Coco named Runner Up Champion at Southern New England Woodcock Championship!

Got the call from Robert Ecker yesterday that Fricke N Coco was RU at this trial after a 4 woodcock find and 1 back performance along with a strong hour on the ground. Named Champion was Chasehill's Little Bud who was over 30 CH/RU combined,  and a tough dog to beat in his back yard. I was thrilled to hear the news, this is her second title in as many months after winning a US Complete Championship in North Carolina last month.

Coco gets 2nd in Sandland Field Trial in North Carolina

Coco followed up her Championship win last week with a nice 2nd place finish in the Sandland Field Trial last weekend in North Carolina with a strong field of 34 shooting dogs. I think Robert said it depended on weather so it might be a little while before the next trial, most likely in early March somewhere. We are in the lull of winter here in Michigan hoping spring speeds its way up.

Fricke N Coco wins US Complete Southeast Regional Championship

Got the word the other day that Coco won her first Championship with 4 finds and a back, along with a nice forward race. A big thanks to Robert Ecker for carrying on with her after my free time has sort of shriveled up with the kids, and also the judges for the time in the saddle and giving her the look. We are  thrilled to finally have it all come together for her, as she has been so close so many times in the last couple years.

4 in a row

Last weekend Fricke N Coco landed in the top spot getting 1st place at the Mohegan Field Trial Club. Robert Ecker ran her as she is with him for the fall, and he said she did an awesome job and tallied 3 woodcock finds in her half hour at Dave Murphy's farm in PA. This ties a record for Robert, he told me 4 is the most times he has placed a dog in a row, so hopefully she can carry the momentum. Next they are planning on heading to the Arcadia FTC in Rhode Island, then to Maine for the Northeastern Grouse Championship, then to Michigan for the month of October. Thanks for reading, Johnathon

3 in a row

Coco was in the winners circle again this weekend at the  inaugural Bear's Head Trial in PA, getting 2nd place in the open shooting dog. This makes them 3 for 3 in placements this season so far, having a total of 8 finds in an hour and a half on the ground in trials. Thanks to Robert for running her and having her ready for the fall, hoping they can continue the success into the fall championships.

Some Summer Wins

So far this summer has been super busy, I have not had time to do much of anything. Robert Ecker ran Coco in 2 trials last spring and offered to run her this fall since I was quite busy, and while I hesitated as I love going up and doing all the work myself, I have just not had any free time this summer, so I took him up on the offer.  She went there early july and he has been getting her ready for the fall championships, along with hitting some early trials. So far she has placed in both trials she has been in, getting 2nd in the Freeland trials, and 3rd in the Dubois Trial with a strong field of 43 shooting dogs. Both trials were in PA. Robert has taken a liking to her, and I am pretty sure she is his new house dog. Hopefully we the success continues. I will try and do a better job at keeping this updated.  Good luck to all this coming fall.

Catching up from last spring

Ok here is attempt to catch back up a little on this blog. Last spring I hardly had time to run in any trials as we were expecting twins and time was limited as well as saving up some money for our new expenses. I did run Coco in 2 trials in Gladwin, she took 2nd in the 1 hour Amateur Classic in a very strong field of dogs which ended up having I think they said 15 dogs finish with clean bird work and nearly 30 dogs entered. It was a great win for her and she was beat by a strong performance by Terhaar's Elvis who is aging but still put down a bird finding clinic. I only ran her in one other half hour stake and it snowed the night before and had bad conditions of ice in the morning brace. I then decided to send her with Rober Ecker as he was in Michigan for the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational, and was heading to the Empire Championship and coming back in a couple weeks for Jimmy Cipp's Championship at Highland so it worked out well as I was busy with the new coming family. He ran her at Flannigan's Farm and said she put down a hell of a race and had a gorgeous grouse find, but also picked up a couple of non productive's which can happen in the spring, but still ended up being named closest to the winners of the Empire Championship. 

Amateur Classic winners Terhaar's Elvis and Runner Up Fricke N Coco

Coco in a spring workout at Ionia

And this is what has slowed my updates down. New twins with Luke, our new baby boy Liam Grant, and baby girl Reese Emerson. They are wonderful and keep me over the top busy.