Newly Titled Dogs

[Kerry Webster]

Whilst perusing the site and observing the acclamation for R.T. Champ. status, I thought, well, maybe I should also put up some "applause" for titles gained during 2004, in that thar "Far west".

We have a very short retrieving season in W.A. with All Age beginning at Easter and finishing in September, and Novice & Restricted beginning around the same time and finishing in August. So a limited amount of trials are available for competitors to get the best out of their dogs.


In 2004 season, we had three dogs gain their R.T.Champion title. Heather Ellis and her 4yr old Golden Retriever bitch, Gypsy, (Ellishea Asks Gypsy):

Maggie Hankinson and her 2 yr old Labrador Retriever dog, Guinness (Altiquin Stern Imp.Ire) and

Manfred Meerkotter with his five yr old Labrador Retriever Dog, Hunter, (Blackboy Gunshot).



In Restricted stakes, we had RRD titles gained by

Judy Pannett and her Labrador Dog, Josh, (Featherhunt Joshua),

Jean Henderson with her Golden Retriever dog, Shilo, (Glenregal Royal Lord),

Glenice McClure and her Labrador dog, Spider, (Kadnook hes A Huntzman),

Lee Golding and his Labrador bitch, Chilli, (Courtsum Glen STalker) and

Kerry Webster and her Labrador dog, Swaggy, (Truclass The Swagman).



Novice Retrieving Dog titles were achieved by,

Jean Henderson and Shilo,

Cheryl Hargreaves and her Golden Ret. dog, Reuben (Mhadaidh Special Agent),

Maggie McLoughlin and her Labrador bitch, Claire, (Burberry Highclaire),

Eli Johnson and her Brittany spaniel, Indi, (Wauchope Indiana Jones),

Tom Morris with his Labrador bitch, Amy, (Guncreek Amy),

Peg Malcolm and the Labrador bitch, Molly, (Warrander Mitchs Memory),

Sue Hogben with the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever dog, Joker, (Kirchoff Cool Hand Luke), and

Glenice McCLure and Crakka, (Blackboy Creme Crakker), her show winning Labrador dog.



It was a very successful year as far as new winners, with dogs advancing through to the next stage of the retrieving career. With W.A. having extremely good numbers of competitors in all stakes;( 20's for Novice and mid to high teens for Restricted and All Age ), the task to win a trial is a real challenge.

Kerry

[Jason Ferris]

Thanks for a very interesting update Kerry and congratulations to all the handlers who achieved titles with their dogs in 2004. It's great to see that retrieving is thriving in the West.

Cheers, Jason.

[Kerry Webster]

No problems Jason.

All that effort by these triallers has brought them wonderful results for their dogs, and to acknowledge their titles is a pleasure.

Keeping motivated to continue trialling, especially with difficult dogs, or limited opportunities to train, is a continual battle as most of us know, so it is always nice to give everyone who achieves their goal, whether short or long term, a little recognition, and they all deserve it.

By the way, the interest in retrieving here as you note, appears pretty solid. The availability of properties for our use has become an issue, with the loss of three sites. Consequently, more and more country sites may be used. We have been rather spoilt here with sites usually within an hour drive, but looks as if several trials will be overnighters or much longer drives. Shouldn't be a problem for most I think.

Kerry