Straight Forward, our 7 year old setter female, has been officially recognized as the top english setter all-age cover dog for 2015-2016. She achieved the same recognition in 2012-2013. “Cracker” is best known for her insatiable drive to find birds. She puts the throttle down at the breakaway and there’s no let up until time is called no matter the temperature, terrain or competition. “Cracker” is exciting to watch, snappy and flashy, and her unusually high intelligence and experience makes it possible for her to find birds consistently.
Runner-Up Champion wins in the New York Grouse Championship and the Pennsylvania Grouse Championship last fall were key parts of her record this year. Both stakes had a large number of entries. Additionally, many will recall her near-miss challenge at the Grand National Grouse Championship last November where she was on track to win but the birds that she had pointed lifted ahead of the handler and out of earshot of the judges. Her kennelmate, our Ch. Full Blast, won the Grand but the title would have been “Cracker’s” had the birds been heard. In any case, she had an awesome fall and we’re again proud of her accomplishments.
On top of her wins, “Cracker” found time to have her first litter of pups. She had two males and two females, sired by Grand National Grouse Champion Full Blast. The pups are quite young but we’re very excited as we see many of the qualities of their excellent parents in the offspring. Some say that the dam is the key to a great litter and if that’s true, these could be some great pups.
We especially want to thank now Hall-of-Famer Dave Hughes for handling “Cracker” to her wins over the years. Dave’s skill and “Cracker’s” abilities have been a legacy combination.