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Obedience

2011 OBEDIENCE SPRINGER OF THE YEAR
CH OTCH MACH POLESITTER’S DANICA DAZZLES UDX4 OM7 VER RE OF
Dani
Owned by Kimberly Berkley & Mike Bockhorn

I am thrilled to receive this award on Dani’s behalf. When Dani’s breeder, Mike Bockhorn, gave me this amazing girl, I knew we were in for a ride and could only wonder how high she might fly. In August 2011, I got my answer, when Dani became the youngest dog in AKC history to earn her breed, obedience, and agility championships. She notched this stunning achievement at the age of 2 years , 7 months. At that point, with CH OTCH MACH Dani at my side, I knew the sky truly was the limit.

Dani was born on January 12, 2009. By March 2010, she had her breed championship, and just eight months later, at the tender age of 22 months, she earned her OTCH. She rounded out her trio of championships by completing her MACH in August 2011.

Dani never slows down. Even after polishing off her OTCH in 2010, she went on to earn 129 OTCH points in 2011. She’s won seven High in Trial and eight High Combined awards, all of them at all-breed trials.

Dani comes from a very competitive family. At the 2011 National Obedience Invitational, she competed against her older brother, my OTCH MACH Labrador Retriever, Huntleigh. I was enormously proud of both dogs. They each qualified in every single exercise during the grueling two-day competition. Dani finished 12th (out of 129 dogs), just two points behind Huntleigh, who landed in 11th place. Dani and Huntleigh were the top-scoring dogs of their breed, and the only two dogs with the same handler to finish near the top.

Dani truly is an exceptional Springer.

Stats: 395.5 out of 400

Photo by Pix 'n Pages


2011 UTILITY SPRINGER OF THE YEAR
CH OTCH MACH POLESITTER’S DANICA DAZZLES UDX4 OM7 VER RE OF
Dani
Owned by Kimberly Berkley & Mike Bockhorn

Everywhere I go, people are taken by Dani’s beauty and her wonderful attitude. To my mind, there’s no higher compliment in the world than being told, “Your dogs look so happy in the ring.” Dani loves to work, and Utility is her favorite class.

Dani comes from a rather amazing breeder, Mike Bockhorn. Mike’s dogs excel in the breed, obedience, and agility rings. Dani’s littermate, Polesitter’s Brickyard, the 2011 Open Springer of the Year, finished his OTCH earlier this year and is well on his way to his master agility titles. Dani and Brick’s dam, Polesitter’s Victory Party, also produced Dani’s little brother, AJ, who may well outshine them all. At 16 months of age, AJ has his breed championship and shows stunning promise in the obedience ring. He finished his Versatility obedience title this past March, beating out two OTCH dogs in the process.

After becoming the youngest CH OTCH MACH dog ever, Dani received a wonderful write-up in Clean Run, where she was dubbed “The AKC’s Youngest Triple Threat.” To read the article, go to http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.display&feature_id=201

We’ve recently started work in Hunting and Tracking, and Dani shows great aptitude there as well.

Stats: 197.83 out of 200

Photo by PupArt


2011 OPEN SPRINGER OF THE YEAR
POLESITTER’S BRICKYARD UD OM1 RE AX AXJ
Brick
Owned by Michael Bockhorn & Benjamin Custer

It is an honor for Brick to be named the Open Obedience Springer of the Year for 2011. Brick is my first Obedience dog and was named the 2010 Novice A Springer of the Year. I never dreamt that I would have an obedience dog at this level, until I met Kim Berkely who has given me unending support and guidance to train this wonderful breed that we all adore. I started training Brick to try to get his CD, and we both enjoyed it so much that we continued to train and he has since earned his OTCH in exactly 1 year to the day from his first UD leg. I have met many wonderful and supportive friends along the way.

Obedience has given me a new appreciation for the breed that I do not believe a lot of people recognize. I always knew that Springer’s were a wonderful breed, but I never fully realized how fabulous they are until recently. Mornings used to be my worst enemy, until we started training. I now wake up at 6 a.m. and cannot wait to watch Brick spin in circles to get into the car so that we can go train. Looking back it does not seem that I have trained that much, because we both thoroughly enjoy it. I would never replace the hours that we have spent together.

Brick earned the Open Springer of the Year by acquiring the scores of 199.5, 199.5 & 199. I would like to thank the Parent Club for this award. I would also like to congratulate Brick’s littermates Dani for winning the 2011 Obedience Springer of the Year and Utility Springer of the Year and Tally who won the 2011 Agility Springer of the Year. This has been a breeder’s dream, but most importantly it is just me and my boy having fun.

Stats: 199.33 out of 200

Photo by Kevin Divine Photo


2011 NOVICE SPRINGER OF THE YEAR
BIRCHROSE’S ROCKET MAN CD
Gunner
Owned by Shannon Shepherd

I knew my requirements when I was searching for a new competition dog in 2008. The dog needed to be high energy, food or toy driven, and have a natural desire to please…I wasn’t worried about drive, since I could add that, but the basics had to be there.

Gunner has proven to be everything I wanted (and more) in a competition obedience dog. He debuted in Novice in August of 2011 and quickly gathered 6 High in Trial awards with impressive scores out of the Novice B class. My goal is to have a happy, animated dog in the ring, regardless of the scores we earn, but Gunner is proving you can have both. He is a gorgeous dog to watch work and I am very proud to have him as a partner in the ring.

Gunner is the only dog I have had who demands to be worked multiple times per day. Retrieving, jumping, heeling or precision work, it does not matter to him, as long as he is having fun and has a chance to earn a few cookies. Watch his tail wag or hear a happy little bark that escapes once and awhile, and you can see how much he loves this sport.

We will be headed into the Open (and possibly Utility) ring this year and I am looking forward to a long, successful career with my boy. Thank you to Birchwood and Birchrose Kennels for breeding such a fabulous dog and entrusting me with him. And, a sincere thank you to the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association for recognizing the hard work of all the obedience exhibitors.

Stats: 199.17 out of 200

Photo by Pix 'n Pages


2011 NOVICE A SPRINGER OF THE YEAR
RAMBLEWOOD EVERYDAY BUDDY CD RE
Buddy
Owned by Vickie McMaken & Richard McMaken

Buddy was born October 28th 2009 at Ramblewood English Springer Spaniels Breeder-Theresa E Miller and Linda Riedel. We brought Buddy home December 29th, 2009. We were so excited to start the new year of 2010. When Buddy was old enough, we started going to Dog socials and then started him in the class AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy Program. He loved it and it gave us a good start to continue on with more classes CGC. Then we decided to start going to the AKC Dog Shows. Wow! We have met a lot of people and made lots of friends. We have learned very much, but have yet to learn more. Buddy has taken another class. It is called T.D.I. Therapy Dogs International. He is now working at Rosemont MANOR Yelm W. The staff welcomes Buddy with open arms every day that he is there. Buddy loves working with the residents that live there. We are learning how to love, give, and share. Buddy is a wonderful dog and he has fulfilled our lives in every way. We sure do love him and he loves to go to the ocean, Company, and fishery. What a great dog and best friend. Vickie and Rich McMaken

Stats: 190.0 out of 200

Photo by Callea Photo


2011 RALLY SPRINGER OF THE YEAR
MIRATRI HILLCREST TAR-TANYA UD RAE OA NAJ
Tanya
Owned by Mirabelle Wrist

TANYA had a memorable year in 2011. On March 19th she finished her UD title, eleven days before she whelped her fourth litter of six beautiful puppies. Her first two litters were sired by my OTCH MIRATRI TARTAN PETE UDX2 RAE MX MXJ AJP OF. Her other litters were sired by Woody & Kathy Pierce’s HILLSLIK BLACKJACK CD RE OAP OJP.

Many of her 28 offspring have a variety of performance titles already, some earned multi-titlist awards during 2011!

TANYA returned to showing in the Rally ring in July in the quest for her RAE title. After seven perfect scores and others in the top 90s, she finished the RAE title in October at Lakeland, Florida. Hence her title of RALLY SPRINGER OF THE YEAR.

I am extremely grateful to Henriette Schmidt, Bridget Melchert and Mindy Mymudes for letting me have such a lovely talented dog. TANYA inherits the trainability of her sire, Henriette’s Colours and her grandmother, Mindy’s Charm.

In 2007, my OTCH MIRATRI TAR-TANGO UDX5 RAE MX AXP AXJ AJP was the first Rally Springer of the Year.

Thank you ESSFTA! MIRABELLE WRIST

Stats: 199.33 out of 200

Photo by Pix 'n Page