HR Burcliff's Spud of Nottingham, MH "SPUD"
DOB 3-19-04 OFA - Good CERF - Normal
Breeder: Brad and Lori Mirth
Owners: Taylor Baker and Tim Baker
AVAILABLE FOR STUD SERVICE to approved females
HOW ABOUT WATER WORK? DO SPANIELS LIKE THE WATER?
Photo by Rick Adair Photography
Just a little bit ... Here Spud is caught in action making a water retrieve. Yes, indeed. Spaniels like the water.
Spud is owned by my son Taylor and me. (
See Story from Spaniel Journal) Taylor ran Spud in the Started Level Retriever Tests in the Hunting Retriever Club program. Spud ran his first Started Test on Feb 13, 2005 and received a Pass. By April 1, 2005, Spud had "Passed" 4 out of 5 tests for his Started Hunting Retriever Title. This Title is recognized by UKC and will not appear on an AKC Pedigree. Spud is registered with both the UKC and AKC registrations.
Spud went 2 for 2 at the Junior Level AKC Spaniel Hunt Test in April 2005. In April 2006, Spud was able to get to another AKC Spaniel Hunt Test and went 2 for 2 that weekend as well to complete his Junior Hunter Title. The Junior Title was completed under the handling of Taylor.
In September 2007, I started running Spud in the Senior Level AKC Spaniel Hunt Test. Spud received 2 Passes in Kansas and in October, 2 Passes at the
Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club to complete his Senior Hunter Title.
After the 2007-2008 Hunting Season, I decided to try my hand at steadying Spud to Flush and Shot. So, in February the process began and we seemed to move through the steps efficiently. On April 5 and 6, 2008, Spud was entered in the Master Level Hunt Test at the Heart of Texas Hunt Test. Spud passed on Saturday but failed on Sunday due to breaking on his second bird. Even though we didn't get to train much in between the Heart of Texas Hunt Test and Spud's next test opportunity, Spud Passed on two attempts at the Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club test on April 26 & 27. If things go well this summer, Spud will get 4 attempts to get the two passes necessary to complete his Master Hunter Title. Well, things didn't go well and Spud only passed 1 of 4 Master Tests. The ones he failed were due to breaking. Being steady was not solid for him and it showed. With some continued work, we will get that last pass to complete his title. I was able to work with him during the hunting season and I am getting more confident that we can finish the title.
April 6, 2009 - Ran Spud at the Welsh Hunt Test and he broke on the first bird. Oh well...on to the next test opportunity at the Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club.
April 25, 2009 - Spud stayed steady to two birds on land and I knew we were destined to complete the task of becoming a Master Hunter. The Hunt Dead and Water work went well enough to get a Pass.
That made Pass # 5 completing his Master Hunter Title. Wow!! What a ride. Spud is the first dog I have trained to the Master Level and proved it in the Hunt Test program. This was a joy and relief to finally get the task accomplished. Now.....Let's go hunting and just have fun without the added pressure!
Spud and Bingo with a pair of Kansas Roosters - Nov 2007 - Great Bend, Kansas
National Upland Classic Series - www.uplandclassic.com
Now that I have Spud's Master Hunter title completed, I am going to try to run him in some Upland Classic events. ( See website link above for rules and scoring procedures. ) I was able to run him in an event in Indepedence, Kansas and we did well ....up to the last bird in the finals. The first run was not fast by most standards but we were able to score 3 birds with 3 shots. Spud stayed steady to flush and shot on all three birds. The slow time was due to us missing the 3rd bird on the far end of the field. If the field was planted with the birds spaced out, then the 3rd bird had to be on the far end of the field. We made a pass through that end of the field but missed the bird. On the second pass through, he finally was able to pick up the scent and work the bird that had run from its "plant" spot. Missing this bird cost us several minutes and we ended with a time of 14 min. This put us 6 pts out of first place. The finals run started out great with a quick find and retrieve. Then it took ust 4.5 min to find the 2nd bird. I knew we needed a fast time and thought we were out of the running at that point. I relaxed and didn't stay focused and then I missed the 3rd bird in the finals. Ughhh.. The missed bird dropped us to 3rd place for the day. I will admit that I was the problem but it is a teamwork event and both dog and handler play a big role in the outcome.
I ran Spud in 4 NUCS events during the 2009 season with 2 -3rd place finishes. We were close but I needed to do my part in getting the birds to have a better finish.
EUROPEAN STYLE PHEASANT HUNTS
I have also had the pleasure of working my dogs at several different Bird Hunting Farms that offer European Style Pheasant shoots. Below are some pictures of Spud working as a "pick up" dog at a European Shoot.
It is fun to watch the dogs pick up lots of birds but I like to focus on the other training aspects such as
1) staying steady until the bird is on the ground, 2) staying with the retrieve while other birds are falling or flying over, 3) honoring another dog that is picking up a bird between the stations and 4) making those long more difficult cripple bird retrieves either in open fields or in the timber.
Spud hupped behind a shooting station at Show Me Birds January 2008
Spud marking a shot pheasant, waiting to be sent for the retrieve. Jan 2008
Keeping his eyes on a bird while the guns are blasting.
HUNTING RETRIEVER CLUB " HRC" HUNT TEST INFORMATION:
Photo by Taylor Baker "The Beard Photography"
Spud with all 4 of his Started Ribbons and all 3 of his Seasoned Pass Ribbons along with his Title Ribbon.
June 2011.
June 4, 2011 Spud received his 3rd Seasoned Pass in the Hunting Retriever Club program at the Southwest Missouri Retriever Club HRC hunt test. The Seasoned Test is a very practical test which tests for skills sets that are very useful in the hunting field. The test has several components which consist of double marks on both land and water, blind retrieves (under control) on both land and water, a diversion bird and a walk-up test.
The rules can be found on the Hunting Retriever Club website.
Spud now has 2 Seasoned HRC Passes and needs one more for his Hunting Retriever Title in the HRC Program. He went 2 for 2 at the KC HRC Hunt Test on May 22 and 23, 2010.
What took so long to get back to an HRC event? Well, I was spending time completing Spud's AKC Spaniel Master Hunter Title. Now that we have time, we went back to go after the HR Title.
March 2008, Spud's first two attempts at the Seasoned Test was not successful. Spud was steady for the double marks on Land and Water. He marked very well and just stepped on the ducks. He was steady for the Walk-up test and handled the Diversion bird well. The issue was the Blind Retrieve. At this point in his training, I did not have him sitting quickly to the whistle. When I did cast him, he would not stop to be cast again until he was ready. The judges referred to this action as turning a Blind Retrieve into a "Hunt'em Up". Well... Ok. Let's get back to training.