Cedar Valley Farms & Kennel Reprints the American Field
American Brittany Shooting Dog Championship

By Gil Hopper
Assisted by Jim Brigham

THE ABC Shooting Dog Championship was held September 29-30 at the Union County Ranch near Thayer, la. Our thanks go to the Iowa Brittany Club for hosting the event and having the grounds in such superb condition. The terrain is rolling hills of manicured CRP with gullies and ditches. You are able to sit on a hilltop and watch a dog run for a half mile along an edge. A wonderful sight! There are areas where the dogs must handle tight turns. The course provided an all-round test of a dog and handler.

To make things complete the weather was wonderful. The first day temperatures reached the mid to high 60s but plenty of water was provided on the courses and it was of no detriment to the dogs. The second day started with a film of ice on the water in the low areas and the temps remained cool (highs in low 50s) for the rest of the stake.

The Iowa Brittany Club has planted numerous feed strips on the grounds to provide food sources for both native quail and pheasant, as a part of the lease. The club released numerous birds of both species over the course of the trial and many birds remained from the weekend trial. Each dog had multiple opportunities for bird work, and pheasants were encountered on each brace.

The liberated birds were of excellent quality and flew almost as well as the wild birds. The club also placed numerous feeders on the course but the birds seemed to prefer to covey in the feed strips of milo and foxtail or pursue the grasshoppers in the knee-high CRP grass on the hillsides.

The IBC thanks Purina for its product and monetary support of this stake. Purina provided Pro Plan to each entry as well as additional Pro Plan to the placing dogs. We encourage you to use Purina products as a way to say thanks for its commitment to field trialing.

As chairman I was fortunate to have a very hard-working group of people who together made this trial a success.

Trial Secretary Jane Hopper did all the paperwork, ordered the trophies and ribbons, arranged for the food, helped with the dog wagon and took pictures. Jim Brigham served as judge, marshal and did 50% of the reporting. Bill Hancock helped out wherever he was needed. Chris Burchett brought and planted birds, helped with road crossing and drove the dog wagon while cradling her beautiful two-month-old son James Ray in her arms. Without the numerous contributions of Bob Burchett the trial would not have been possible. Thanks to all of them and everyone else who pitched in to make the trial run so well.

Jack Higgins of Nebraska and Sam Thompson of Wisconsin, both veteran Brittany trialers and hunters, were our most able and affable judges. They established a set of common denominators to apply to the classic winners: I) Ground speed - starting out fast and ambitious and finishing the hour the same way; 2) Application -using the wind and cover intelligently while handling well; 3) Quality bird work -finding and handling birds and looking good doing it. We thank them for their time and hard work. I would be more than happy to have them judge my dogs anywhere, anytime.

There were many excellent performances and the weather and scenery were superlative. The judges must have had a difficult time deciding which of the first three dogs would be champion.

The champion's trophy was awarded to two-year-old female Last Dixie Chick, owned by Vic Williams and Joyce Roberts, handled by Tom Tracy in the 8th brace. In spite of her age, "Truly" ran a very mature, wide reaching race, never coming from behind. She exhibited great style in both pointing and backing. She is a fine dog and gave a "Truly" championship performance. Her thrilled owner watched as she had four finds and a back.

The runner-up was Marjo's Slick Chick. There was only a hair's breadth between this dog and first place. Chick exhibited excellent running and pointing style. She hit the edges and cover and had six finds, including coveys, singles and a pheasant.

Thayer, Ia., September 29
Judges: Jack Higgins and Sam Thompson
AMERICAN BRITTANY CLUB OPEN SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP
[One-Hour Heats] -25 Brittanys
Winner-LAST DIXIE CHICK, 1541584, female, by Walker's Gunner-Royal Dixie Gambler.
Joyce Roberts & Vic Williams, owners
Tom Tracy, handler.

Runner-Up-MARJO'S SLICK CHICK, 1530968, female, by
Cody's Delta Connection-Marjo's Smoking Brandy.
Joe Luisi, owner; J. L. Kline, handler.

Editor's note: The foregoing report was submitted last fall and was prepared for publication; unfortunately it was placed in an incorrect computer file and was only recently uncovered. It appears now so that worthy winners will receive credit for their placements.

From the American Field, Vol. 261, No. 11 - Saturday, March 13, 2004

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Updated 06/25/2004

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