 The 2006 Boykin Spaniel Society's 26th Annual National Field Trial was held at Clinton House, Clinton, South Carolina running from March 30 through April 2, 2006. Clinton House is an amazing place. It's perfect for field trials since it is managed for hunting and sporting clays. There are resident mallard ducks flying in and out during the tests, quacking and adding an extra distraction to the working dogs. All of the ponds include flooded timber - and there are plenty of them. The land is exquisitely managed for upland game offering plenty of knee high cover with strips cut through the fields. The terrain is rolling which makes for some very interesting test scenarios.
The 2006 BSS National Open Champion is GRHRCH UH Just Ducky's Justforkicks - "Mule". This year's Boykin Spaniel Society National field trial open class was of the same caliber as an UKC Grand. The judges, Tracy Stubbs and Bryan Parker, set up tests that would challenge any field champion retriever. At the end of two days of testing, it was the trust and teamwork that Charlie and Mule have for each other that was the winning combination. Mule won because of the way he ran the blind retrieves; taking a superior initial line and taking every cast that handler, Charlie Jurney, gave him along the way. Picture flooded timber with fallen trees in the path to the bird. A duck call from the line and in the duck blind where the gunners were hidden. A duck is launched from a winger then two gunners and the handler shoot
at the bird. It lands 20 yards out in the water, conveniently nestled in the arm of two fallen trees so that it doesn't drift away. The handler has to divert the dog's attention off that bird and send him over 100 yards to the left of the fallen bird for the blind retrieve. Mule was the only dog that took off for the blind and did not attempt to retrieve the short bird to the right of him.
Charlie Jurney, of Beaverdam Kennel, handled Mule to the open win as well as his Grand Hunting Retriever Champion title. Both Chris Meurett and Charlie have handled Mule at UKC/HRC hunt tests. Mule is possibly the most biddable Boykin spaniel as he consistently completes finished tests weekend after weekend. He will soon amass over 1500 points, a feat few Labrador retrievers accomplish. When you add it all up, each test completed earns fifteen points – those are a lot of tests - and Mule just turned five years old in March.
The only other Open dog to complete the test was HRCH Holland Ridge Jeb Stuart, who earned second place. Jeb wanted the short bird and after three casts from his owner, Mark Lee, he took a great line to the blind retrieve. Jeb was the only dog in the class to pick up all three marks on the 3rd (land) series without handling.
This year’s intermediate class was the largest in the history of the nationals with 25 dogs competing. At the end of the testing, John Inabinet’s eight-year old dog, Chelsea’s Woody Bear, came out on top.
The judges were creative in setting up the tests and many of the dogs struggled to get through. The first series was a land double with the dogs working uphill through broom straw and natural grass cover. The 40-yard blind was through the same cover and across a road. As is usually the case, getting some of the dogs to cross the road proved to be a problem.
The water series was a challenging short double in a flooded timber pond with fallen trees hindering the dogs from taking a direct line. The logs worked well to push the dogs off the line to the memory bird and most needed to be handled to the mark. A water blind was set up in the rounded corner of a pond where in order to hold a straight line the dogs had to climb over a fallen tree and ignore the land that tempted bank running. On top of that there was suction from an inlet that pulled the dogs away from the bird and if the dog got into the cover on land he was out of sight.
"The water series was a challenging short double in a flooded timber pond with fallen trees hindering the dogs from taking a direct line."
A second land double gave the dogs a chance to redeem themselves. It also gave the handlers a chance to breath again. After this brief respite, the judges turned back to the same pond where the water double had been held. This time, they set up a blind retrieve right down the middle of the two old marks. With the suction from the old marks it was a very tough blind.
The novice champion is HR Just Ducky's Justahomewrecker, owned by John Huddleston. He trained Wrecker himself and has done a great job with him. Wrecker was the 2005 BSS National Puppy Champion and the 2006 BSS National Upland Intermediate Champion in addition to earning his Hunting Retriever title from UKC - all before his second birthday.
As usual, the novice class was the largest - with 56 dogs in competition. The judges had their work cut out for them. The first series was a land series ran in a broom straw field with wide paths cut through. The cover was high, but sparse. From land, the water series was conducted in one of the flooded timber ponds. It was laid out with a fallen tree in line with one of the marks. The tree had branches sticking up that prevented the dogs from taking a straight line. If the dog ran the bank, he had a more difficult chance of marking the bird. The dog was run from the bank on the same side as the winger throwing the birds. This meant that most young dogs would run the bank and jump in. From there, you turned and ran a single on land from the same line as the water marks.
The third series was another water series. A different flooded timber pond was used but the scenario was similar. This time, the dogs had to cross over a fallen tree to pick up a duck and return the same way. The second bird was hand thrown from across the pond and it landed on the edge of the pond. All marks were 40 yards or less. The dog my assistant, Carolyn, was running, HR Just Ducky’s Miss Edgefield, decided to take the easy way around the pond and while she was there, she chased off some resident mallards before grabbing her bird and coming back. This transgression took her out of the placements and into a completion ribbon instead. Silly girl.
Each year, the puppy class is very competitive and with 28 entries, this year was no exception. This class is open to all puppies under one year of age. The land marks must be no more than 40 yards and only pigeons are used. The first land series was a pretty tough test in moderate cover. Three marks were thrown. The second series was a water test. The distance could not exceed 30 yards in water. The birds were thrown from the same side as the pups were running from and every attempt was made to make it a non-bank running test. Even so, the factors of the wingers and unfamiliar water caused confusion in many of the young pups and the class was reduced by half. The third series went to land and only one pup didn’t move on to the last series, also on land. The marks were all straight forward and in light cover.
Seven puppies completed the test with Pocotaligo Shotgun Red, owned and handled by Greg Hendrick, earning the title of Puppy Champion for 2006.
The BSS offers a Chairman’s Cup for the young handler under the age of seventeen who handles the high scoring novice dog. This year the award went to Marian Huggins with her dog, I’m Drake II.
Sunday is set aside for the roustabout. It's a chance for the dogs and handlers to unwind and have some fun hunting some quail. With the temperatures getting up to 80 degrees, it was way too hot for quail hunting but everyone had a great time. The 2006 Roustabout Champion came all the way from Indiana to join in the camaraderie and fun. SHR Brandywines Northern Dixie, owned by Phil and Karen Hinchman and handled by Phil Hinchman, was the top team. The Hinchmans compete in shoot to retrieve tournaments where their boykins excel - so it was no surprise which dog came out on top.
Congratulations to all the competitors and completions!
Complete Results
Puppy Judges: Clay Hasty and Janet Hasty, 27 Entries
JAM'S (Judges Award of Merit)
Novice Judges: Allen Nutal and Allyson Osteen, 56 Entries
JAM'S (Judges Award of Merit)
Completion
Chairman's Cup
Intermediate Judges: Tom McKenzie and Paul Lemmond, 27 Entries
JAM'S (Judges Award of Merit)
Completion
Open Judges: Tracy Stubbs and Bryan Parker, 8 Entries
2006 National Roustabout Champion:
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