Rock Hard, Grindstone ex Barnburner, passed away at the age of 13 this fall. “Tac” and his litter brother, Topseed, were a pair of contenders for us in the early years of this century. Topseed won the Flanagan Award but we kept his brother “Tac” as he was more bird dog. He found more birds and wanted to point and stand them. Topseed was harder driving and more rangy. “Tac” has a nice list of wins to his credit, the best was being Runner-Up in the Fruchey Classic (44 dogs), an all-age stake in Michigan with Dave Hughes doing the handling. My favorite recollection of “Tac” was out pheasant hunting with him as a derby and finding him standing on the other side of a creek high on the other bank with a cockbird pinned. He had been standing there a long time and I was able to call in my hunting pal to show him the breathtaking style and exceptional intensity that “Tac” displayed.
When “Tac’s” trial days were over he went to live and hunt with the Tom Morris family in western PA. Tom’s boys were in high school and loved to hunt. It was a race between the boys getting home from school and Dad getting home from work to see who would be the first to get “Tac” out hunting that day. At “Tac’s” passing Tom wrote Dick and me a moving letter recalling the enjoyment “Tac” brought the family. One son wrote separately to second Dad’s praise and appreciation for being able to have a super bird dog while growing up.