This was an excellent full testing weekend hosted by Alec and Madison Losee at Eagle Ridge Ranch. The town of Island Park is on the western edge of Yellowstone, so we were treated to magnificent scenery in all directions.
The experienced judges were Jeff Martin, Penticton, BC, Mark Peasley, San Francisco, CA; and Jason Snyder, Spokane, WA. Josh Morrison handled the bird and duck placement on Saturday, and Alec Losee helped with this on Sunday. There were many new and longtime members in attendance, which was great to see. Excellent breakfast burritos were prepared both mornings by Patrice Korteum, while a wonderful chili dinner with all the fixings by Lisa Davis while her husband Wayne made his specialty pineapple upside-down cake. This was a huge undertaking and was much appreciated by all in attendance.
The same grounds were used both days, starting with having the dogs burn off travel rust on two successive field searches. The cover comprised of first sagebrush, which opened up into a mix of sage and grass, with the birds being concealed on the edge of the cover for good scenting but also to see the pointing dog clearly at all times. The birds were placed lightly and naturally, so if crowded by the dog, they flew strongly. Further down the road, we conducted feather and fur drags in sagebrush fields. The water used was very good, with the gun sensitivity done on a separate water area and the blind just 30 meters away over a point of land. The blind itself was in light cover 25 meters across, and a breeze was coming to the dog.
The live duck search water was relatively long and narrow, with heavy reed cover along the opposite side. The ducks had been “ trained “ as every single duck at release swam perfectly across to cover just as wild ducks do.
Solms/AZP was conducted on Saturday 5th, October, and it was a full test of 6 entrants, with every dog attempting every aspect of the test to the very end, making a long day of testing.
#1 Elliot vom Einhausnerhof ( KS Knox vom Konigsleite x Bessy vom Einhaushof, this is an 18-month-old brown schimmel male ably handled by Karre Leishman. This dog was imported from Austria.
This is a strong, calm male in the image of his illustrious sire. He was well-trained and completed everything that was asked of him at this level of testing. The dog scored four or very good across all testing categories for Solms 1. Particularly pleasing was when he was directed across the water on both the blind and live search; he immediately took to the task. At the conformation grading, the dog was described as a strong masculine male with nobility, size, and substance. He has a deep chest with correct angulation back and front, producing excellent reach and drive for a V or excellent rating, congratulations on both results.
#2 Brandi vom Adlertal ( Prinz vom Klepenshagener Forst x Catja vd Niederheide) is a 3-year-old dark liver female handled by Aaron Milliman. Brandi did well in all field categories and the feather drag, including the retrieve. On the rabbit drag, she didn’t locate the rabbit. Because she hadn’t encountered the game and left it, Aaron rightly decided to continue the test. I love to see this positive attitude because he got to experience the full requirements for the future, and his dog got to show what she had been prepared for. Afterward, Brandi scored very well across the water and duck searches, cooperation, obedience, and desire. Well done, Aaron and Brandi.
#3 Flirt vom Wustenjager ( Charger vom Wustenjager x Bree vom Kleinen Fluss) is a 3-year-old brown female handled by longtime DK trainer Wayne Touve, who incidentally owns the sire. As expected, this dog was very good at cooperatively field searching and pointing solidly. Her feather drag and retrieve were just as good. Her rabbit drag was completed expertly, but she somewhat avoided the handler at the final delivery to hand. Although her retrieving was perfect in all other later subjects, the final score averaged to the direction of the rabbit score, so it resulted in a 3 for retrieving. She got a three at both the blind and live duck search, which led to a prize 2 AZP. Wayne, you know she’s a good one, well done.
#4 Envy vom Golden Sun ( KS Dack vd Silbergrube x Beatrix vom Golden Sun) This is a 2-year-old brownschimmel female owned by Tony Hendrickson. Envy’s search and solid pointing were all 4, along with her feather and fur drag, were both willingly completed. Every single retrieve was perfectly delivered to hand for a solid four overall. Her only minor mistake was the avoidance of the water entry on her water blind, which required a restart. Well done, AZP 1. In the Zuchtschau, she is a strong, medium-sized female with a beautiful head, sloping topline, deep chest, and correct angulation back and front. She demanded a V rating, well done, Tony.
#5 Chloe vom Prairieflugel ( Astor vom Barlager Forst x Tilly vom Kings Crossing) this is a 2 year old brownschimmel female handled by Alec Losee. This is what would be described as “a shooter’s gundog,” completing all tasks without a problem. At Solms level, it must point strongly until the handler arrives, track, and retrieve, ideally to hand plus sit until ordered to release. Chloe’s scored well across most categories except for her spit and polish on trained scores for an AZP prize 3. Well done, Alec, it’s clear that you give Chloe lots of hunting time.
#6 Eden vom Adlertal ( Bozo vom Odins Wald x Caro vd Niederheide ) This is an 18-month-old brown female ably handled by Lisa Davis. This is a very athletic female in excellent condition, and she aced most of the test. Her fieldwork was excellent, scoring a 4h for her search. Her fur and feather drags were both 4, and while every single retrieve could not be faulted, cooperation, obedience, and desire were accordingly rated a 4. On the two water tests at the end of the day, unfortunately, Eden was cold and hesitant to get into the water. It wasn’t Eden’s day, but she has had excellent past performances in the HZP and the Derby, plus she has done very well in the youth zuchtshau. I’m sure Lisa and Eden will have a great 2025.
Day two, Sunday the 6th, was the HZP. This is a JGHV test that has a similar intent and requirement as our Solms test but has a more flexible scoring system. This “duplication“ came about because the DKV created the Solms test long before the JGHV organization was formed and was allowed to continue with our DKV test.
#1 Amigo vom Salbei ( Kosmo vom Sauwerder x Donna 11 vom Holvogt) this was a 17 month old brawnschimmel DK male handled by Josh Purkiss. The dog scored very well in search and pointing, both feather and fur drag were very good, scoring very good across all the above plus manner of retrieving, desire, cooperation, and obedience. The dog had trouble on both water tests, requiring multiple shots. HZP score 151 points well done, Josh, I hope you got the bug, and it was a good learning experience.
For the zuchtschau, Amigo has a dark brownshimmel in the pattern of his sire, medium-sized with good bone and very good structure for a very good rating.
#2 Ferra vd Outlaw ( Czar vd Kaskaden X Cura vom Grizzly Creek) This was a 22 month old swarzschimmel DD female handled by Marc Meston. The dog did exceedingly well in the field, scoring an 11 in search, a very good 10 across the nose, pointing, blind water retrieve, cooperation, and desire. Ferra was reluctant to hand over the game, which hurt her retrieving score. She also required a shot across the water to get her across, but once there, she did an excellent industrious search in cover for an 8. A solid HZP 173 points, well done.
As a side note for learning, all handlers were given a 20m area along the bank to handle and start the dog across the water. Dogs remember previous successful memory blinds in snapshots or pictures when they do blinds across the water. Therefore, it is important that the dog see the snapshot of the intended target.. i.e., the opposite bank or cover across the water in our case.
#3 Anouk vom Beersteig ( ( Kan vom Saarforst X Cora vd Auersberg), a 17-month-old Scharzschimmel DD male handled by Josh Henson. This was a very fast, agile dog throughout both its field searches and drags through the sage. The dog scored 10 or very good across nearly all of the scorecards with just two exceptions: a 9 for both not sitting and dropping a game at the handler and the live duck search scoring an 8 for resends, surprising given the dog had just done a good blind retrieve for a 10. The final result was 173 points HZP congratulations.
#4 Emmie vom Deutschen Weg ( Floyd vd Burg X Audi vom Blanken Flat ) This was a solid brown 18-month-old female Pudel Pointer handled by Tyler Kohlman. This was a very solid performance throughout, with 10 or very good ratings across all field subjects, both fur and feather drags, as well as the water blind. There was some dropping of the game, but it was averaged up to a 9 because of the very good rabbit retrieve. The live duck search required a shot fired near the cover in water, but Emmie then promptly crossed the pond. The final score was a 167-point HZP.
#5 Bonnie von Wasungen ( KS Quinn vom Klepenshagener Forst X Isobell vom Hidden Creek) was the youngest entrant at 11 months old. A schwarzschimmel female DK well handled by Nathan Tillotson. Bonnie did very well across all field subjects with a strong search, keeping in contact with the handler. She showed excellent search and use of her nose, pointing staunchly 100 meters from the bird at first contact for an 11-pointing score. The other ratings were a 10, very good for desire, cooperation, feather drag, and obedience, and she was aceing it. The unexpected happened on the rabbit drag where the dog confidently tracked and collected the game and 50 meters back, buried it, and after a few moments, returned to the handler empty-handed. Leaving the game meant she could not continue the test. Nathan, you know her abilities, and we hope you continue with her next year, well done.
There was some great dog work overall, and I congratulate all who entered. For those who weren’t quite as successful as they were expecting, I’m sure they will learn from the experience and return even stronger in the future. I want to thank my fellow judges for two long days of judging and paperwork, and it was a pleasure working with you both. All the best to all who made it a successful weekend.
Jeff Martin