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Shady was whelped January 22,
2006; out of NSTRA Ch. Pirate's Bonne Run (Dam) and 4xNSTRA Ch. Tomoka's Mendy
Shades (Sire). Shady seems to have inherited many traits from
Bonne including her agility, tenacity, and spirit. From Shades,
she has acquired excellent speed and range. Shady's nose is
also exceptional, leading us to agree with the adage that the
whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Shady
experienced her first hunting season beginning at 9-months of
age. Her enthusiasm and success have led us to believe that
January is the perfect time to whelp a litter. Shady found a
lot of birds her first season, but we consider that she
officially entered into the world of bona fide hunting
companions on a trip to hunt chukar in southwest Oregon;
rock-solid finds, scaling cliffs for retrieves, and keeping pace
with the experienced dogs. In addition to several trips for
chukar, Shady's first year included quail in Arizona and
southwest Idaho, and chucker and pheasant in northern Idaho.
During fall
of 2007, Shady won three amateur trials, and was entered into a
few trials in spring of 2008. In fall of 2008 she placed 4 times
in three weekends of open trials. And, when hunting season
began, Shady really came alive with tenacity and intensity.
Shady began
the 2008-2009 NSTRA season as a two-year old, and competed in
her first season in the open class at 31/2 . Her
performance was wonderful, qualifying for Regional trials not
only in the Northwest, but also in the Big Sky and Northern
California-Nevada regions. In all, Shady earned 21 points
during the season, earning herself a tie for 34th on the
national list of high performance dogs.
Her hunting
in fall of 2009 was spectacular. She was so solid on her wild
birds that we anticipated another terrific trial season. As it
turned out, Shady benefitted from some regular "coaching" and
work on the “whoa barrel” through the summer. We have been
especially pleased with how she has steadied up on released
birds. Shady’s work certainly paid off in 2010, as she is now
as steady (and every bit a pretty) as are any of the boys.
We bred Shady for
the first time to Chap’s Jet Setter in February, 2011. We spent
a lot of time considering the qualities and blood lines of the
sire that would be a promising match with Shady, and we believe
we found it. Unfortunately, Shady had a serious
complication from a grass seed in her ear, rupturing the eardrum
and, we thought, causing the loss of the litter. We bred
Shady again in 2012 to our own Tygh, but she again became very
ill. After numerous emergency visits to the WSU Veterinary
teaching hospital, numerous blood tests and and dozens of pathology
reports, we learned that the parasite Toxoplasmosis was
responsible for nearly ending Shady's life, and likely both of
her litters.
The good news; Shady has completely recovered. And, even
though Shady only competed in about six braces between fall
2010 and summer 1012, one 4th place finish made her eligible to
be drawn for the North West Regional Championship trial in May,
2012, provided that there were an uneven number of dogs eligible
with 3rd place or higher finishes. Shady did get drawn,
and had a remarkable weekend. She finished 2nd in the
elimination trial on Saturday, and on Sunday she completed her
NSTRA Championship by finishing as the North West Region NSTRA
2012 RU Champion. Great work for Shady and for her
handler, Nance.
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