We spent Labor Day Weekend with the Chesapeake Nation (or rather the Chesapeake World) in Raleigh, North Carolina for the American Chesapeake Club's annual National Specialty Show. Chesapeake breeders and owners from around the country look forward to this yearly event with great anticipation as we get to see so many Chesapeakes in one place competing in dock diving, agility, obedience and rally, conformation, and the field. And Chesapeake fanciers from around the world also attend each year. Friends from Germany, Greece, and the UK joined us for the fun this year.
We travelled to North Carolina with our local Maryland friend, Amy, and our friend Maria who'd travelled from Greece to see the show for the first time. On board were Amy's Poppy, our Gudgeon, and our homebred boy, Brutus, who we co-bred with Jane Pappler of Redlion Kennels and who's owned by our friend Richard Schauber.
Gudgeon and I had been working for over a year to train for obedience and rally obedience competition and this show in Raleigh was her debut in the obedience ring. We entered Rally Novice and Beginner Novice and were thrilled to earn qualifying scores in both and 4th place in her Rally class. In conformation, Gudgeon was entered in the Bred-by Exhibitor class where the handler must be the breeder and owner of the dog. It is a place for breeders to showcase their best dogs who are not yet champions and for this reason, it is often a very competitive class. For the second year in a row, Gudgeon placed 2nd place in the Bred-by class. To receive a placement in this class at your National is a huge honor and it means a great deal to us. Gudgeon was also asked to enter the ring with her father, BISS GCH Chestnut Hills Windjammer SH WDX "Jessie," for the Stud Dog class. In this class, the offspring of the stud dog are evaluated to assess the stud dog's ability to produce quality offspring. We were honored to be asked by Karen and Ron Anderson for Gudgeon to represent her father. Gudgeon appeared in this class with half-brother, Brody, bred by Robyn Haskin and owned by friends Jill and Rob Conroy. Out of 10 stud dogs in the Stud Dog class, Gudgeon's father was awarded first place and we were thrilled to play a part in that.
Gudgeon and I in our Beginner Novice Class. Photo Credit: Maria Kapsali.
We started our week off by attending the American Chesapeake Club's first ever Dock Diving competition. As you can imagine, Chesapeakes tend to excel at this sport. I've never competed in Dock Diving before, but decided to let Brutus have a go at it. He's no stranger to jumping off high banks when hunting, so surely he could jump off a dock, right? Though I never suspected that I would get so excited to see one of my dogs jump off the dock, Brutus' enthusiasm for the task made my heart pound. He finished the day with two qualifying Senior jumps of 15'6 and 17'6. I guess now, we'll have to get him out to finish that title.
I adore the look on Brutus' face as he jumps. Expert throwing by Maria Kapsali. Photo Credit: Diane Lewis Photography.
Long ago, when I was planning to attend my first Chesapeake National, a friend advised me to enter my dog so that I would be a full participant in the event rather than just a spectator. Remembering that good advise led me to invite our Greek friend Maria to show Brutus for us at the National. Maria has shown her own dogs in addition to helping out our friend in the UK by showing Arnac Chesapeakes from time to time and she is a talented handler. I knew Brutus would be in good hands and I knew it would mean the world to Maria to show a dog at an American Chesapeake Club National. Brutus was entered in the Hunting Dog Class. He's eligible to enter this class by virtue of holding an AKC Senior Hunt title. Breeders and owners choose to enter their dogs in this class because they want the judge to know that the dog is a working retriever, not just a show dog. As a club, we should all be very proud that this year, we had a very large Hunting Dog class of 12 dogs. All the dogs in the class also hold show championship titles and 7 of them hold Grand Championship titles as well. Brutus is a multiple group winning senior hunter with a Grand Champion title. Maria showed him so skillfully as I sat ringside and watched someone else handle him for the first time. I watched this new pair with great pride. They were awarded first place in this competitive Hunting Dog class which enabled them to return to the ring on Sunday to compete for Best of Breed as the Hunting Dog. We all would have been over the moon if it had stopped there, but it didn't. The next day was a nail-biting experience as the judge made cut after cut and Maria and Brutus remained in the ring...always looking their best. The judge cut the male dogs down to only six and at this point we knew it was likely we would go home with a major award. In the end, Brutus was awarded Select Dog (2nd best male) out of ~200 entries. I'm so grateful to Maria for presenting him so beautifully and giving me the chance to watch it all unfold from the sidelines.
Judge Lisa Warren, Handler Maria Kapsali, me, and Show Chair George Makatura.
I left this trip so proud of these two dogs who were born into my hands. I'm proud of their amazing temperaments, their working abilities, their beauty, and their hearts. I had a wonderful time at this event as all of my friends and I shared our dogs with each other. There was a great atmosphere where we all wished for and celebrated each other's successes. Such good times with a great group of people. Until next July in Ohio....