We visited Spencer, TN March 5-7 for the Plateau Shooting Dog Classic trial. We don't have any placements to report for the Dateline Kennels team, but we had a great time. Bruce placed Fireside Fleetwood first in the Open Shooting Dog. Butch and Sudsy ran as shooting dogs and both had very acceptable performances but were picked up - Butch for a lazy back and Sudsy, running as a bye, for a race that probably wasn't going to match the winners. Kate ran a tad short for our taste in the derby. Viper had a great race, handle, and application but went birdless, along with almost all the other derby entries on Saturday. We did not enter Spook (pictured above) in the puppy stake but had the opportunity to run him Sunday morning and are thrilled with how he looks so far.
The trial was run on a 2500 acre private plantation that is managed for quail. It is a superior venue for a walking quail trial - no planted birds. Dogs have the opportunity to stretch out and take an edge, as well as dig into various types of cover that might hold birds.
We'll be back next year and look forward to it.
