Magic Mist Jack wins the Maritime Open Derby for Joe Dahl

Magic Mist Jack, sired by Impact Player ex Grand National Grouse Ch. Full Tilt, won the Open Derby at the Maritime Classic in New Brunswick, Canada.  Under the whistle of his owner, Joe Dahl, “Jack” scored both a grouse and woodcock find.  Hustling, classy and impressive on the move, “Jack” also scored a 2nd place win in September at the International Woodcock Futurity to add to his record.  We will be hearing more from Jack as the fall season is young and Jack has already had an impact on the cover dog circuit.  “Jack” is the fourth pup from the Impact Player x Full Tilt combination that has won on the cover dog circuit.  When the litter was whelped, we sent Joe Dahl a male pup that we thought had strong potential.  This was a return favor for Joe having sent us a male pup with strong potential (that pup turned out to be Impact Player by Pennstar ex Joe’s Magic Mist Bandit).  In both cases, the pup with strong potential panned out when the owners put in the work and gave the pup with potential the opportunity to shine.

Fernwood Cove’s Bella wins the Maritime Classic

Fernwood Cove's Bella
Fernwood Cove’s Bella

Fernwood Cove’s Bella, daughter of Ch. Pennstar X Magic Mist Bandit, won the Maritime Classic held at McAdam, New Brunswick, Canada in early September 2013.  Bella is owned by Jim Gill and was ably handler by her trainer, Joe Dahl.   Since her win, with Joe at the helm, of the Grand National Grouse Futurity in 2010, Bella has spent most all her time as a grouse and woodcock hunting dog for her owner and a companion to her family.  Fans of class cover dogs are happy to see Bella getting a chance to compete as an all-age finished dog and her effort at the Maritime confirms expectations that she can compete successfully at the highest level.  In her appearance in the Maritime, Bella connected on both grouse and woodcock as proof of her versatility.  While her trial starts may be rather limited by the hunting season, we look forward to seeing Bella in action at select Championship stakes this fall.

Straight Forward named RU Ch., New York Grouse Championship

Straight Forward
Straight Forward

Straight Forward, 4 year old female, came right out of the blocks at the opening grouse championship of the fall cover dog circuit to win Runner-Up honors at the 2013 New York Grouse Championship, Berne, New York, September 14.   The field of 44 featured many other champions who each had their shot during the three full days of running.   “Cracker’s” hour effort featured a grouse find along with a back.  She laid down her usual powerful and forward hunting effort that took her to likely coverts.  This was “Cracker’s” first outing since she was named the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational Champion last spring.

 

Full Blast Wins 1st DuBois Open Shooting Dog, 43 entrants

 

 

 

Full Blast
Full Blast

Starting off  the fall 2013 season in the same style he ended the spring campaign, Full Blast won the DuBois Open Shooting Dog stake on August 24 with Dave Hughes at the helm.  “Jeb” came off his 1st in the Lost Pond OSD (34 entrants) in May to continue showing himself to be a dog that discriminating owners will want to consider in the upcoming breeding season.   The DuBois club runs their trial in a mix of woods, brush and open fields.  “Jeb” applied himself to the varied cover running a strong  forward hunting effort and notching one find.  “Jeb” was high and tight through the flush and shot on this encounter.  He finished going away in the near 80-degree weather having drawn a middle of the afternoon brace.  Particularly impressive was “Jeb’s” smooth, effortless looking, get-over-the-ground coverage with the snappy, cracky style his sire, Pennstar, was known for.

Windstar, Pennstar male owned by Dr. G. Najor, wins 1st, DuBois Open Shooting Dog

Windstar
Windstar

 

 

Windstar, Dr. George Najor’s 9 year old setter male won the 34 dog DuBois Open Shooting Dog stake in late May.   Windstar, son of Pennstar, had a number of good shooting dog wins this spring under the whistle of pro Robert Ecker.   His spring trial season was capped off with the DuBois win over a large and high quality of field of cover dogs and the best of regional walking shooting dogs.  Windstar is a classy moving dog and his style of point is straight and high.   He scored three finds and left the judges impressed with his hard hunting and eye appeal in everything he did.  Windstar seems to be flourishing under the training and handling of Ecker and despite his age we expect Windstar to be a contender in major events this coming season.

Full Blast, 1st at the Lost Pond Open Walking Shooting Dog

Full Blast, our 53 lb. young son of Ch. Pennstar, won the Lost Pond Open Walking Shooting Dog stake besting a strong field of 30 contenders.  Pro Dave Hughes, who has campaigned dogs for us for 20 years, came to us recently and suggested that we ought to get “Jeb” started as an all-age dog yet this spring in some quail shooting dog stakes.  “Jeb'”, after winning the cover dog derby award (Flanagan Award) last year was making his first open shooting dog start and an impressive beginning it was.  A report from one trialer who saw all the braces indicated that “Jeb” set a high mark in the first brace and it was not eclipsed.    He hunted particularly hard and drove with class and enthusiasm from one find to the next recording a total of three sharp finds pointed with arresting, straight-up style.   “Jeb” recently sired a litter of pups ex Mike Spotts’ winning Pennstar female, Jumpstart.  We have high hopes for this breeding.

Ch. Straight Forward wins the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational

Straight Forward, our four year old setter female, won the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational April 10,11,12, 2013, besting a select field of 13 others who qualified through Championship placements to be invited to what some call the “Super Bowl” for cover dogs.   Dave Hughes was at the helm and Mike Spotts provided scouting services for “Cracker’s” work over her three consecutive days of hunting.  “Cracker” started off on day one with a four evenly spaced woodcock find performance that stands out as among the most exciting and accomplished efforts in the twenty-three year history of this event.  Her birdwork was the result of a hard driving, determined effort that took her to likely objectives.  It seemed that after each find, Cracker would just bore ahead and be found on point in the next inviting cover.  Her style and intensity on point leave nothing to be desired.  “Cracker” was named “Day Dog” for this start to the Invitational.

Day two featured more of the same, multiple finds executed perfectly on both grouse as well as woodcock.   Again, not only her birdwork, but “Cracker’s” fast, determined and classy moving hunting effort took her to the top of the judges’ list for the Day 3 call-back.

In the finals, “Cracker” was paired with last year’s winner, Ch.  Terharr’s Elvis.  Three inches of sleet and crusted snow greeted the brace as they cut loose at 9am.  “Cracker” was energetic and proved that she had the stamina and endurance to go strong three days in a row as she lit out and stayed hard at it the entire hour.  At 50 “Cracker” came across a small pond and broke through the thin ice.  Handler and gallery members were on their way to the scene when she emerged, shook herself off and continued undeterred.  Seconds later she stopped promptly on the wild flush of a woodcock.   This was the only bird contact for the day as conditions were extreme.  Continuing Cracker finished still driving and was found pointing where grouse tracks in the snow were shown to the judge, but no birds were flushed.

Game Changer, our female, scores 2nd at the Grand National Puppy Classic

Game Changer, our female year-old setter handled by Bob Watts scored second at the Grand National Grouse Puppy Classic held April 13, 2013, over a new course laid out on the Gladwin Preserve near Meredith, Michigan.  Twenty-nine pups from nominated litters competed.  “Sallie” took advantage of the new venue that gives a grouse dog who loves to run and hunt an opportunity to lay out front and be seen hitting objectives.  She was industrious, fast and especially classy looking on the run.  Bold, cracky, athletic, serious in application and attractive in motion are the traits we look for in a prospect and “Sallie” fits the bill.  Sired by Impact Player ex our Grand National Grouse Ch. Full Tilt, Sallie has two littermates who are off to a notable start to their promising careers.  High Impact (male, Mike Spotts, owner) won the West Branch Grouse Trial Club’s Open Puppy this spring and Full Impact (female, Marty Stoker, owner) won the Pennsylvania Grouse Trial  Club’s Open Puppy.

5X Ch. Pennstar has passed

Pennstar, born at the start of the 21st century, has died.  “Rock”, a dog for the new century , pushed speed, athleticism, smooth snappy gait, drive and bird handling ability for cover dog standards forward.  Just as importantly, “Rock” infused these important traits into his pups who have gone on to succeed at the top of the cover dog world.

 

Rock’s career was overshadowed in the early months by his female littermates who won early and won big.  Rock was not mature enough to challenge his sister, First Option when she won the Grand National Grouse Puppy Classic against 54 other pups.  However, it was only a few weeks later that Rock went west and won the Michigan Open Puppy Classic and from there the wins just kept on flowing–highlighted by eleven derby placements.  In transitioning from derby to all-age competition, Rock, benefiting from the work and handling of professionals Dave Hughes and Ryan Frame, moved seamlessly into winning at this next level.

 

Over the next five years, Rock rang up wins across the country in every region of cover dog competition.  In some of these wins he was handled by co-owner Dick Brenneman.  In a number of them he was handled by Dave Hughes.  Rock scored 5 Championships and 1 RU Championship on wild birds, generally in fields of 60-80+ dogs.  Few male setters in history have attained this distinction.

 

Rock became known for his especially fluid gait, quick feet and speed.  One veteran judge remarked that “he enjoyed watching Rock hunt more than any other dog he had ever seen”.  Our philosophy in owning, campaigning and breeding cover dogs is that in a field of 60-80 dogs, it’s the dog that hunts fast, hard and with eye appeal that will separate himself from the other good dogs.  Rock taught us that.

 

As a producer, Rock lived up to the expectations we had formed based on his performances.  His offspring have won virtually all the top cover dog stakes.  The Grand National Grouse Championship, The Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational and the Grouse Futurity (three times) are all accomplishments of his progeny.  Additionally, his pups have won the Foster Award and the Flanagan Award (top cover dog derby) a record three times.  Many of his offspring have won at high levels in other stakes and registered more than thirty-five wins in cover dog classics. All totaled, his pups have won over 400 placements.  That translates into a lot of enjoyment for many owners.

 

In saying good-bye to Rock, I remember traveling with Dick to a trial in 2002 when Dick came out with, “After doing this together for twenty years, Rock’s the best dog we have had and he’s the best dog we will ever have”.  Since 2002 we have had a good number of well-known and important winners, but so far, Dick is right!