Welcome to the High Prairie Farms Flushing Spaniels, LLC Wall of Fame!  This is a collection of photos and memories of our most remarkable dogs.  Some are field champions.  Some never reached that title, but were far superior Spaniels that always gave solid performances in the real hunting world of Montana.

These dogs performed to perfection on pheasants in the cattail swamps and buffalo berry coulees.  They were awesome on Sharptail grouse and the occasional Hungarian partridge in the wheat stubble fields.  These are the dogs with special personalities and great abilities in the field.  They were all my best friends!  Most have passed on and I miss them dearly!

Warrior’s Sweet Happy Jack “Jake”

DOB: 4-8-88 Sire: CNFC, FC, CFC Whitlock’s Warrior Dam: Belle Aurore Diana Pedigree (pdf)

Jake was the first dog I ever trained and field trialed.  He not only is the first dog that I placed in a field trial, but he was out of the first litter of puppies I ever produced.  Jake had 9 open all age points before I retired him to the task of being a superior upland hunting dog in the Montana coulees.  Jake was a superior bird finder and long range marker.  In addition, Jake was fully trained to take hand signals on blind retrieves.  Jake made many unbelievable retrieves and sorted out some very tough runners and hard to find buried-in cock birds.  He was an ideal family dog, and possessed superb bird sense and tracking skills.  Jake was great in the water or on land.  Jake taught me a lot about trusting a dog’s nose.  Jake lived to be 13 ½ years old and was still hunting at the age of 12.

High Prairie Luckothe Irish “Irish” 

DOB: 3-15-90 Sire: FC Renegade of Whitebridge Dam: Byrd of Housty (U.K.) Pedigree (pdf)

Irish was very special.  It was me that had the Luckothe Irish on my side.  I sold Irish as a puppy.  I bought him back at about 6 months old and never looked back.  Irish was the first dog that I won an open All-Age field trial with.  He ended his trialing career one point short of FC, but he was a far better dog than most that have that title.  He had perfect range, excellent control, a superior nose and was a tracking fool.  He not only was an excellent marker, but he was finely tuned to handle long blind retrieves.  Irish had true Spaniel style.  He never lied when he said bird!   He faced heavy cover with a vengeance and always gave 100% on land or water.  Irish made it all look easy!  Irish was still hunting at the age of 13 years, and lived to the ripe old age of 15 years.  He exemplified the kind, biddable spaniel that was always eager to please.  Look at many of my pedigrees today and you will see Irish’s influence on my breeding stock.  Irish excelled in hunting wild pheasants in cattails, multi-floral roses and buffalo berries.  He was the true “gentleman’s companion”

High Prairie’s Wild E. Riley “Riley”

DOB: 3-15-90 Sire: FC Renegade of Whitebridge Dam: Byrd of Housty (U.K.) Pedigree (pdf)

Riley was the best Sharptail grouse dog I have had.  He excelled in all upland hunting, but seemed to out-perform all the others on Sharptails.  Riley is a brother to Irish.  He retired from the field trial circuit with 22 open All-Age points.  He was always a solid performer on land and in the water.  Like his brother, he was a superb tracking dog and a great retriever.  He always faced cover and hunted 100%.  Riley put a lot of wily pheasants and sharptails in the pot.  I will never understand how I got so lucky to have both Irish and Riley from the same litter!  Riley taught me vast amounts on how to train dogs as individuals rather than using the same approach for every dog.  He taught me more about reading and training dogs, and even more about trusting my dog’s abilities.  Riley hunted hard until the age of 12, and lived until he was 13 ½ years old.

FC Aber du Slip (U.K.) “Sady”

DOB: 5-11-90 Sire: FTCH Parkmaple Zip Dam: Aberdulais Cherry Lady Pedigree (pdf)

Sady was awesome!  She was extremely consistent in the field trial game and was an incredible dog on wild birds!  Without a doubt, Sady was one of the best pheasant tracking and bird savvy dogs I have ever seen!  I purchased Sady from a friend as a young started dog from England.  She was the first dog I personally did all the conversion work with, and made her an open All-Age field trial champion.  She taught me a lot about the importance of proper wind patterns and how good dogs can run them perfectly.  Sady taught me how dogs adjust their hunting range according to the cover they are presented with.  She did every thing right.  Sady was exceptional at running the winds in text book fashion and finding birds.  She was an extremely kind and attentive dog.  She was always eager to please!  Sady is the foundation bitch for my breeding program. Most of my pedigrees show FC Aber du Slip.  Sady had it all: good looks, excellent personality and was incredible in every shooting venue!

FC Denalisunflo’s Drive “Teaser”

DOB: 9-8-96 Sire: FC Denalisunflo’s Frosty Dam: Denalisunflo’s Betsey Pedigree (pdf)

My most successful field trial dog was Teaser!  In 1998, I was given the opportunity to select a dog from Bird Dog Hall of Fame inductee, Mr. Roy French, to start running on the open field trial circuit.  I went to a Minnesota trial and watched several dogs and selected Teaser from the bunch of puppies.  Soon after, the winning started and never stopped.  Teaser went on to be the 1999 Rocky Mountain High Point dog.  In 2001, Teaser was the United States Open High Point dog.  In 2002, he was the Mid-West Interclub High Point open dog.  He was very talented, consistent, and a dream to be around!  Teaser was gifted!  It would be close to say whether Teaser or Sady was the best bird finder I have ever seen.  They are without a doubt #1 and #2 with me, giving Teaser the slight edge.  Teaser was unusually good at marking falls as well as sorting out runners.  He had the uncanny ability to make huge (and I mean huge) retrieves look easy!   Teaser was exceptional in water as well as land.  He just had all the right stuff!   Unfortunately, Teaser never got to hunt wild birds much since he was owned by Mr. French.  Teaser was always exciting to watch and a thrill to run!  As his name indicated, he had incredible drive, speed and style, was easy to control and flat out smoked birds!  He was still winning trials at the age of 8 ½ years.

FC Denalisunflo’s Tim “Tim”

DOB:  1-09-98 SIRE:   FC Denaisinflo’s Frosty DAM:  CNFC, FC, CFC Denalisunflo’s Tisa Pedigree (pdf)

Tim came to me as a clear surprise.  I had traveled down to the legendary Denalisunflo Kennel to look at dogs, and took a liking to Tim.  Several months later, I was discussing dogs with Mr. French, and brought up Tim.  Mr. French felt he had a more talented dog in another animal.  He was making arrangements to get this other dog delivered to me.  When I opened the crate, there was Tim!  To say the least, I was delighted.  Nine days later, I placed Tim in his first open All-Age field trial.  That was the beginning of a great career, with several wins in large, fifty and sixty, dog trials.  I championed Tim for Mr. French in 2003.  Tim is pure class!  I handled him for Mr. French, until Mr. French’s death in 2003, when I purchased Tim for my kennel.  Tim is a very dynamic spaniel in the field.  He has a great nose, is exceptional on moving birds and is an excellent marker and retriever.  Tim has a very kind and extremely bonding personality that make him a joy to be around.  Tim is a consistent dog that is very aggressive in cover and runs the winds well.  He is very sound in water as well as on land.  Tim performs well in both the field trial and hunting environments and is exceptional on sharptail grouse as well as pheasants.  Tim is currently enjoying his semi-retirement hunting and occasionally running in a field trial.  He is playing a large role in my breeding program at this time.

FC Denalisunflo’s Stretch “Stretch”

DOB: 12-10-96 Sire: FC, AFC Denalisunflo’s Happy Dam: Denalisunflo’s Sieta

Like Teaser and Tim, Stretch came to me from Denalisunflo Kennel.  Stretch was just a puppy when I received him.  With my further training and handling, he placed in his first eight puppy stakes.  We then we moved on to the open stakes where he had a solid career.  Stretch was then sold to one of my other clients for whom I made him a champion.  Stretch was a very soft dog combined with a little more independence.  Stretch was a talented animal throughout and was loaded with bird tracking skills.  He was an incredible dog at making unbelievably long retrieves.  Stretch was an all-around talented dog with a kind temperament.

FC Badgerdyke Buccaneer (U.K.) “Dan”

DOB: 2-17-97 Sire: FTCH Supescud Swank of Stagsden Dam: Gwibernant Loach Pedigree (pdf)

Fast would describe Dan. I imported Dan from England, for a client. I personally did all of the conversion work and within a year was placing him in field trials. He finished the first national championship he ran in. In the next few years, I had several wins with him. Dan was a very exciting animal loaded with incredible speed and style. He would tear up the heaviest, nastiest cover and make it look easy. He was a total package that was always in contention for the win. With my conversion and handling Dan was an open All-Age champion within 2 years of running in U.S. field trials. He had style combined with great speed, and all the bird skills.

Thank you for letting me share a few of my great dogs with you. Each one has its’ own special memories and many of these memories still bring tears to my eyes. Some of these dogs have passed on, but their impact will never be forgotten!

FC Larford Fragg (U.K.) “Paddy”

DOB: 1-17-2001 Sire: FTW Larford Doc Dam: Arnothill Sophie Pedigree (pdf)

Paddy is one of those dogs that is superb in both the field trial forum and in the hunting of wild birds.  In the field trial venue, Paddy had a great fall of 2006!  He won two open field trials in less than a month to make his AKC field championship title.  He did all this with me performing as a one-armed handler, since I was handicapped with a torn rotator cuff and had my arm in a sling.  In the Rocky Mountain field trial, which he won, Paddy tracked out a crippled pheasant that ran well over 100 yards in very hot, dry conditions.  It was truly one of the greatest pieces of dog work I have ever seen on a crippled bird.

In the hunting field, Paddy has incredible desire to please and unbelievable endurance.  He tears up the heaviest, nastiest cover and makes it look easy!  Paddy has dynamic spaniel action with lots of drive, superior tail action and is great on all aspects of hunting.  He is a solid dog in the water as well as on land and is fully trained to handle blind retrieves.  Paddy is a truly versatile spaniel who hunts as well as trials.  He really loves tearing up hunting cover in the quest for sharptails, partridge and pheasants.

Thank you for letting me share a few of my great dogs with you. Each one has its’ own special memories and many of these memories still bring tears to my eyes. Some of these dogs have passed on, but their impact will never be forgotten!