2/17/2012 I have been pretty busy with the Valentine gang this last year. We got 5 Junior Hunter titles and a Senior pass for Jax and one for Fiona. Swede got 3 Derby JAMs, Amos got one, and Rocky finally got one at my last trial down in Lost Hills, California. Like I said, I've been busy. A month down in Cali was not really what I was expecting, but it was a great experience for the kids and a lot of fun.

The kids are looking good and feeling good and I plan to run them in more Senior hunters and Qualifyings this year. I am also looking into getting a few of them to some shows this year. They're just too good looking not to!! :)

And now on to some new pictures. I have left the old ones up for posterity so please be patient for the page to load. Unfortunately Swede was not here for pics. He's still at home in Alaska with his owners, but I hope to see him back soon.

The 2012 Birthday pic. (L to R) Sharon, Fiona, Georgia, John Prebbanow, Mary, Larry Ford, Rocky, Gary Ratzlaff, and Amos.

Georgia Peach MH (2012)

Sunshine Feisty Fiona JH

Sunshine Mary Queen of Snots. I love her little sneer in this pic.

Larry and Rocky (Rocky says "Ain't I cute?!?")

Gary and Amos

2/16/2011 The new year brings more training and a birthday for the Valentine Gang.  Here are a few pics. Some of the kids are very photogenic while others were a little apprehensive about the camera.

The Valentine Gang (L to R) Amos, Gary Ratzlaff, Swede, Larry Ford, Rocky, Jax, Steve, Mary, Georgia, Fiona, Sharon, and Deja

Amos and Gary Ratzlaff

Steve and Mary Queen of Snots

Rocky and Larry Ford

Captain Swede owned by Ole Girard

Chesqua's Deja Vu owned by Randy Twist

Those are the Georgia Nate pups. Here are the rest currently in training

Sunshine Sally Forth and his offspring, Sunshine Feisty Fiona (owned by Rob) and Jax (owned by Randy Twist)

Rob, his boy Howitzer and his baby Fiona. (I figured I should get my picture in here somewhere, lol.) Howie is Sally's brother and my hunting buddy/house dog.

Sunshine Yorktown SH aka Carrier, brother of Sally and Howie

Sunshine Hello Josephine JH

10/28/10 So we went to the American Chesapeake Club Specialty in Chiloquin Oregon this year and we took 4 pups out of the Georgia litter and Rob's pup that we kept from a Sally breeding as stud fee. They were all 7 months old at the time. We had Captain Swede owned by Ole Girard, Sunshine On The Rockies owned by Larry Ford, Chesqua's Deja Vu owned by Randy Twist, and Sunshine Mary Queen of Snots owned by Steve. Rob's pup is Sunshine Feisty Fiona. We started calling them the "Valentine Gang." They were all little troopers while traveling and had a great time on some of the fantastic training grounds owned by John and Carol Knapp. Another littermate was also there. Rikishi aka Sumo owned and handled by Cindy Huff. In all there were 5 pups from the Georgia litter entered in the competition.

The puppy stake was late in starting on Wednesday, but when it finally did start, all the pups did really well.  Rocky nailed the land marks in the Junior puppy and Fiona had the best land marks in the Senior.  Deja is probably the one I was most proud of overall. She had only been with me (Rob) for 2 weeks before we took off for the trial.  She was having trouble with remote guns and needed help frequently.  At the trial she was very excited and ran out to find the birds even though she wasn't sure how.  She gave a big effort and I was very happy about that. 

The water marks didn't actually take place until Thursday morning because one of the judges wasn't feeling well.  Everyone but Mary did exceptional on the water marks.  All the girls were having water issues prior to this.  I was concerned that none of the girls would get in the water, but Mary was beyond reluctant.  I ended up retrieving 2 of her birds in the very chilly morning water. Yay . . . Anyway, the boys dove right in and had no problems at all. Deja needed coaxing on her first water mark, but after that she was really excited and performed beautifully.  I actually cheered and jumped up and down when she completed the rest of her water marks. Fiona surprised me by getting in the water right off the bat also.  She was excited to the point that I thought her head would explode and it almost did.  On her return with the last bird, she decided it was time to party and stopped to try and eat the bird.  Luckily, I got her back to line and the bird delivered before any real damage was done.

So then we waited for the places.  It was worth it.  The places for the Junior puppy were:

Rocky 1st

Swede 2nd

Fiona 4th

Rikishi (Sumo) Reserve JAM

Deja JAM

Mary JAM

The places for the Senior puppy were: 

Fiona 1st and the Chew Bacca Memorial Trophy

Rocky Reserve JAM

Swede JAM

Deja JAM

Mary JAM

The other Senior places went to dogs older than the "Valentine Gang".  Tom Cox's dog Ally, a half sister to the Georgia pups, was only a week away from being a year old. Fiona really came from behind to take first in the Senior.  She was training so poorly we considered not bringing her. I'm glad we didn't leave her home. :)

We had a great time and we're very proud of our little road warriors. You can see pictures at the American Chesapeake Club website for the Specialty found here.  Jane Pappler was kind enough to take some very flattering pictures of the winners and placements. Just click on the Junior and Senior Puppy links at the bottom of the ACC page.