EVENTS
ARCHIVE
FRENCH BRITTANY GUN DOG
ASSOCIATION, INC.
2006 National Field Trial
UKC SANCTIONED 2006 U.S. NATIONAL
EPAGNEUL FIELD TRIALS
June 16 - 19, 2005
Kalamazoo, Michigan
By Wallace Huey and Fred
Overby, Reporters
Overview
This year’s French Brittany Gun Dog Association’s
(FBGDA) National Level Field Trials featured both a wild bird field
trial at beautiful Kolomoki Plantation near Bluffton, Georgia and a
separate liberated bird trial on the designated Field Trial Grounds at
Veterans Memorial State Park near Cordele, Georgia. Both trials were
run on bobwhite quail, the grounds for both trials featured towering
Georgia pines interspersed with open areas beneath the pine canopy.
Both venues provided ideal southern bobwhite quail habitat and hunting
terrain. Some of the dogs from other parts of the country had to adjust
a bit to the blackberry briars native to the region, while the dogs
from the south felt at home.
Judges for this year’s trial
were the Honorable Henri Xavier Guelou of France and the Honorable
Butch Nelson of Montana. Both men have long and distinguished careers
in judging major field trial stakes. Judge Guelou’s appearance and
participation as this year’s head judge was historic for the Epagneul
Breton breed in America in that no Frenchman is known to have appeared
to judge his native breed in an American Field trial for about
three-fourths of a century. The participants thoroughly enjoyed their
interaction with Judges Guelou and Nelson, who were strict in judging,
but constructive in their observations and tips to handlers. Judge
Guelou teased an occasional handler by remarking on his judge’s card
that some dogs occasionally “helped themselves to birds”, rather than
standing staunchly for the shot. However, at the banquet Judge Guelou
remarked that the overall quality of the dogs he watched perform was
excellent in conformation and excellent in hunting ability, which he
indicated “bodes well for the Epagneul Breton in this part of the
world.”
FBGDA
is grateful to Mr. Jim Butler (owner) and Mr. John Ray Stout (manager)
for hosting the trial participants on the storied grounds of Kolomoki
Plantation, which is devoted exclusively to the management and hunting
of wild bobwhite quail. As well as providing a wonderful venue, Butler
and Stout personally served as guides for the entire event. All of the
field trial participants were able to view a number of heats run from
their gallery view on the bird buggy and hunting jeep supplied by
Kolomoki for the convenience and use of the field trial committee.
FBGDA is also grateful to Mr.
Rod Brehm, Park Director, of Veterans Memorial State Park in Cordele,
Georgia, for his assistance with the liberated bird trial. Field Trial
Co-Chair Billy Cannon also did a yeoman’s service in organizing the
event to include arranging for the Crisp County-Cordele Chamber of
Commerce to supply a barbecue lunch in the field at the Friday field
trial. The grounds of this unique field trial venue in a Georgia State
Park were manicured beautifully and provided an outstanding layout to
hold the first National Level FBGDA liberated bird trial. Many
volunteers assisted in planting birds, guiding and transporting
participants, so that the trial heats ran smoothly.
Wild
Bird Trial at Kolomoki
On Wednesday, March 1, as the
sun rose through the fog and beautiful pines of Kolomoki, a beautiful
day was had by all to enjoy the grounds of Kolomoki as the sun shone
brightly and the temperature was conducive to short sleeves. The only
regret of the beautiful weather was that the day did not provide
optimum conditions for southern quail hunting. The bright, sunny,
blue-bird sky and warm temperatures had the birds holding close and not
moving or feeding during most of the day. Even though the plantation
can boast two-dozen coveys per day during excellent cool and overcast
hunting weather, only five dogs actually had bird work on this day. The
galleries for the two separately run Novice Class heats saw only a
couple of coveys and a handful of single birds flush wild as they
passed over the grounds following the judges and their entourages.
The four Open dogs all
performed well, but regrettably only one dog encountered wild birds.
That covey appeared to flush wild in a place where Judge Henri Guelou
could not see the dog, “Gus”, standing staunch where the covey had left
from. There were no Passes and no placements in the Open Class.
In
the Novice Class, three nice dogs earned Passes. “Vignette” handled by
Stonie Patterson of Georgia, “Tregor” handled by R.L. Dalrymple of
Oklahoma and “Dixie” handled by Ron Allen of Georgia, all earned
Passing scores. However, both judges indicated that ground coverage was
not aggressive enough by any of the three to earn a placement in the
Novice Class.
The participants enjoyed a
mouth watering lunch of barbecue ribs and chicken catered by a local
well known “barbecue cook” and raconteur in the shade of the Kolomoki
barn.
Liberated
Bird Trial at Veterans Memorial State Park
Friday, March 3, 2006, provided
a cooler day, with better scenting opportunities during most of the day
for the liberated bird trial heats. Most of the dogs did have finds on
the continuous course, although the cover of the ground made pointing
game a challenge.
In the run in the morning, a
beautiful eighteen month old female tricolor know as “Tuxedo” and
handled perfectly by Mrs. Shelly Shipley of Kansas had two perfect
finds and retrieves demonstrated with impeccable manners. As the young
female handler came off the field with the young female dog leashed,
she hugged “Tux” and bubbled with excitement. At the closing awards
banquet, when the first ever National Level First Place field trial
placement was awarded, Shelly and her proud husband Brett posed for
photos with “Tuxedo”, her trophies, the judges and Todd Kellam of the
UKC.
“Vernon”, owned by Mark
Dinsmore and handled by designated handler John Mooney of Minnesota,
had an energetic and outstanding run, quartering nicely. The orange
roan male dog had a nice find on a bird, which flushed in a direction
towards thick cover, which made it difficult for “Vernon” to mark after
the designated gunner’s shot. With the encouragement of his handler,
“Vernon” searched diligently for the bird, finally locating him, and
made a difficult retrieve to hand. On any other day, “Vernon” would
have qualified for first place, but with stiff competition from the
winner, on this day “Vernon” earned a Reserve placement for an
excellent performance. Also, in the Open Class, “Gus” owned/handled by
Tim Powell of Montana earned a Pass.
In
the Novice Class trial, fourteen month old “Mae”, owned/handled by Dr.
Cecil Whitaker of Georgia, captured a First Place. The black dog with
white markings and freckles on her legs hunted and handled superbly
with a nice find on game. When the gunner failed to connect with the
flushed bird, a set up retrieve was established by the judge and “Mae”
gathered up the bird, parading around with the hen quail until finally
delivering her prize to her proud handler.
“Peche” owned/handled by Mark
Bird of Georgia, had an outstanding run and point, and made a difficult
retrieve to within a reasonable distance of her handler. While the
retrieve did not qualify her sufficiently for a Reserve Placement, she
earned a Pass. Likewise, Both Glen Gunderson of Minnesota, with “Gypsy”
and Beau Dudley of Georgia, with “Armand” turned in solid performances
in the Novice Stake, finding game and completing their retrieves. Both
were also awarded Passes in the Novice Class Stake.
The Novice Stakes in this
year’s trials were run in two separate heats judged separately, but no
dog performed sufficiently for Judge Nelson to have a potential
placement. Thus no barrage was run at the conclusion of the heats in
either of the Novice field trials. In addition to trophies and ribbons,
Blackwood Pet Foods supplied the winners with a bag of Blackwood 2000
performance dog food.
Congratulations
to all of this year’s winners of the UKC Sanctioned, U.S. National
Level field trials for the Epagneul Breton! Special congratulations to
Shelly Shipley, Brett Shipley, Mark Dinsmore and John Mooney as owners
and handlers, who earned and achieved the first Open Placements at a
National Level Field Trial for the Epagneul Breton breed in America.
These outstanding little dogs, the Epagneul Bretons, certainly
demonstrated their ability as they performed well in the “Piney Woods
of Georgia.”
Natural
Ability Tests
The previous day, five dogs
earned TANS under judge Guelou. Annie handled by Dillon Dalrymple, Alan
handled by Bill Wall, Alias and Aero handled by John Hughes and Vidonia
handled by Don Rick earned their natural ability certification. Tuxedo
handled by Shelly Shipley, Vernon handled by John Mooney and Armand
handled by Beau Dudley earned TAN by way of equivalency in their field
trial heats.
Wild Bird Field Trial
at Kolomoki Plantation
Bluffton,
Georgia
French Brittany Gun
Dog Association, Inc.
2006
U.S. National Epagneul Breton
Specialty Conformation Show
UKC Sanctioned 2006
March 4th,
2006
By Shelly Shipley
& Bob Olson, Reporters
Overview
This year’s French Brittany Gun
Dog Association’s (FBGDA) National Specialty Show was held at the
beautiful Veterans Memorial Sate Park near Cordele, Georgia. The
weather was spectacular. A very sunny calm day was present throughout
the show.
The 2006 Conformation Show
Committee was pleased to announce that the Honorable Rowdy Yates, a
licensed UKC Conformation Judge, would be our Judge at the 2006
Epagneul Breton National Specialty Show in Cordele, Georgia. Rowdy
resides in Macon, Georgia and has an impressive judicial resume, having
judged a number of UKC National Breed Specialty Shows along with
previously judging at the UKC Premier Conformation Show in Kalamazoo,
Michigan. A part of the Conformation Committee’s judge selection
criteria was the desire to have a UKC judge evaluate our breed at this
year’s show so that he could help increase the education process and
knowledge level for our breed among the pool of judges in America.
The event was an enormous
success, in no small part, due to Rowdy’s participation and active role
with the educating for all in attendance. Rowdy was very prepared for
our event with knowledge of our breed standard and conformation. Rowdy
took the time after the conformation show was complete to demonstrate
the proper way to “show”. Members who had little “show” experience but
the desire to participate absorbed every word he had to offer.
A total of 41 dogs were entered
in the National Specialty which was held outside in a clearing among
some towering pines, a very fitting setting for our gun dogs. Rowdy
Yates opened the competition with some fitting words of wisdom, “We are
here to have fun!”
As is always the case, the
Junior Showmanship handlers were the highlight of the conformation
show. We had two Sub Junior handlers, the youngest being 5 year old
Kyle Shipley. A total of 5 junior handlers showed the enthusiasm and
determination that only young handlers can exhibit. Judge Rowdy Yates
worked hard to ensure that the youngsters had fun and showed their dogs
with smiles on their faces.
Anne Gunderson “volunteered” to
ensure that all the handlers were ready to enter the ring when their
class was called. This was her first time in this role and she did an
excellent job getting the handlers to the ring on time, with the right
dogs, and the correct armbands. This is not an easy job. Her efforts
were very much appreciated and will ensure she gets “drafted” for show
duty next year!
Our National Best of Breed
winner was Cliathan Mighty McSmith handled by Ed Smith. Even more
impressive is that Ed started in the Orange & White Senior Male
Class and competed in head to head competition in the Best Male
Variety, Best Male, and Best of Winners classes to reach the Best of
Breed Class. Congratulations to Cliathan Mighty McSmith and Ed!
Congratulations to all of the winners this year!
National Specialty at the Veterans
Memorial State Park
Cordele,
Georgia
Junior Showmanship
