Run Pirate Run   —    September 03, 1993 to March 29, 2010

     Pirate hunted tirelessly for most of her nearly 17 very full years of life.  She left behind a legacy of talented puppies and descendants. Pirate was whelped in West Virginia by Frank Jezioro and was raised in Virginia.  Although we never entered Pirate in field trials, she did win an Orvis photo contest at 5 years old!  At 6 years she suffered a horrible accident that the specialists at Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital were sure would eliminate any chance of breeding her in the future.  However, only eight months later we bred her successfully to Coveyrun's Russian Tsar and were grateful that she was able to carry on her wonderful line of Mid-Atlantic and Appalachian Setters.  Although she only whelped a single litter, Pirate was an excellent mother and an even better grandmother as she assisted Bonne with the cleaning and care of her pups.  A diligent protector, Pirate never let her guard down when children were in the house.

     Pirate continued as a smart and successful hunter for another eight years after her surgery.  However, her hearing and eyesight were sufficiently compromised by about 14 years that we could only hunt her with very close supervision, or else she might just keep hunting with no concern of how to get back to her humans.  Even at the end, Pirate would hold rock-solid point, except for the quivering in her hind legs from her continuing excitement at finding a bird.  Among our family, Pirate was survived by her daughter Pirate's Bonne Run, and her granddaughter Bonne's Shadey Run. 

 

 

Tango  —  1994 to July 10, 2009

     Tango was one of a kind!  It is hard to know how or where he came by his skills and his personality.  We rescued Tango from the animal shelter in early 2000 where the vet had estimated his age at 6 years.  He came to us as an instinctive predator, much less selective than the other English Setters we've known.  He was just as happy finding varmints as he was finding birds.  Squirrels were a great delight, but porcupines and skunks would do in a pinch.  He loved snow, mud, sand, and the shade beneath a tree.

     Tango was a stickler for rules.  Whenever another dog engaged in an "improper behavior" Tango would let the dog know of his disapproval, and would alert his humans to correct the errant dog.  And he was so soft around puppies; we still have a mental image of Tango jumping up on the dog couch and barking to keep toddler puppies from getting any closer to him. 

     Tango lived a wonderful life, certainly for the near 10 years he shared with us.  He was a great pleasure to be around and we miss him, but know that he has ended up in a place where porcupines don't have needles, skunks smell like pot roast, and a new bone lies around every corner.