Arizona Pointing Dog Club

Arizona Pointing Dog Club News

AZPDC Monthly Meeting: NEW LOCATION!

Marie Callender's (Restaurant and Bakery)
2420 W. Northern Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85021
Located I-17 and Northern (NE CORNER)

AZPDC Nominations

It's that time of year again. AZPDC Members Please Nominate Candidates for Club Board/Officers for next year as well as for our 2009 Trial Season Awards. Please see the club newsletter or click here for the nomination form.

AKC Titles/Events

Congratulations go to Mike George and his dog Dakota who took 1st in the AKC Amateur Gundog and 2nd in the Amateur Limited Gundog stakes in Paulden, AZ at the Northern GSP Club Event. This is a huge accomplishment because this placement completed Dakota’s title. Dakota is now an Amateur Field Champion (AFC) dog!

Way to go, Mike and Dakota!

AFTCA Region 12 Event

Field Trial Clubs of America
(AFTCA) Region 12 Event
October 3-4, 2009
Fall Qualifier

As we had hoped, the American Field Trial we held October 3rd & 4th was a blast. Literally it was a blast... because the Sunday winds just about blew us away. Last year the weather conditions were nearly perfect. All of our sister clubs were present and offered help where needed. I always say these trials are a success when no one gets hurt and we all have fun. And we all did that. We had some new dogs this year and different handlers which made it even more exciting.

Weather: Partly cloudy lows in the mid 40s to highs in the mid 70s. Winds Saturday were 10-20 mph, Sunday Winds steady 30mph with gust in excess of 50 mph.

Location: Butcher knife, AZ. The terrain was high desert mixed with juniper stands on edges of open grasslands. The course was a moderate valley that wrapped around a small mountain. Also within the course was 12-16" grass, edged with 10-12' Pinon pine trees and scattered rock beds.

Event Game: We used Bobwhite Quail from Ron Horn of Saddleback Kennels. Birds were scattered in logical areas of game holding objectives.

Amateur Shooting Dog (Walking)
1st Place - Zeke's Ace of V Schroeder(GSP)/Todd Fielitz
2nd Place - B.B (English Pointer)/Edward Junker
3rd Place - Patch (English Pointer)/Steve Rutkowski

Summary: Eight dogs competed in this stake. Freckles ran a steady race from start to finish never slowing while finding 3 birds. She held tight and showed great manners on all bird work. B.B. started his race slow but showed good ground speed as he warmed up. Although he found birds and handled them his race fell short in comparison the winning dog. Patches started and finished strong, hit all objectives while never slowing but failed to produce a bird.

Amateur Derby (Walking) 1st Place - Senator's Chicken Hawk (English Pointer)/Todd Henderson
2nd Place - Duke (English Pointer)/Tommy Chapa

Summary: Four dogs started this event. This stake showed the ups and downs of Derby class dogs. Some of these dogs didn't show up, but two of them proved their potential to everyone in the gallery. Hawk had an incredible race starting fast, running strong while hitting all course objectives and producing 3 birds. Duke and Tommy Chapa are new to the sport and Duke ran a superb race while requiring lots of handler commands to stay on course. Duke did produce two birds, but could not compare to a flawless run by Todd Henderson's Hawk.

Open Shooting Dog (Walking)
1st Place - Momma's Clown Bubba "Wyatt" (GSP)/Todd Fielitz

Summary: This event started seven dogs. Wyatt started his race very strong and fast, he made several objective casts in his run. He also produced two birds and showed great manners. All other dogs did not get around or produce birds.

Amateur Shooting Dog (Horseback)
1st Place - Traveler (English Pointer)/Jim Schultz
2nd Place - Miller's Delgado Rubio "Rubio" (English Pointer)/Dave Hayes

Summary: Five dogs competed in this stake. This field tested all dogs and handlers. Most of these dogs had great range and was difficult to keep on course while being within sight. Traveler shot out from the start with a booming cast to the far reaches of the course. Traveler never slowed and produced birds throughout this clean run. Rubio nearly duplicated the effort by putting on a strong Shooting Dog run and producing a bird.

Open Derby (Horseback)
1st Place – Broomstick Farms Matilda “Mattie” (English Pointer)/Owners: Rob & Mindy Brow Handled by Sal Satallante
2nd Place – Senator’s Chicken Hawk “Hawk”(English Pointer)/Todd Henderson

Summary: Five dogs competed in this stake. This stake proved to be the most competitive of the weekend. Three of these dogs showed superior abilities and made decisions very difficult for the judges. As difficult as the competition was Mattie proved to be the superior dog on course. She started with a super burst to the far tree line; she never slowed and continued to gain speed and confidence. She found two birds while on course and demonstrated true All-Age potential. Hawk ran a beautiful race without ever slowing, hitting all bird objectives while producing a bird.

Open Shooting Dog (Horseback)
1st Place – Tucalota’s Charley Girl “Charley” (English Pointer)/Owners: Rob & Mindy Brown, Handled by Sal Satallante

Summary: Five dogs competed in this stake. Charley started and finished strong. She had nice casts to far reaching objectives that produced birds. All other starters did not finish.

Open Puppy (Horseback)
1st Place – Senator’s Chicken Hawk “Hawk”(English Pointer)/Todd Henderson
2nd Place – Lindley’s Lucky Lady “Tanna”(English Pointer)/Steve Johnson

Summary: Four dogs competed in this stake. Again Todd Henderson’s young pointer Hawk demonstrated all of the makings of superior Shooting Dog. After running two prior times during the weekend Hawk came out and flat put on a perfect race. Showed no signs of fatigue and slow down. Hawk’s efforts were rewarded with a 1st place finish. Tanna also put up a strong run, making several casts to objectives and maintaining good grounds speed putting her in 2nd place.

What a blast this event was, my only wish was to see more of our club membership participating, these events are part of a long lasting tradition of competition within the pointing breeds. It is necessary for us to continue these traditions of furthering the pedigrees of our hunting dogs. By doing so we not only show local hunting dog owners how well bred our dogs are, but the whole country sees the results and takes witness to what is happening out West. These trial dog winners and Champions offspring end up strengthening the quality of great hunting dogs. With our sister clubs offering to hold walking stakes at their events this year, we all have the chance to qualify our dogs for the Regional Championships in March 2010. So don’t let these opportunities pass.

Ed Rucker, Vice President – Region 12/Trial Chairman (AZPDC Club President)

Vice President

Rescue Me

A couple weeks back I did something I don’t think I’ll ever do again....ever. A friend of mine in the Rio Salado Vizsla Club ask me to do her a favor and take a look at a dog that the owner felt needed to be given up, or “rescued”. I said sure, be happy to take a look. Hell, I’m happy to take a look at just about anything. A doctor friend of mine likes to say “I’m not an Ob/Gyn, but I’ll take a look”. Tsk, tsk. As for me, I wasted four hours the other day looking at Youtube! The first video I looked at was an e-collar training video, the second one (from the related videos they suggest) was some drunk kid shocking himself silly with an e-collar at a party, and then I totally digressed from there. Suffice it to say that there is no better place to see the extremes of humanity than on the internet. It’s like a cage match for the human race: Sublime vs. Ridiculous. The odds are about even in my opinion.

So by the time I get to this girl’s house, my mission had changed from “taking a look” at the dog to actually picking him up. And because I go through most of the day in a work induced fog, the quantum shift of that difference didn’t even really hit me until I rang the doorbell of this perfect stranger, holding the leash that would lead her dog away ...forever. I felt like the dogcatcher at an orphanage. The Grinch that stole Christmas had nothing on me! And when Cindylou Who answered the door with eyes that were as red and puffy as half the guys at a Sunday morning safety meeting, I was genuinely weak at the knees.

The next 45 minutes were just a blur. I do remember a lot of sniffling, blubbering, and nose blowing...and that was just me. She finally gave me a glass of water and a hug and sent me on my way with her dog. Whew! Not fun. Not even a little bit. So if anybody needs a dog “rescued”, please don’t ask me. I think I’d rather let you video me shocking myself with an ecollar.

P.S. She really loved that dog and should be commended for doing the right thing. My parents are now the very, very proud and loving owners of that Vizsla, and that makes him a future TOC winner, now doesn’t it?

The Arizona Pointing dog club is now offering advertising space on the club trailer. The space will be approximately 2 ft x 6 ft. There are different packages to choose from and club members will receive a discount. For more details please contact Jack Mitchell @ 602-938-5271 This will be a good opportunity to check out his facilities.