class was Abigail Van Meter, showing her bitch Stardom The Last Word. Second in that class was Caleb Castro, showing his dog Creekcrossing’s High Roller. First in Open Senior was Jennifer Necker, showing her bitch GCH Esthete’s Much Ado About Everything NAJ NF. Jennifer made English Setter history when Judge Sue Goldberg pointed to her as Best Junior Handler, because that was the fourth time in a row that Jennifer had won that honor. A high point of any National is the moment when the champions, in all their glory, enter the ring. The 32 Best of Breed dogs checked in at 10:30 on Friday morning, and Judge Goldberg got down to her final cut of dogs just before lunch. After lunch, the 28 Best of Breed bitches graced the ring. In a thrilling climax, Judge Goldberg selected GCH Sagebrush’s Simply Irresistible, bred by Judee Wargo, William Potts, and Rhonda Dillman and owned by Jessica Harris, as Best of Breed. Judge Goldberg went with Winners Bitch as her Best of Winners. Best Opposite Sex was GCH Pine Hollow’s What Can I Say For Millicent, bred and owned by Lynda Chase and David Otlewski. Millie was owner handled to this win, and she finished the Owner Handler year as #1 owner handled Sporting dog. Select Dog was GCH Weymouth’s En Fuego, bred by Penny and Tony DiSiena and Sue Godley and owned by Penny DiSiena, Glenn Godley, and Sandra Nordstrom. Select Bitch and winner of the Field Trial Bitch class was GCH Aerden’s Pretty In Pink JH, bred by Laurie English and Rose Miller and owned by the breeders and Vito Ciaravino and Brian Silbernagel. Awards of Merit went
to GCH Kadon’s Singing The Blues, bred by Kay Monaghan and S. Lucas and owned by Joan and Mike Dudas and Kay Monaghan; GCH Birdhaven And All That Jazz, bred by Maura Ptacek and Joseph Romer and owned by Joanne Mistler and Maura; GCH Artizoe Keeley’s Talk About Me, bred and owned by Lise Trottier, Louis Journault, and Kendra Huber; GCH Stargazr N Wingfield Wait Wait Don’t Tell, bred by Pat Skoll, Lois Biedron, Eileen Hackett, and Kate Hanlon and owned by Pat and Don Coller and Eileen; and Veteran Bitch class winner Ch Kelyric Indian Bend Class Act, bred by Karen Kennedy and Nan Olsen Beeler and owned by Sandi McCue. Best Puppy from the 6-9 mo class was the cute-as-a-button Windjammer’s Bright Fortune At Fairmeadow, bred by Gloria and Larry Owens and owned by Dawn Mozgawa and Gloria. Best Bred By was Willopond’s Hit The Deck Running, bred and owned by Danielle Frykman and Peg Ziebart-Sennet. GCH Merriman & Stardom Fire At Hiddenlane, bred by Renee Metz and J. Schmitt and owned by Karen Lishinski and Harvey Wooding was the stud muffin who took first in the Stud Dog class. The brood bitch class was won by GCH Jada’s Superbowl Party, bred and owned by Lisa and Ron Moreau. Best Junior Handler Jennifer Necker proved she can handle a challenge, as she piloted GCH Esthete’s The Bard of Avon RN JH NAJ and GCH Esthete’s Much Ado About Everything NAJ NF to first place in the Brace class. These two littermates, who moved together in perfect synchronicity, had also appeared in the 2011 National as 6 month old puppies, and won the brace class then, handled by Jennifer. 2014 featured the first-ever Top 20 competition for English Setters at a National; this event was held on Wednesday evening. The organizers pulled out all stops to make the inaugural Top 20 an extravaganza that participants and audience alike will remember for many years to come. The Top 20 committee, chaired by Amy Duncan, consisted of Paula Dempsey, Janet Gray, Donna Jordan, Sabrina Rundle, Susan Kerwin-Bush, Sandi McCue, and Maddie McCue. Months before the National, the participants voted on a list of judges to come up with a breeder judge (Conny Helms, Editions Eng-
lish Setters), a handler (Susan Allen), and an AKC judge (Carol Brown) as the judging panel. The judges scored each entrant based on the point system in the English Setter breed standard that was in effect just prior to the current breed standard. After being scored on breed type by the judges, the dogs went into the ring one by one for the movement portion of the competition. When all the scores were tallied, there was a tie between GCH Linwood Resolute’s New Beginnings RN CGC, bred by Lin Sell and Lori Stewart and owned by Rebecca and Reese Lloyd, and GCH Reidwood Artistic Vision , bred and owned by Nancy and Jeanette Warner and Clifford (Kip) Reid. The two were judged again, and the nod went to GCH Linwood Resolute’s New Beginnings RN CGC. The Top 20 People’s Choice Award was also a tie, this one between Vision and GCH Sagebrush’s Simply Irresistible. All Top 20 participants got a bag with very plush embroidered bath and hand towels and a medallion. They also got a beautiful rosette with their dog’s name printed on it. One of the really fun extracurricular activities at the English Setter National is the Pajama Party, where ladies look for the cutest or most unusual pajamas they can find and wear them out in public just for laughs. This year the pajama party took place on Thursday evening and was crashed by some fun-loving and welcome guys. It was organized by Kathy Rodriguez. Hudson English Setter Club, piloted by co chairs Kathy Cunningham Roy and Lourdes Fernandez, was the host for this year’s National. Their hard-working committee, comprising Jane Flynn, Joan Dudas, Lisa Moreau, Carl Sillman, Linda Jones, Maryella Luksa, Cindy O’Brien, Sandy Miller, Judi Hunter, Frank Luksa, Mike Dudas, Gloria Arata, Donna Grant, Joan Savage, Julie Bremser, Donna Jordan, Toni Lynn Mulhearn, Tammy Vann, Jack Lannon, Lynda Chase, Lo Wolfson, and Joanne Mistler worked very hard to ensure that the National was enjoyable and ran smoothly. It’s appropriate to single out Kathy Mellis and Dee Verti, who organized the health testing services at the National, for special recognition as this is one of the most important services a national club can provide. It truly does take a village – and lots of fund raising -- to put on a National. After Friday’s banquet and distribution of Annuals, some folks stayed on for the Hudson specialty on Saturday and Sunday, while others headed for home. The English Setters, with their families, will reconvene next year at Sawmill Creek Resort in Sandusky OH Oct. 7-9, 2015, under the expert guidance of host Michigamme English Setter Club.
2014 English Setter National
Dog News 89