Nick Wansha
Active member
HR Wine Country Water Lily
I have been campaigning Lily in HRC hunt tests for the past two years Pennsylvania, Ontario, and just got back from NW Ohio. Sometimes successfully...and sometimes not. Sometimes, when you open the gate to the kennel in the back of the vehicle....sometimes you don't know what is coming out.
Back in May of 2009, Lily earned finished her fourth pass and her Started Hunting Retriever title...so, she was known as SHR Wine Country Water Lily.
In August 2010, - I ran Lily up @ Luther Marsh HRC in Ontario, Canada and earned her first Seasoned pass, after being oh so close in the test the day before on the land test.
A week ago Saturday, down @ High Flyers HRC in PA, Lily earned another Seasoned pass at their one day hunt test.
Well, my son and I just got back yesterday from Ohio HRC hunt test held in the NW corner of Ohio where I ran Lily on Saturday. Well, actually, the land test was run in Ohio and the water test was run in Michigan (the test grounds were bisected by the state border). She passed her third and final Seasoned test and earned her Hunting Retriever title. So, she now is HR Wine Country Water Lily! The folks at Ohio HRC have a great way of celebrating a dog earning a title at their hunt test. Not only does the dog earn a ribbon but also receives a great hardwood plaque in the shape of the state of Ohio commemorating the title earned at their test! Very classy!
Lily's Third Seasoned Test Ribbon and Title Plaque
I am very proud of my little "Lily Dawg." For those that don't know, Lily is my second dog ever, another American Water Spaniel, that weighs in at about 36lbs. Lily is self owned, self-handled and self-trained as there is no HRC club where I live. She has never gone to a trainer for any instruction and the majority of her training occurs in local town park ponds as well as the low mowed school field directly behind my house as can be seen in some of my videos that I have on the net. As you can imagine, in the locations mentioned above, the use of firearms are prohibited so I had to be creative.
HR Wine Country Water Lily
We still have lots of work to do to continue on in the HRC program. The titles are just a self-check of my training and her hard work.
I really want to thank -
* Gerda and Bill Smith at Wine Country Kennels for helping bring Lily into our family
* My wife and my kids who helped throw or plant birds, tolerated my training madness with stinky ducks in the freezer, and go on training and testing excursions
* Zinger Winger for their great Uplander bird launchers
* Dogtra for their great e-collar and remote electronic releases
* Dokken for their fake training ducks
* and most of all to "Lily Dawg" - for being an obedient and loyal hunting companion.
If any of you are in the Finger Lakes region of NY and will be at the National Hunting and Fishing Days out @ the NYSDEC Region 8 in Avon this weekend, come by the LPWA booth on Saturday and say "Hello" to Lily and I.
Now... on with hunting season!
Nick
I have been campaigning Lily in HRC hunt tests for the past two years Pennsylvania, Ontario, and just got back from NW Ohio. Sometimes successfully...and sometimes not. Sometimes, when you open the gate to the kennel in the back of the vehicle....sometimes you don't know what is coming out.
Back in May of 2009, Lily earned finished her fourth pass and her Started Hunting Retriever title...so, she was known as SHR Wine Country Water Lily.
In August 2010, - I ran Lily up @ Luther Marsh HRC in Ontario, Canada and earned her first Seasoned pass, after being oh so close in the test the day before on the land test.
A week ago Saturday, down @ High Flyers HRC in PA, Lily earned another Seasoned pass at their one day hunt test.
Well, my son and I just got back yesterday from Ohio HRC hunt test held in the NW corner of Ohio where I ran Lily on Saturday. Well, actually, the land test was run in Ohio and the water test was run in Michigan (the test grounds were bisected by the state border). She passed her third and final Seasoned test and earned her Hunting Retriever title. So, she now is HR Wine Country Water Lily! The folks at Ohio HRC have a great way of celebrating a dog earning a title at their hunt test. Not only does the dog earn a ribbon but also receives a great hardwood plaque in the shape of the state of Ohio commemorating the title earned at their test! Very classy!
Lily's Third Seasoned Test Ribbon and Title Plaque
I am very proud of my little "Lily Dawg." For those that don't know, Lily is my second dog ever, another American Water Spaniel, that weighs in at about 36lbs. Lily is self owned, self-handled and self-trained as there is no HRC club where I live. She has never gone to a trainer for any instruction and the majority of her training occurs in local town park ponds as well as the low mowed school field directly behind my house as can be seen in some of my videos that I have on the net. As you can imagine, in the locations mentioned above, the use of firearms are prohibited so I had to be creative.
HR Wine Country Water Lily
We still have lots of work to do to continue on in the HRC program. The titles are just a self-check of my training and her hard work.
I really want to thank -
* Gerda and Bill Smith at Wine Country Kennels for helping bring Lily into our family
* My wife and my kids who helped throw or plant birds, tolerated my training madness with stinky ducks in the freezer, and go on training and testing excursions
* Zinger Winger for their great Uplander bird launchers
* Dogtra for their great e-collar and remote electronic releases
* Dokken for their fake training ducks
* and most of all to "Lily Dawg" - for being an obedient and loyal hunting companion.
If any of you are in the Finger Lakes region of NY and will be at the National Hunting and Fishing Days out @ the NYSDEC Region 8 in Avon this weekend, come by the LPWA booth on Saturday and say "Hello" to Lily and I.
Now... on with hunting season!
Nick
