The 2013 American Brittany Club National Open Gun Dog Championship
Ionia, Michigan
October 22 to Conclusion, 2013
As reported by Helen Riggle
The 2013 running of this prestigious National Open Gun Dog Championship was held in Ionia, Michigan
under the direction of Chairman Jeff Currier, Secretary Darlene Dow, and Stakes Manager Mike Wilshire.
We wish to extend a great big thank you to our Sponsors; Purina, Garmin/Tri Tronics and the Saddle Guy
for helping to make this a successful national championship with their generous support. A great big
thank you also needs to go Will & Kathi Langley of Bottom Creek Farm for supplying the horses for the
judges, Kurt Pitcsh for keeping the kitchen running and Bobbie Sigmund for her work as the hospitality
chairman. The trial was blessed with cold, but dry weather every day, with temps just perfect for
running dogs. The original forecast had promised freezing rain, yet somehow the weather Gods smiled
upon us all week long.
Judges Jonathan Peck, Tim Carwile and Butch Nelson gave each dog that came to the line their
complete attention and they missed nothing. This trio had keen eyes, good humor and were an
absolute pleasure to ride with. The pace was kept to a true gun dog pace, which made the 5 days in the
saddle quite pleasurable. They were looking for a forward running dog with enough independence to
reach, that also exhibited championship quality high style and excellent manners on their birds. This
year’s stake did not disappoint. Each of the 50 dogs that came to the line was a contender and each of
these dogs absolutely deserved to be there. The bird work was plentiful and at times surprising us with
more than just quail on the course.
Brace 1: Hit’s All Jack’d Up-Sikorski & Sigbrit’s Catch Me Now- Sigmund: The first brace of any national
championship is always filled with excitement. The air and general atmosphere within the gallery is
electrically charged with anticipation and the dogs seem to feed off of this stimulation. Both dogs broke
away hard making a forward launch and taking the first edge to the right. Catcher would come to a
stylish point at the 3 minute mark, showing the judges his impeccable manners. He was released to roll
and he held a nice pace for nearly half of the hour. Catcher’s handler elected to pick him up at the 26
mark when it was apparent that he was suddenly struggling. Cruise maintained his usual forward race
with finds at 12, 34, 38, and a stop to flush at 52. He showed the judges the performance of an
experienced hour stakes champion, ending his hour well to the front.
Brace 2: This Gambler’s Fly’n – Currier & Sniksoh Sally- Burchett: Sally gave us a veteran performance,
as only she can do. She ran well staying forward and always hunting She had her first and only find at
the 10 minute mark in Shangri-La. Ryder too would have a smooth performance with 4 solid finds at 10,
20, 33, 53, with all of his manners in order.
Brace 3: Beaver’s Straight Arrow-Beaver &Mr. P’s D’evil Dog of Coos – Poland: Arrow and Devil would
show us a strong break away with both dogs seemingly well matched in speed. Arrow ran a nice
forward race, taking his edges and hunting hard. At the 8 minute mark he and Devil would be credited
with a divided find which resulted in the first of 2 non-productives for Devil. Arrow would run well for a
total of 24 minutes until he failed to honor and was picked up by the judges. Devil had positive bird
work at 24, but when point was called at 44 the handler was unable to produce the bird. Owner elected
to pick up at that point.
Brace 4: Starlights a Billion Times Brighter=Burchett & Scirocco Del Prado-Casselberry: Not much to
write about this brace. Both dogs rocket launched off the break away, only to leave the handler’s
company soon thereafter. Both dogs were declared out of judgment by the 15 minute mark.
Brace 5: High Hope’s Dark Nite- Al Cropek & Sweetwater’s Murph’s a Gambler – Larry Bates: Joey and
Murphy hit the break away with purpose and the determination to go hunting. Both dogs would be
seen to go on point at the 4 minute mark, with distinctly separate birds on the same tree line. Joey’s
bird was easily put to flight and he was sent on. Murph’s bird, however, proved to be hunkered down a
tad tighter and the dog was relocated with positive results. Murphy would have his second bird at the
20 minute mark which he did not handle as well as the first find. Joey and Al seemed to have a good
grasp of the meaning of teamwork in the rest of their run. The 2nd find was at 13 and the two would go
on to show the judges 3 more pieces of solid work at 20, a pair at 41, with the final find at 57, all with
good manners and high style from Joey.
Brace 6: High Hope Big Gamble- Riedl & Wild Mtn’s Shake Ya Tailfeather – Riggle: The brace would
conclude day 1 on an early note. Both dogs took a hard fast breakaway to the extreme, Soldier leaving
his handler’s company in favor of a romp and run with the birds at 10 and Riley, who was looking well in
his handle and application would part company with his handler at the 33 mark.
Brace 7: Emma Tayshon – Carter & Woodland’s Money Pit – Schramm: Emma and Chloe took off from
the break away with gusto. After the first pass through the first field and treeline, Chloe was not seen
again. The handler pulled the Garmin at the 15. Emma on the other hand sailed the course like she
owned it. The rapport with her handler was smooth and her run was quietly impressive with finds at 5,
12, and a final bird at 52. She hit all of her objectives with confidence and in turn her handler was just as
confident in trusting her which was a pleasure to watch.
Brace 8: Rockhard’s Walking on the Moon- Johnson & Country Roads Indy Speedway Racer- Jim Austin:
Both Indy and Nealy broke away clean at the bottom of Shangri-la. Nealy went to hunting almost
immediately, and Indy took a forward launch which would result in his reverting back to his derby days
at the 11 mark. Nealy took to the wood line and hunted her way up through Shangri-la just out of sight
of her handler. He pulled the Garmin at the 15.
Brace 9: Ricchochet Gunsmokes Mr. Dillion- Burchett & Oakhill’s Moon-Dog-E – Lewandowski: Dillon
showed the judges his eagerness to run and showed a pretty forward pattern. He did find digging into
the woods to be a way to slip out and do things his way, but he stayed out of trouble. At 52 minutes
point would be called. He was relocated and the bird was finally produced with all manners in order.
Red was a little more lateral then Dillion, but he made some nice moves in his quest for birds. His search
was rewarded at the 51 where the bird was produced and all was well.
Brace 10: Wild Mtn’s All That – Riggle & High Hope’s Little Ann – Riedl: All that and a bag of chips they
say. Tucker and Annie were well matched for speed as well as the desire to grab the front. The two
dogs would swap the lead position many times in their race together. First bird contact for both dogs
would be at the 5 minute mark behind a line of hay bales. Each dog had their own find, Annie’s would
be a feather pile and Tucker’s would be a dead bird. The race was on after that. Tucker had a stop to
flush at 35, a bird at 45 and a final stop to flush at 59. Annie had an honor to Tucker’s stop to flush at
35, but would be picked up at the 45 for a small handler error.
Brace 11: Chance’s Frozen Asset- Alexander & ANJ’s Amazing Grace-Burchett: Maggie would be the
hard luck dog of the championship. She had a pheasant at the break away and she would be credited
with too many steps on the flush to stay in contention; which in turn left Maisy to run alone. Maisy had
a nice forward run leaving little uncovered in her path. She had solid bird work at 20,28,41, and 55 all
with perfect manners.
Brace 12: Wild Mtn’s Midnight Rendezvous – Riggle & TNT’s Blazin Shoshoni Shake N Bake- Thomas:
Josey and Bubba had what can only be described as a fun run. Both dogs went straight to hunting off
the break away with Josey being the more forward of the two most of the time. Bubba was easily
drawn to distraction in his quest to follow his nose, but he was hunting nicely. Bubba’s handler elected
to pick up at the 40 minute mark. This was Josey’s first appearance in an hour stake and she took the
challenge to heart. She ran a pretty gun dog race, staying to the front whenever possible and was
rewarded with her one and only find at 17 minutes. She pointed and held with picture perfect high
style.
Brace 13: Hit’s Red Rock Girl!- Rupnow & Peter Gunn- Carter: Ruby and Pete both put down real nice
runs. Pete showed the judges his trademark reach and drive, rimming all of his fields in the same
beautiful manner that won him his previous National Champion titles. He had 5 opportunities to show
off his bird manners and did so well. His first find was at 10, which resulted in a fresh hawk kill. He was
sent on and would have finds at 15, 32, a non-productive at 41 and a final piece of bird work as a divided
find with Ruby at 58. Ruby had a stop to flush at 5, a non-productive at 14 and 32, showed impeccable
manners on a 25 yard honor to Pete at 41 and finished her brace clean with the divided find at 58 .
Brace 14: Sniksoh Little Diamond-Burchett & St Clair’s Prince Rocco Vulcano Leo- St Clair: Kate would
show her forward inclination early, launching from the breakaway and taking the judges for a ride
around the course. Unfortuately, Kate had no bird work to speak of. Rocco took to his first GDN
challenge with gusto and hunted very hard for his entire hour. Ultimately, this would not be the day
that he would show off his reputed good manners and style on his birds since he found none.
Brace 15: Touch Of Bourbon Little Chug- Burchett & Diamond hill Dangerous Man-Pollock: Carson and
Trace left the line in a hurry, each with his own mission. Both hunted hard, Carson taking the front and
never relinquishing it for the entire hour. Bird work was a tad hard to come by for both boys, but their
perseverance paid off, each finding and standing a bird at the 20 minute mark with all manners and
good style on point .
Brace 16: Diamond Hill She’s Gone-Pollock & Breton’s Golden Heart of Pepper Sun- Azevedo: Cleo and
Cookie were a well matched pair both on the ground in race as well as on point with their high style.
These two girls showed the judges some serious girl power as they took to the course and their jobs
with gusto. Each of them would put down an excellent race, with Cookie having the opportunity to
show the judges everything they might be looking for, giving them a nice find at 2 minutes, a beautiful
honor at 29 and intensity on the final find at 52 which turned out to be a dead bird find. Cleo showed
the judges excellent application, great ground speed and her exceptional style on her one find at 29.
Brace 17: HY Steppin Suzee “Q”- Sennott & TNT’s Renegade Gal Pal-Thomas: Addie would set off with
determination from the start, hunting hard for her handler and taking some lines to the front. Her
handler elected to pick her up at the 20 minute mark, when she came in to him bearing a bird at the top
of Shangri-la. This left Suzee down to run alone and she hunted all of the available cover with little
reward. At 44 point was called, however ,the bird was deeply buried within the dense thicket and the
decision to take a non- productive and go on was made by her handler. Suzee finished her hour with no
other bird contact.
Brace 18: Finn Macuhal-Gorman & JD’s Fearless Princess-Currier: Mac and Maggie each had a good foot
race. Maggie would come to a point at the 15, which Mac was asked to honor, that resulted in no birds
produced. Mac was taken on as Maggie was relocated (to no avail) and came upon his own bird at the
30. A very hard mark took Mac out of the money. Maggie sailed the course alone from then on and did
so with ease. She hung her edges nicely, disappearing at the 44 mark. The scout was dispatched and
after a few minutes point was called with Maggie standing buried in the tall switch grass, a quail under
her nose. The handler was disappointed, when upon the flush Maggie decided that she needed to go
with it, ending her hour early.
Brace 19: Bark River Queen Of Diamonds- Stanton & TNT’s Raise N a Ruckus – Thomas: To say that
Daisy is the “real deal” is putting things mildly. She had an incredible ground race, always to the front
and doing things her way for the entire hour. It was all that her handler could do to keep up with her
and try to make himself look like he was in attendance for the performance for the entire hour. Her first
find was at 7, which she held and handled with all manners in order. There would be a divided find at 15,
and then again at the 35, where an alternate handler was appointed to stand by her until her partner
showed up. She had bird work again at 39, another honor at 48 and a final find at 59, finishing her hour
well. Rae too gave a lovely performance, with her first bird at the 12, the two divided finds at 15 & 35,
another nice find at 48, 53 and again at 59. Rae would raise a ruckus at 59.5 when she took a big hop at
the flush taking her out of the running.
Brace 20: Glade Run Nutmeg-Thomas & Cast A Britt Rip II- Johnson: Getting lucky enough to pull second
brace this year meant that the dogs needed to truly be hunters in order to shine with their
performances. The cover on course 2 is always dense, tight in places and thick to negotiate. Meg and
Rip both put their best efforts forward for this and both hunted their hearts out for the hour. Meg
would only have one piece of work as she came to honor Rip at 16, but Rip was fired up and showing
well. His first bird was at 8 when he was found standing buried in a mott across the levee after he was
not seen past the break away field. He was high and tight in his style and caught the attention of all 3
judges early on after this. At 16 he had a hawk kill (where Meg honored) and was sent on. Rip’s handler
sent him on an edge, where he disappeared from sight until the scout called point at 35. SO buried in
the cover was he, that the judge was compelled to dismount to view the bird work from his knees, half
buried in the cover himself! Rip’s final find was at 44, where all was A-ok . Both dogs finished the hour
with lots left in the gas tank.
Brace 21: Carbide Chip-Johnson & Blue Rock’s Diamond Girl- Perry; Diamond and Chip took the launch
off the breakaway together, but they did not stay together long. Chip would run a nice forward race,
coming to a point on a stop to flush at 11 minutes which Diamond failed to acknowledge, ending her
brace much earlier than planned. Chip would continue his quest alone and finish his hour well, with no
other bird work to speak of.
Brace 22: Derailed-Cropek & Suemac’s Sky King-McPherson: Teddy and Sky are two true bird dogs who
take their jobs very seriously. Both exploded off the line and went straight to work. The first point was
called for Teddy at 9 with Sky on the honor with all manners in order. Ted struck point again at 13,
where Sky honored again, even though the bird produced was nothing short of deader than a doornail.
The two would then split the work up, with Ted’s next find at 32, and Sky’s at 30 on the derby course.
Sky would be released only to stick it again at 34, where it took a relocation to pin the bird, another at
37 before he would break out of the derby field and show the judges his desire to run. Sky’s final find
was at 48 and he finished his hour still rolling out hard to the front. At 55 point would be called one last
time for Ted, which would turn out to be a wily pheasant hen, which he stood with all manners in place
even when the hen flew past his head in her desire to escape.
Brace 23: Hit’s Showtime- Perry & Jazz’s Sweetest Little Secret-Hopper: Brandy gave her handler a
valiant effort for 42 minutes of her hour. She hunted very hard, taking advantage of all the available
cover yet the birds eluded her on this day. Karo, on the other hand, took her handler for an exciting
ride. She ran a nice forward race using the available cover to the best of her abilities. She put on a nice
show for the judges. She would have one piece of bird work at 21, holding and pointing with style.
Several attempts to find birds in the wood line failed her, but she did a nice job and showed her
experience for the game well.
Brace 24: Twist’N Tequila’s Shadow-Carter & Hit’s For Pete’s Sake-Kiracofe: Lila and Petey were two
very nice dogs that proved quite fun to watch go to work. Petey would show the judges a well-seasoned
veteran run which would be rewarded with his first find, deep in some thick, tall switch grass at the 2
minute mark, a non-productive at 14, into a pair of fresh hawk kills at 16 & 17, and at last a live survivor
of the hawk’s holocaust at 18. He would be sent on to roll out, which he did, taking his edges in a pretty
fashion where he would have another find at 37. He was released to roll again where he would dig in a
bit to the woods and the scout would call a final find at 47 inside the wood line that pulled handler and
judges off their horses to witness Petey’s high impeccable style only to be disappointed with a dead
bird. Lila honored Petey’s hawk kills at 14, 16 and at 18 would prove her youth by moving in on the live
bird resulting in her pick up.
Brace 25: Hap’s Spice Rum Beckham-Merryman & Sanbar Crosscreek Repete Call-Pepin: Becks and Pete
launched off the breakaway looking like they meant business. At 11, both dogs would be standing birds
on the same line at the top of Cardiac Hill about 50 yards or so apart. Pete’s handler elected for a
relocation attempt when he could not produce the bird on his flushing attempt and made a grave
handler error when Pete pinned it and the handler set it to flight. This ended Pete’s quest for the title
early when the judge ordered the dog up. The crisp cool morning had put rocket fuel in Becks tank. He
would sail out, running well, with his find at 11 being A-ok, another find at 14 looking good. At 21
however, he was feeling a little too good and was caught scooping his third bird and was also ordered
up.
In the end 50 dogs had come to line. There were moments of brilliance, moments that took your breath
away and moments of astonishment that are what championships are made of. There were several
dogs that could have been crowned the Champion on any given day. The decision came down to 4
performances that to the judge’s eyes out shined all the others and it was with careful deliberation that
they crowned
NEW FC* High Hopes Dark Nite the 2013 winner, this prestigious win crowning him as a new title holder
DC/AFC Cast-A Britt-Rip II the Runner-Up ,
NGDC/FC/AFC Hit’s For Pete’s Sake for third,
FC Diamond Hill She’s Gone for fourth place. Cleo was also the winner of the Misty Sky Award for being
the highest placing bitch of the event.
Special recognition in the form of the Judge’s Award of Merit was also given to four more dogs;
Emma Tayshon
Breton’s Golden Heart of Pepper Sun
Derailed
Suemac’s Sky King for their performances that could not be ignored.
The 5 days in the saddle went by very quickly with good weather, good judging, lots of giggles and good
humor, and of course good dogs to watch.