Grand National Grouse Ch. Full Tilt has died. She was 15 years old and going strong, living in our home until the very end. “Callie” scored her impressive win of the Grand in 2009….10 years before her passiing. The Grand was very competitive that year over the Pennsylvania courses.
It was “Callie’s” hard driving finish the separated her from some great performances put on by others including RU Ch. Long Gone Madison. She had a non-stop motion, always in high gear. Sired by Ch. Pennstar ex Sorber Run Serena, she also was in the championship circle at the New York Grouse Championship-again with Dave Hughes handling. “Callie” personified class in motion. She was especially athletic and one of the snappiest, cracking tailed dog we ever owned. I, as the developer of young dogs in our kennel, can clearly recall the first time I ran her in a trial. It was at DuBois with Greg Yutzey one of the judges. When she came across the front it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and Greg blurted out that he’d not seen anything like the way she popped, snapped and zipped running. With two finds she was in the blue and I knew we had something special. She was a thrill to watch going. You could not take your eyes off of her when she was hunting. Even many years after she retired when she’d be running in the dog meadow with younger dogs we were campaigning, you could always pick out “Callie” from a distance as she’d be the most eye catching animal of them all.
Dave Hughes deserves all the credit for training “Callie” and her success in competition.
As a dam, “Callie” had success. In her first litter, 5 of the 6 pups she produced were open derby winners. Most notably in that litter was Ch. All In. Owned by Thor Kain, his 9 find win of the Region 2 Championship was a thrill for his owner and us. Today, many time winner Snyder’s Full Rage continues to carry “Callie’s” genes forward with her 3 RU Championships and win this 2020 fall season.
Around the house, “Callie” was a lover. She loved being on Janet’s lap in the mornings and jumping into bed with us at night before retiring to her spot in the laundry room. During the day, 9am -5pm every day, she was itchy to get outside to the dog pasture where she hung out with the other dogs during the day. Then at 5pm, she’d start calling for us to come get her and bring her in. This routine went on until the end. She loved her life. On her final day, when I opened up the door to the laundry room in the morning she could not get up. Still as she lay there waiting for me to pick her up, the thump, thump, thump of her tail reminded me of her hard cracking running style and her enthusiasm for life.