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Whelped on March 25, 2009, Bang is a Reese x Hootie (MACH OTCH High Times What a Hoot *** MH UDX12) kid. She has been a great puppy. We are training for hunt test/field trials and obedience. She is very bidable and has lots of energy and drive and is cute as a button.
One of my goals for Bang is to get a Master Hunter title and maybe do some Derbys. Because I have only enough knowledge for field training to be dangerous, I have decided to send Bang to John & Nancy Miner of Miners Kennels (Breeder of Hootie, Bang's sire) for field training. One of the hardest things to do is to send my cute little girl away. She stayed with Miners for 2 months after she turned 6 months old and came home the end of December 2009. Then we went to Texas for a week to train with John and Nancy in February 2010. She is back with them from the middle of April to the middle of July 2010. I have made the trip to go see Bang every 4 weeks while she is gone. I think its the only way I have been able to make it. The last visit was June 19th and Bang is doing very well. Her training is going great and she is developing into a beautiful girl. I can hardly wait until July 18th when she will be coming home with me. The plan is for Bang and I to make the trip to Miner's once a month for a private lesson and for Bang to go on the Texas trip, if money allows, and I will go to Texas for a week to train while she is there.
Wow, its hard to believe it but Bang is old enough to do hunt tests!
9-17-10 At the Northwest Missouri Retriever Club Hunt Test held at the beautiful Smithville Lake grounds Bang earned her first ribbon. An orange, I completed the junior test successfully ribbon. All went well, but the last retrieve was story worthy! And here is the story;
We had made it to water, the first water retrieve was a straight forward 80-85 yard swim to pick up the duck and come back to mama. The second and last retrieve was in the middle of a bunch of lily pads. After the duck hit the water and made a splash I couldn't even see where it was. So, I sent Bang in the direction of the splash. She swam out and got tangled in the lily pads and did a 360 to get out of them which is when she lost her mark. She got up on shore and hunted around, got back in the water then back on shore. She started to head back to the old fall and I made sure that was what she was doing and I gave her a whistle sit, which she did very well (thank you John & Nancy Miner). I gave her an over cast to get her back in the area of the duck. Mind you I couldn't see where exactly the duck was. I was just hoping and praying that she would be able to see it or get a good nose full of it once I got her over there. So she swam back into the lily pads (what a good girl!) and picked up what appeared to be a couple of lily pads and started swimming back to me. There was talk at the line like: The judge said, She wouldn't bring lily pads back would she? Which I answered, I honestly don't know! Then there was a lot of does she have it? by not only myself but the judge and the gallery. At one point I asked the gallery if they could see if she had the duck. The judge was standing right behind me and told me to stop her when she got close so that if I couldn't see the duck I could give her a back cast to get her back out there. I walked up and down the bank but no matter what vantage point I tried to gain there was only green in her mouth. When she got to about 10 feet in front of me I could see one single feather sticking out of this lily pad duck buritto that she was bringing me. She got out and delivered the bird and lily pads and everyone that was there cheered and clapped. I was so proud of my girl! Not only did she bring me the duck but she gift wrapped it too!
10-30-10 At Central Kentucky Retriever Club Hunt Test Bang earned her JH title! I ran her at the Bootheel test the weekend before and she pinned her marks both days. What a good girl! So we went to Kentucky and I was just hoping she would pass on Saturday so I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel room Saturday night, since that would make 4 passes. Not only did she pass but she did it in style with all 10's on both judges score sheets! What a great weekend!
9-4-11 Bang earned her first Senior pass at the KCRC hunt test. We started on water. The double memory bird was across the pond on land from right to left about 80 yards and the go bird was a right to left splash bird about 40 yards. Seems like a pretty easy test until you see the pond. for the memory mark the dogs had to swim past a stump that was slightly off line (which almost all of them checked out) that threw them up onto a small mud island then back into the water and between 2 islands. The island on the left had stumps behind it and the island on the right had a penninsula behind it. Just to the right of the penninsula was the BB in hide with the bucket of dead ducks. There was about a 15-20 mph cross wind blowing from right to left so if they got up on the penninsula they got a good wiff of the ducks at the station. I think everyone but about 3 or 4 dogs handled on that mark and we were no exception. But she did bring back both of the birds after many whistles. She sat on all of them but I had just let her get to far out of the area before I started to handle her. (note to self) The water blind was across the pond passing an island to the right about 10 yards from shore and then an island to the left of the line about 10 yards in from the other shore. The bird was about 20 yards up the hill from the waters edge. After the nasty handle on the mark Bang popped on me when she got to the first island but after she got past that she did really good, 3 whistles. On land the memory bird was again short, about 40 yards and tucked right up next to a small pond. The go bird was a shot flyer about 100 yards from left to right. We had changed locations so that the cross wind was now blowing from left to right. There was a hot blind about 30 yards from where the memory bird landed across the small pond to the left of the memory bird (with a left to right cross wind). Bang did really well on her marks and did the blind with 3 whistles. The only low score she had was a 5 on the mark that we handled on. All in all a good job. She is an amazing little girl! Oh, did I say I love her!
11-6-11 Bang finished her Senior title at the Golden Retriever Club of Greater St. Louis Club hunt test. It was very special to finish her title at home surrounded by friends.
3-25-12 Bang is 3 today! For her birthday she got her first Master Ribbon! Very first master test she has ever run. This girl always amazes me. After the ribbons were handed out we ran into the judges, who professed to be lab people, and they told me what an awesome dog she is.
5-6-12 Bang earns her second Master ribbon at GRCI spring hunt test in Wilminton, IL.
5-27-12 Bang earned her third Master pass at the KCRC hunt test in Centerville, MO. This one was extra special to me since it was the first time I handled her (or any dog) in a master test!
9-9-12 Bang earned her CCA and 4th Master Pass at the 2012 GRCA National Specialty.
9-30-12 Bang earned her Master Title at the Skunk River Hunting Retriever Club hunt test!
3-29-14 Bang earned her CD obedience title with a 198-1/2 & winning a 3 dog runoff for second place. Then on the next day she earned her first CDX leg with a 192 & third place! She is truly an amazing girl.
Picture from the 2012 GRCA National Specialty
Taken September 2012
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