Cane

[Wagonmaster]

If Hank Lewis is around, I want to congratulate him for the fine showing his dog
Cane has made in the NGSPA DOY Standings. I think we better retire Spot, there
appears to be another great one coming along. For that matter, there appear to
have been quite a few dogs doing a good job in AA this year. Things are
tightening up. Should be fun to watch the next few years.

[Hi-N-Kennels]

Thanks John.

It is quite an honor getting a kudos from 2x NGSPA Ch & AA DOTY. Kane was very consistent this past year w/ 21 points total AA /ASD. The AA was a good race. ASD was a surprise because most of the year we were chasing Spot. Congrats.

Hank Lewis

[Wagonmaster]

Credit where credit is due. I have seen Wasserman's dogs do it, Paddock's, Richardson's, I see Killams coming on, heck even Messer gets lucky now and then, just don't tell him I said so. Accumulating the kind of points Cane did this year is alot harder than people understand, especially in AA. Most years 13 points would walk away with it. Yes, I did notice so did everyone else.

I am a big believer in the rule that a rising tide floats all boats. I like to see that there are other dogs on the field that can really do it, and that the quality is really good all the way around. No cheap wins that way. Makes me think its a pretty good breed of bird dogs we are involved in.

[lvrgsp]

I am a big believer in the rule that a rising tide floats all boats. I like to see that there are other dogs on the field that can really do it, and that the quality is really good all the way around. No cheap wins that way. Makes me think its a pretty good breed of bird dogs we are involved in.

Congrats guys very deserving with all the time and work put in.......That quote right there Mr. Lunseth might be one of if not the best I have seen in a long time, and very true....

Chip

And yes I have gotten the lecture on calling you Mr. Lunseth before.....

[Hotpepper]

I just call him John.

He is very correct, there are some very nice dogs and Cane mother also produced J R for those who do not know it. Dr. Reynolds also has a very nice bitch named Ruby that is a littermate to Cane.

Jerry

Comgratsulations to Spot and Cane

[Hi-N-Kennels]

You guys are right, this is a great sport we are involved in. Great dogs, great people & great venues. I really enjoy the tome on a horse watching great dogs.

Hank

[remmy]

Hank, congrats on the ASD DOY award and all of the AA placements achieved. He seems to be getting better with age.

Rob

[Hi-N-Kennels]

What about Bell, OSD of the year!!!!!! WAY COOOOOOL!!! congrats to you in Matt. Can you PM Matt's # to me.

Congrats!!!!

Hank

[remmy]

Thanks! She had heck of a year! pm sent.

[Hi-N-Kennels]

Thanks. Again Congrats to all.


Hank

[Hotpepper]

3 really nice dogs involved with 3 great owners, congrats to all

Jerry

way to go Bell

[remmy]

Thanks Jerry. Almost forgot...congrats to John, Spot and Eldon!

[Joe Amatulli]

I don’t think that people truly understand how difficult it is to win dog of the year and what it means. Although Selina won 33 championships she was only dog of the year once that should tell you how dough it is to win and how great an honor it is. Unfortunately for years the NGSPA really down played the award, every time I look at the cheap plack on the wall and how the winners were treaded back then, you just wonder was it worth the hard work and expense that goes into winning such a great honor. Even if the other members of the board didn’t think so I still believe it was her greatest achievement. CONGRATULATION gentleman I’ve seen all 3 dogs a number of times and they are all well deserving of that great honor.

[SFK]

Grats guys! Nice job!

[Wagonmaster]

I wish someone had been keeping track of the Championships over the years. It is alot of work to reassemble the numbers at this stage. To the best of our knowledge Selena's 33 Championships are the most ever by a dog. We think Spot's 24 total points (ASD, OSD and AA) in 2007 were the most be a dog in a single year, but really have no way of knowing. We are pretty sure his 16 pts. to win the AA DOY this year are the most points in that category by a single dog in one year. But we really don't know for sure. That is just everyone's recent memory.

Back to Kane, for a dog to win 13 AA points without having won the NC (which is worth 7) is a really great accomplishment. The only dog I can think of that has done anything like that is Keith Richardson's Penny. She won the AA DOY in 2007 with 14, another great accomplishment (and she did it without a placement in the National that year) .

To respond to Joe's comments, there has been a real effort in the past four years to track the Championships and the leaders in the DOY categories. We did it on the Posse for a couple of years, and now Arlene Walker keeps the points pretty much up to date on the Chronicle. So there is a little bit of a race each year to see who is going to win, and that has raised the interest in the award. As Joe says, it is no small thing for a dog to win it. It takes a very good dog to win one Championship, let alone to dominate the way Kane did this year.

The Handler of the Year points are also being posted during the year now, which has raised interest in that points race.

Its a good breed. Really nice dogs. Pleased to be able to go to the same trials as you all.

[Joe Amatulli]

John I maybe wrong, but I don’t think 24 total points by a dog in all stakes is a record I kind of remember Kevin's Lucy having close to 30 points one year, Messer’s Chloe I am sure was in that area (24 total points) and I'm pretty sure the year that Selina was amateur DOY she may have been in that area also, but I could be wrong and for sure no one dog has accumulated that may points in one category.

[Joe Amatulli]

John just did a little bit of research (old catalogs) and you my be right it doesn’t look like Chloe ever reached 20, Lucy I believe was in the low 20’s, Selina had 29, but 8 of those points were for the All Breed. Congratulation!

[Ricky Ticky Shorthairs]

Very nice dog Hank, Congratulations !!!

Doug

[Wagonmaster]

Yeah nobody really knows I guess. The only way to do it would be to go to the American Field and look up all the trials, but I tried that and it took a day just to get through the R2.

[Joe Amatulli]

The NGSPA hasn’t been around that long in comparison to American Field, but there are still a lot of trials to decipher. I’ll bet you though that if you limited it to the top 10 or 25 of all time and simply asked for a response from the public you would get it done. You guys have young dogs that are out there winning now and I am sure that they could get into that top of all time and I would think that most people that have had or presently have winning dogs would like to know how they stack up with dogs that may not be as well known. I think that maybe something that the NGSPA board should address. It has always been my feeling that we do not honor our people or our dogs, lets fix that insult to the breed. John I recall a thread on Selina and you writing “something for all of us to shoot for” well!

[Hi-N-Kennels]

Doug & Joe

Thanks for the kind words. I love this sport. John we will try to get Nat Ch. this next year

Hank

[Wagonmaster]

Unfortunately its not something the Board can fix. The data has not been collected and we would pretty much need to go back to square one and do it. It would take volunteer work from alot of people, going either to the AF in Chicago or the Bird Dog Museum in TN, where there are complete collections of the Field, and coming up with the data. There weren't computers and databases when all this started in the 40's and 50's.

I haven't forgotten that thread. Selina's record still stands and gives us all something to shoot for.

And Hank, we will see you at Booneville.

[Blue Dawn Kennel]

Congrats guys and dogs haven't been on here or even looked in a while!! Way to go and see most of ya in Booneville in 2010.

[Wagonmaster]

Are you and Keith coming to the NGSPA this year Robbi? Would be great to see you there again. Tell Nancy I will bring some honey roasted peanuts. She will understand.