiggly little puppies, but, what the heck, that is where we belong, really.  We are doing our best and will go for a passing score.

Larsen knows how to zig-zag around the pylons.  He knows how to hup and heal heel.  He's not that great on the "stand" command because we haven't practiced it much.  So it will boil down to whether he gets distracted and whether there are some difficult requests - -  asking him to play the piano, for example - - in the field.

Back home

That work assignment in Holland was a lot harder and more time consuming than I thought it would be.  It's nice to be home and catching up on recent events (and when did Gilligan's Island go off the air?). 

Aki and I picked Larsen up at the Waynesville, NC show.   He didn't do quite as well there as in Asheville for the simple reason that some other dogs showed up.  Larsen lost out to Starbuck, who is as friendly as he is handsome.  No dishonor there.  Starbuck was 2nd and 3rd in the Sporting Group on Saturday and Sunday, which is a wonderful accomplishment.

All the same, it was great to get our little mutt back.  I've turned the air conditioner blower motor on so that it runs even when the compressor & conditioner are off, giving Larsen some favorite spots (the floor vents) to nap. All is well.

Thanks to Kim at Pocataligo Kennels for her efforts in keeping Larsen, getting him groomed for the Asheville and Waynesville shows, and even running him to Dr. Curry's clinic in Bishopville to address that intestinal problem he seemed to have had.  Really above the call.

Frank LOL

Well, the BOB joke is on me.

I was so happy for little Larsen in his (not one, but two) BOBs on Saturday and Sunday in Asheville, NC.  It turns out (and Susan W. was nothing if not diplomatic in her information to me) that Larsen was the only WSS at the show.

That certainly  paves the way.

In any event, Meghen Basel was the judge, and she knows Larsen well.  I'm sure she has her own private thoughts about his strengths and weaknesses in the conformation ring.  Still, it is all for the good.  Larsen was out, being handled, and being asked to move about the ring.  A good weekend for him and a nice, if evanescent surprise for me.

Larsen BOB

That's the text message I got from Kim Parkman while standing in a hotel lobby in Holland.  It came at wonderful time.  My work team had finally completed its business project, which had us working long hours for over two weeks.  We were gathering in the lobby to eat dinner and celebrate the conclusion of the project  when I got the buzz of a text message from Asheville, North Carolina, 4,300 miles away.  Kim was kind enough to let me know.

Rindi Gaudet of  Conundrum Farms handled Larsen.  Rindi has handled Larsen before.  She had him in the ring when he got his first Major in Montgomery, Alabama and when he got his second Major and championship points in Greenville, SC.  She really gets a great performance out of Larsen.  

What a nice way to end the week.  The hard work in Holland is over, and Larsen is having a good outing in Asheville.

WSS Nationals (Update 2)

Update 2:04pm.  Adrienne Bancker (Briarbanc WSS) from the Dogwood WSS Club of Greater Atlanta is the 2010 winner of the AKC Sportsmanship medallion .  This winner is chosen from nominations made by regional WSS club members and then voted upon by the WSSCA Board of Directors.   

Congratulations, Adrienne.  

Conformation results (copied from WSSCA.org):

Friday

• WSSCA Puppy and Veteran Sweepstakes - Judge: Dianne Kroll
  
  
  
  • Bst in Sweeps - Rolyarts for the Greater Good
  • Best of Opposite in Sweeps - Stateman's Ambassador
  • Best Veteran in Sweeps - Ch. Fanfare SwingN On the Fairway, RN, TD, NAJ
  • Best of Opposite Sex in Veteran Sweeps - Ch. Rock Springs Autumn Delight
    
    
• WSSCA Independent National Specialty - Judge: Barbara Dempsey Alderman
  
  
  
  • BOB - CH Rock Spgs Hawk of the Battle - from 7 to 9 Veteran Class
  • BOS - CH Royailes Holywood Legend
  • BOW - Royailes Hometown Superhero
  • WB - Rocksprings Arianrhad
  • RWD - NW Meadows Sir Wally of Redondo
  • RWB - Rolyart's For the Greater Good
  • AOM - Ch. Royaile's in the First Flush
  • AOM - Ch. Statesman's Winners Circle
  • AOM - Ch. Royaile's Man for All Seasons
  • AOM - Ch. Royaile's Rocksprings Dafydd
  • AOM - Ch. Ferndel Always in Fashion
  • Best Puppy - Statesman's Amicus
  • Best Bred-By Exhibitor - Saga's Codex
  • Stud Dog - NW Meadow's Harvest Moon
  • Brood Bitch - CH Rolyart's Full of Grace

Saturday, April 3, 2010

WSSCA Supported Entry - Judge: Kimberly Meredith-Cavanaugh

• BOB; Sporting Group III - CH Rock Spgs Hawk of the Battle
• BOS - CH Rolyarts Full of Grace, JH
• BOW/WD - Don's Crackerjack at Rolyarts
• WB - Rolyarts For the Greater Good
• RWD - Holly House's Making Waves
• RWB - Rock Springs Arianrhad

Sunday, April 4, 2010

WSSCA Supported Entry - Judge: Linda More

• BOB & Sporting Group I - CH Roylarts full of Grace
• BOS - CH Rock Spgs Hawk of the Battle
• BOW/WB - Statesman's Eclipse
• WD - Statesman's Amicus
• RWD - Oceanfare Aurora's Remembrancer
• RWB - Rolyart's For the Greater Good

Source: WSSCA

I'll cross-post to some of Susan's photos when they come in.  Let's get a look at Hawk!

Who was that little dog?

Maddox, a littermate of Tatum, Susan W.'s latest pup, stunned the field by winning Best of Breed on Sunday.  The little year-old (+/-) puppy trounced heavyweights Larsen, Starbuck, and Clover.  Afterword, Maddox rolled on his back to accept a congratulatory tummy rub.  The magnitude of his accomplishment hadn't fully sunk in, but he knew something good had happened and that everyone was happy, and that was good enough for him.

(I foolishly kept my camera by my side instead of recording this great win so I don't have a photo.)

Sometimes you're the windshield

 

Larsen (L) lines up against Starbuck (R) in Greenville.

Sometimes, you're the bug.  Larsen played the bug today.  Meghen showed up with Starbuck in tow and proceeded to take Best of Breed.  Larsen came in 4th.  I'd love to say that it was all the handler's fault, since someone pinch-hitter for Katie, but the lady did a very fine job with the dog.  I always want Larsen to win these beauty pageants because I want the world to understand what a wonderful little guy he is.  But different judges look for different aspects of the dog.  (Some breeders think Larsen is too big, for example.) 

Sly the boykin takes Best of Winners

On an altogether more upbeat note, Kim's boykin Sly took Best of Winners for a 5-point major win.  Sly has 8 points now and he's only been in two different shows (understand that any one weekend will have 2 or even 3 shows, like this one, so I mean something like 6 total showings for little Sly).  Sly's wins are coming right here in the middle of boykin country against some good competition.  We had a nice time cluck-clucking about the fact that some of those other boykins had probably never had a mouthful of feathers.  They were lap dogs!

Kim's boykin Peach didn't win anything, though she is a fine looking critter.  Kim thought that her sun-bleached kennel coat didn't help.

Kim's dogs might be a little country, but they certainly move with verve and assurance.

Friday Best of Breed

It was a small field, but Larsen won Best of Breed and advanced to the Sporting Group. Of course, he got mopped up in the gundog group, but to me, he looked awfully good.

Aki and I had dinner with Susan (breeder) and Kim (trainer at Kamp Kimmy).  First cocktails then dinner, talking hunting dogs, training, and life in general the whole time.  Wonderful evening. 

The ayes have it

Larsen poses after his win.  (2009)

Unlike the sequined Las Vegas Elvis-look that Larsen sported in his 2009 Greenville showing, Larsen today still looks like a rough kennel dog.  His elbows are stained red from resting on his concrete kennel pad.  His haircut looks homemade, despite Penny's wonderful intervention.  She at least gave us the broad contours of a dog.   But what can you do about bald spots that were cut away because of matting?

I voted not to take Larsen to Greenville this weekend, and Aki voted to take him.  The ayes are in the majority, and so off we go.  Once nice thing is that Susan W. will be there with her camera, and maybe we can meet for dinner etc.

Larsen's win at Greenville last year put him over the top and gave him a major and his championship.  This time, it is just a practice run, more or less, to get him into the show ring in the event that we take him to Nationals this year.  Of course, I hope he does well against the other 4 dogs in this match.

The Brit wins Sporting

Looks like the Brittany won the sporting dog group and advanced to the finals where he was beaten by some sort of scottie dog.  The Welsh Springer Spaniel representative had a tail.

Jopa Blue at Westminster (2010)


The Welsh representative in group, Jopa Blue, was bred by Shannon Gandee.  Shannon is the WSSCA head of placing stray, recovered, etc.  That's a real job, and so it is a welcome win for Jopa Blue to get to group finals.

10     Ch Heatherstone's Jopa Blue
Breed: Spaniel (Welsh Springer)
Sex: Dog
AKC: SR 27980705
Date of Birth: June 27, 2005
Breeder: Shannon M Gandee & Valerie L Younge
Sire: Ch Lynlee's I'm A Believer
Dam: Ch Geltman's Guest O'Lalley's
Owner: Kate Sinclair-Dun

Here's the link to the video of the Welsh judging:

http://video.westminsterkennelclub.org/player/?id=1202180#videoid=1202225