Nottingham Kennels

AFC Nottingham's Adamsmark She's the One  MHA "Josie"

          May 7, 2012    -   May 3, 2018  

OFA Good   CERF Normal  PRA Clear

Josie will always be a special dog in my heart and my life.   She came to me as a single pup litter.  Evidently, God didn't want me to pick the wrong pup so he gave me the one I needed.   She turned out to be the dog that I had been dreaming about.  She took me places I didn't think I needed to go.  Along the way she became an Amateur Field Champion and earned her Master Hunter Advanced title.   But when you push the accomplishments aside, you will see she was more than a competitive dog with ribbons and plaques.    She was with me most every day.  I would get her out of the truck and toss bumpers and just watch her do what she always did.  She was as consistent as any dog I could hope to have.   

The times we spent in the field hunting are very special memories.   Her first dove hunt was totally amazing.   She handled the action with poise and calmness.   I can remember where we hunted and some of the situations she handled.  Blind retrieves past "fall areas" where she had picked up previous birds.   Birds that fell behind us over a barbed wire fence that she easily would "disengage" knowing we would get them later.  Later we would walk down to the gate, and then work her to the birds keeping her from the hazard of the barbed wire.  

The times spent woodcock hunting was extra special.  I confidently invited folks to go with us knowing that she would always put on a show.   If there were birds, she would find them.   She was so easy to hunt with and the time spent with her was a pleasure.   

Duck hunting with her was an incredible experience.  January 2018 was an awesome duck season.  Josie would work in the freezing temps and cold water and never balked.  She knew the drill and that we were not upland hunting but were having to wait on the ducks.    

http://youtu.be/rkXnS_noCWU   This is a link to a Youtube video of Josie making a couple retrieves as a pup. 

Josie has been a joy to work with and watch grow and develop over the past 15 mths.  So far, I am enjoying what I see.  She has confidence to hunt hard and look for game.  Her retrieving has been very nice and she is making some long marked retrieves. Delivery to hand has never been a struggle. 

The first week of March 2013 was a great week for Josie.   The woodcock were migrating back through Southwest Missouri and she really became a hunting machine.  She had the opportunity to flush woodcock for 8 straight days.  Most of those days were the last 25 min of daylight and she worked hard finding the birds.   Since it is Spring and no hunting season, she was getting the chance to hunt thick cover and flush birds but there were no retrieves.  She soon started to steady on her own and was a lot of fun to watch.   

Josie ran in her first AKC Spaniel Hunt Test on Sunday April 28, 2013.   I entered her at the Senior level and we got a Passing Score.  This is the youngest dog that I have attempted to run at the Senior level.  She is coming along nicely and look forward to hunting with her this Fall. 

On October 5, 2013, Josie was entered in the Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club's AKC Spaniel Hunt Test.  I entered her in the Master test just to see if we could get through the test.  I felt that she was ready for the Hunt Dead and Water Blind but wasn't sure about the Steady to Fall when the bird was shot.    We got through the test and she did well.   The second day Josie broke on the Fall of the shot bird.   She has not had many birds shot for her and I knew there was a chance it would happen.  We will do some more training and get the steady to fall o the bird more consistent, then we should be good going forward.  The rest of the pieces seem to be falling into place well.  Good attitude, positive on her finds, runs confidently.   I like what I have so far with this 17 mth old pup.  

October 19, 2013:   Ran Josie in another Master Level Hunt Test at the Fox River Valley Field Spaniel Club Hunt Test in Wisconsin.  She had some issues at the water but we worked through them and got a "Pass".   She has now gone 2 for 3 at Master Level Tests.  I am still smiling!  I like my little brown dog!

November 3, 2013:   Ran Josie in a Puppy Stakes at the Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club field trial.  She got 2nd Place! 

After the Hunt Tests and Puppy Stakes, I was able to take her Woodcock hunting.  She has been a joy to hunt with.  A very nice dog.  I was able to take 3 bird limits over her several times.   Oh my!  She is a nice one.

February 6, 2014:  Ran Josie in the Puppy Stakes at the Bird Dog Hall of Fame Trial in La Grange, Tn.  We got 4th Place!

April 26, 2014 :  Josie passed the Master Test at the Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club AKC Hunt Test.  Pass #3

April 27, 2014:  Josie passes another Master Test at the MHSC AKC Hunt Test.  Pass #4

May 17, 2014:  Josie passes another Master Test at the English Springer Spaniel Club of Eastern Nebraska.  Pass #5

May 18, 2014:  Josie passes the Master Test at the English Springer Spaniel Club of Eastern Nebraska.  Pass #6

THIS MAKES HER MASTER HUNTER TITLE!!!!!!    Wow,  Josie passed 6 of 7 Master Tests to get her Master Hunter Title. The 6th Pass was only 11 days past her 2nd Birthday.   She really is a nice pup! 

The Fall 2014 hunting season started out on Sept 1, 2014 with the opening day of Dove Season.   On Friday of the first week, I took Josie on her first dove hunt.  What a pleasure to be in the field with her.   She handled the different situations very well.   She stayed steady for all the shot birds.  Some birds landed on the other side of a barbwire fence and with her being steady, I didn't have any worries of potential cuts.  She was easy to turn her focus back to incoming birds.   When the shooting dropped off, I walked her through the gate and then sent her for the dead birds.   Blind retrieves and double marks were all handled as a Master Hunter should handle them.   

Josie had an opportunity to run in her first All-Age field trial at the Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club AKC English Springer Spaniel field trial on Nov 1 and 2, 2014.   The Open Stake was run on Saturday.  Josie got through the 1st and 2nd Series but did not get called back to the 3rd Series.   On Sunday, she had the opportunity to run in the Amateur Stake.   She was feeling much better on Sunday after having a high fever on Thursday before the trials.  She ran quite well and received a 4th place placement.   This was my first All-Age placement and Josie's first Amateur trial to compete in.   

After the field trial, it was time to relax and have fun.  The Missouri Woodcock season was in full swing.  Josie did a nice job producing woodcock, staying steady and delivering to hand.   One of her most useful skills is how easy she is to handle very tempting situations in the woodcock thickets.   For instance, sometimes woodcock will not fly far after a flush.  Josie can be easily called back to me and walk at heel until I could get around cover or get a guest hunter in position to shoot.  At that point, I would release Josie to reflush the woodcock.  This skill helps keep the chaos to a minimum and also allows me to have a more relaxed and enjoyable hunt. 

2015

Ran Josie in the Parent Club field trials at LaGrange, TN which are held in conjunction with the Hall of Fame festivities. Trial #1 : Josie completed the trial but did not get a placement.  Josie had a good 1st series and 3rd series but the 2nd series was not clean enough for a placement.    Trial #2:  Josie completed the 1st and 2nd series but was not called back to the 3rd. 

February 14, 2015:  Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club field trial :   I entered Josie in the Open in order for me to help gun the Amateur.   In the 2nd Series, the judge delayed the tap to send her for the retrieve to see if she would stay steady.  I was caught up in the moment and held her after the bird hit the ground but sent her before the tap.  So no 3rd series for us. 

No more trials or hunt tests until Labor Day weekend.

September 5, 2015:  Wisconsin English Springer Spaniel Association :  I was judging their Hunt Test over Labor Day weekend.  On Sunday, I was not judging the Master test so I was able to enter Josie.  She passed with scores good enough to qualify for the Master Hunter Advanced title.  She needs 5 Passes with high enough scores to earn this title.

September 21, 2015:  English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association National Specialty:   I took Josie to the Hunt Test in conjunction with the National Specialty and she performed well enough in the Master Test to get her 2nd Pass towards her Master Hunter Advanced Title.

October 17, 2015:  Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club Field Trial:   Josie takes 3rd Place!  Her second Field Trial placement.

October 22, 2015:  Oklahoma Springer Spaniel Club :   Josie finished the trial but did not get a placement.  

October 24, 2015:   Springer Spaniel Club of Central Kansas:  Josie finishes the trial and gets 1st Place!!  Her first win.

December 5, 2015:  Iowa Sporting Spaniel Club:  Ran Josie in the Open Stake on Friday and finished the trial but didn't get a placement.

December 6, 2015:  Iowa Sporting Spaniel Club:  Ran Josie in the Amateur Stake on Saturday.  The 2nd Series was not good so we did not get called back to the 3rd Series.   Josie got out of control and didn't cover the ground the way she should.  She still found her birds and stayed steady but I was not pleased with the performance. 

2016:

January 24, 2016:  North Texas Springer Spaniel Club:   Ran Josie in Amateur Stake.  Trapped first two birds.  Flushed 3rd bird but failed the retrieve.  First time to leave a trial in the first series.  

February 4, 2016:  Volunteer Spaniel Club at the Hall of Fame trials:   Josie had a nice run and was awarded 3rd Place! 

February 5, 2016:  ESSFTA at the Hall of Fame trials:  Josie had another great two days and was awarded 2nd Place AND the Jim Avent Guns Award for the amateur dog the guns would like to take hunting.  Super cool to get a Guns Award!

At this point, Josie had accumulated a Win and 8 pts.  She needed 3rd Place or higher to finish her AKC Amateur Field Championship.

February 28, 2016:  Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club:  Amateur stakes.  Josie did not get called back to the 3rd Series.  

 As a back up plan: I had entered her in the ESSFT of Illinois field trial in early March. 

March 12 & 13, 2016:  English Springer Spaniel Club of Illinois:   Amateur Stake:   Josie takes 1st Place and gets her 2nd Win making her an Amateur Field Champion!   My first AFC dog!! 

March 18, 2016:  Boykin Spaniel Club and Breeders Association:   Hunt Test:  I was in Texas to judge the Heart of Texas Spaniel Hunt Test and so I ran Josie in the Boykin Club's 2nd Hunt Test in the Master Level.  She passed with scores high enough to qualify for her 3rd Master Hunter Advance Pass.   

April 2 & 3, 2016:  English Springer Spaniel Club of Eastern Nebraska:  Amateur Stakes.   Josie completed the trial but did not receive a placement. 

April 23 & 24,  2016:  Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club:  Ran Josie in the Master test both days and received high enough scores to complete the requirements for her Master Hunter Advanced Title!!!  

October 12, 2016  Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club:  Ran Josie in the Amateur Stake and she took 3rd!   

November 17-20, 2016   National Amateur Championship.  Josie completed all 5 series and the Water Test.  There were 98 dogs that started the trial and 24 ran the 5th series.  Josie finished the trial but didn't get an opportunity to "rise to the top" of this awesome group of dogs.   We had a blast.  Great "First Trip" to the Nationals for both Josie and I. 

2017

January 21, 2017 North Texas Spaniel Club :  Ran Josie in the Open Stake.  40 dogs entered 14 dogs into the 3rd Series. Josie finished the trial but didn't receive a placement

March 16, 2017 : Oklahoma Springer Spaniel Club Open Stake.  Josie finally left early on a retrieve in the first series which excused us from the trial.   This was her first time to exit a trial for breaking or leaving early on a retrieve.  

October 7, 2017 - Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club - Master Hunt Test Pass # 12

 October 12, 2017 - Oklahoma Springer Spaniel Club Open .   Josie got through 2 series but not called back to the 3rd

October 13, 2017  Oklahoma Springer Spaniel Club Amateur  - Josie got through 2 series but not called back to the 3rd

October 14, 2017  Springer Spaniel Club of Central Kansas  Open -  Josie finished the trial and received 4th Place!  First open point.   

February 2018 - Volunteer Club Open -  Josie completed 2 series but not called back to 3rd

                           Volunteer Club Amateur - Josie completed 2 series but not called back to 3rd

                           English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association:  Open  Completed 2 series but not back to 3rd

February 2018 - Missouri Hunting Spaniel Club - Open - completed 2 series but not called back to 3rd

                                                                              Amateur - completed trial and placed 4th!  

Josie is a great dog to run and handle in hunting events and also in real hunting.  Just a pleasure to be with. 

Hunt Test Stats: 

1 for 1 at Senior Level (1 yr of age)

12 for 13 at Master Level.  failed 2nd Hunt test entered at 17 mths.  Completed 11 straight. from Oct 2013 - October 2017.

Field Trial stats from November 2014 - April 2016: 

Open Stakes:  Entered:  10    Finished: 3  Placements:  1

Amateur Stakes:  Entered: 18  Finished:  11   Placements: 8

Amateur Placements:

1st:   2 - Kansas Fall 2015 & ESSFT Illinois Spring 2016

2nd:  1 - ESSFTA Hall of Fame

3rd:  3 - Missouri Fall 2015, Volunteer Club 2016, Missouri Fall 2016 

4th:  2 -  Missouri Fall 2014, Missouri Spring 2018

Open Placements: 

4th - 1 - Kansas Fall 2017

Click on link for Josie's Pedigree