2015 Activities

Victoria

Retrieving Trial – 18th October 2015

The retrieving trial held at our October training day was a great success. The weather was great, the venue was great and the attendance was great. Thanks to everyone who pitched in – before the event, during the event and after the event.

We had 25 dogs competing in the Intermediate & Advanced stakes.

The judge Andrew Yeomans put in a sterling effort.

The results were:

Intermediate

1st Alex Jevric & Buddy (Brittany)

2nd Joseph Camilleri & Ollie (GSP)

3rd Steve Luck & Meg (GSP)

4th Barry Oliver & Kio (Pointer)

Advanced

1st Sam Heyes & Nellie (Lab)

2nd Kevin Phelps & Aussie (Lab),

3rd Nick Guida & Marley (Pointer)

4th Henry Foster & Riley (Pointer)

5th Shane Emond & Angus (Lab)

6th David Heyes & Pippa (Lab)

Field Assessment Day – 27th September 2015

On a fantastic spring day WGAA Vic’s Field Assessment Day was held at the Daylesford property that has hosted the event for many years. This property is perfect for this family friendly event and many members camped overnight in order to help set up runs for the next day.

Special thanks to Wayne Phelps who is instrumental in organizing this day.

Each of the 25 dogs was given 3 runs – a land retrieve, a water retrieve and a field run.

The dogs were scored in 5 categories in each run, categories that related closely to actual field work.

Certificates were awarded to all participants.

NSW P&S Field Trial (CS) – 18th September 2015

NSW P&S Field Trial (CS) – 29th July 2015

North South Interstate Retrieving Trial Challenge – 4th & 5th July 2015

A huge group of Queensland triallers, their families and their 12 dogs, all travelled to Nagambie for an interstate retrieving trial challenge with competitors from WGAA Vic.

The Queensland group belong to the United Field & Retrieving club (UFR) and operate nationally under the SSAA Working Gundog discipline.

The Victorian president, Barry Oliver and the Queensland president, Jim Jeffries were in attendance and the SSAA National president, Geoff Jones offered his full support for this prestigious event. SSAA Vic and SSAA Qld also helped out financially and we extend our thanks to them.

WGAA Vic rose to the challenge of putting on such a large trial. WGAA committee members and helpers put in a huge effort behind the scenes and when the day dawned clear and cold the ‘Challenge’ was on.

The judges were Malcolm McLeod, Robert Price and Margaret Wedgwood from Queensland and Byron Kendall and Andrew Yeomans from Victoria. The trial managers were Kevin Phelps and Luke Warner and the entry was just on 50 dogs both days.

The venue was breathtaking with many excellent water and land retrieves able to be run throughout the weekend. The dogs were tested and tested, some not too impressed with the water temperature. In between runs handlers and dogs came back to the campsite to warm themselves by the camp fire which burned all weekend.

By lunchtime the judges were reporting that some excellent work was being seen and that the atmosphere was extremely friendly. The Queensland branch is a very experienced retrieving trial club and our Victorian members benefited from seeing the quality of the dog work in the advanced and open stakes as well as the many training tips that were passed on to our newer members.

At the end of the weekend the Victorian contingent just managed to edge in front of the Queensland group to win the overall challenge – not that anyone was really counting!

This trial set the benchmark for all such trials in the future and augers well for the continuing success of Working Gundogs.

RESULTS – Saturday 4 July 15

TEST

1^st Barry Oliver – Pointer – Kio – 117 points

2^nd Richard Chan – Wei/Lab – Jazz – 103 points

3^rd Andrew Beam – Labrador – Pio – 96 points

INTERMEDIATE

15 Henry Foster – Pointer – Riley – 152 points

2^nd Sam Heyes – Labrador – Tasha – 136 points

3^rd Jamie Stellini – Labrador – Charley – 133 points

ADVANCED

1^st Sam Heyes – Labrador – Nellie – 149 points

2^nd Rad Miramon-Jeffrey – Flat Coated Ret – Chevy – 143 points

3^rd Sam Heyes – Labrador – Tasha – 139 points

4^th Ron Jackson – Labrador – Rudy – 135.5 points

5^th Kerri Underwood – Labrador – Franklin – 114.5 points

OPEN

1^st Sam Haigh – Labrador – Errol – 118 points

2^nd Bryan Pritchard – Labrador – Gunner – 115.5 points

WA P&S Trial (CS) –10th June 2015

SSAA Shot Expo Melbourne – 2015

The 2015 SSAA Shot Expo could only be described as a great success and WGAA’s dog demonstrations were an integral part of this success.

The WGAA team put on 4 demos over the two days before crowds numbering 300 – 400 hundred each time. Handlers and dogs all performed up to expectations and beyond.

Duck Opening Water Practice Day – March 2015

30 handlers and their dogs participated in the 2015 Duck Opening Water Practice Day. This traditional WGAA event is always extremely successful and this year’s event kept that tradition going.

The 3 runs available were designed to match real-life duck hunting scenarios. Handlers were able to give their dogs multiple runs and Wayne, Kevin and Shane were on hand to help with any problems. It was certainly encouraging to see so many newcomers. The wide variety of gundogs included GSP’s pointers, labradors, brittanys, English springer spaniels, a long haired weimaraner and a curly coated retriever.

Luckily cloud cover kept the temperature down slightly for most of the day, and when the sun did come out about 2 o’clock the dogs needed no encouragement to hit the water.

Catering was superb, especially the fresh mango and ice cream. Many thanks to the property owners and the caterers.