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Field Trial Placement and on to Maine

August 24, 2014

Charity Upchurch Field Trialing, Puppy Update , , , , Leave a comment

 

AKC Field Trial

Today we ran Bluestem’s Prairie Fire “Fire” in her first formal dog event.  She participated in the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska’s Fall Field Trial in the Amateur Walking Puppy and Amateur Walking Derby stakes at the Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds near Raymond, Nebraska.  These grounds are famous and I noticed a new sign hanging in the lodge as I was getting breakfast this morning.  It is notes made this spring by Delmar Smith.

Comments from Delmar Smith about Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds, April 2014

Comments from Delmar Smith about Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds, April 2014

We met Delmar in Kansas City at Pheasant Fest a few years back and he is definitely a sage of the sport.

Sunrise over Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds

Sunrise over Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds

Horse barn and clubhouse of Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds

Horse barn and clubhouse of Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds

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A standard setup at Branched Oak

It was entirely English Pointers and German Shorthaired Pointers, but we had fun and Fire had a great experience.  Of course she was shown up with range in the field because of her young age (6 1/2 months) and the close-working nature of the breed, but due to the fact that there were only 4 dogs entered in the Amateur Walking Derby, we did walk away with a ribbon.  Although it was a “gimme” (which none of BB’s field trial placements were), it was still cool to represent griffons and be the only 6 month old griff ever to have placed in an AKC Field Trial.

Walking to the line

Walking to the line

At the line

At the line

Starting in the field

Starting in the field

Escapee

Escapee

Running Fire

Running Fire

Charles and Fire with their 4th place ribbon in the Amateur Walking Derby

Charles and Fire with their 4th place ribbon in the Amateur Walking Derby

We also had visitors from Matt and Carter, who live around Lincoln and will be getting a Sam/BB pup next year.

Matt and Carter saying hi to Fire.

Matt and Carter saying hi to Fire.

Fire and Carter

Fire and Carter

I really hate to cut this short, as there’s more to say, but I am still not packed for the AWPGA National Specialty Dog Show, Hunt Tests and Annual Meeting this week in Maine, and I have a 6 AM flight to catch in the morning.  I’m taking all of my equipment with me, so maybe there will be a blog post part 2 if I get the time this week, but I will probably be busy seeing all of my long lost dog friends.  If I don’t get to it, I’ll catch up with y’all next weekend.

Pheasant Fest 2012: Gone to the Dogs!!

February 24, 2012

Charity Upchurch Hunting Trade Shows, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Charles and I attended Pheasant Fest 2012 in downtown Kansas City, Missouri last weekend and were not prepared to go back to dog school.  We figured the dog highlight of the weekend was going to be the Bird Dog Parade that kicked the event off on Friday, but boy were we in for a surprise.

The best thing about the Bird Dog Parade is that for the most part, these are not show dogs.  They may pee or poo on the plastic runway.  They may give their owners a hard time.  It is just fun to see gundoggers do their best at showing off their prized possessions.  And I’m not making fun, my daughter Cordelia and I walked our male Sam in last year’s parade in Omaha: http://omaha.com/article/20110127/NEWS01/110129697#a-parade-of-bird-dogs-for-omaha (We are slides 3-5 on the slideshow link and show up :26-:30 on the embedded video).

Here’s a slideshow of my photos from Bird Dog Parade 2012 in Kansas City:

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After the Bird Dog Parade, we spent 98% of the weekend glued to the Bird Dog Bonanza Stage, primarily with the famous Smith family, consisting of 85-year old Delmar, son Rick and nephew Ronnie, as well as Tom Dokken (inventor of Dokken retrieving dummies that we use for training), Jim Moorehouse and Bob West.

Rick Smith, Bob West, Jim Moorehouse, Delmar Smith, Ronnie Smith and Tom Dokken at Pheasant Fest 2012

Rick Smith, Bob West, Jim Moorehouse, Delmar Smith, Ronnie Smith and Tom Dokken at Pheasant Fest 2012

Chad Love of Field and Stream agrees with us that Delmar Smith is the World’s Coolest Man: http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/mans-best-friend/2012/02/delmar-smith-2012-worlds-coolest-man  We were blown away by his “75 years of Dog Training” talk, which ranged from the mortality rate of litters in the past, the inconsistency in performance of dogs in the past, how to flight train pen-raised birds, what he looks for in breeding stock, to how he trained coyotes to behave like bird dogs.  He was as funny and lovable as any gundog grandpa could ever be and we hope to see him again.

Delmar Smith speaking at Pheasant Fest 2012

Delmar Smith speaking at Pheasant Fest 2012

Equally impressive were Delmar’s son, Rick and nephew, Ronnie.  Charles and I had been talking about participating in the HuntSmith dog training seminar program for quite some time, but the experience of listening to Rick and Ronnie first hand share their extensive experiences with training and fixing dogs left us in awe and ready for more.

To have dog trainers say that they can fix gun shy says it all to us.  There are numerous dog trainers who say that gun shy cannot be fixed, but if these guys can do it, they are truly the real thing.

Rick Smith and "Breeze" Pheasant Fest 2012

Rick Smith and "Breeze" Pheasant Fest 2012

Ronnie Smith Pheasant Fest 2012

Ronnie Smith Pheasant Fest 2012

I’ll be writing a more in-depth analysis of the knowledge from the Bird Dog Bonanza Stage in the near future, but wanted to let everyone know that we had a doggone good time at Pheasant Fest 2012!