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Eric and Mardelle,
Puppy #5 made it to Pittsburgh in great shape. I checked his crate when he arrived and he made the entire trip without going to the bathroom in his crate. We introduced him to our other three English Setters and our border collie and he took to them right
We still have not finalized his name but are kicking around a few. We will see what fits his personality. He is a beautiful pup, and I am very pleased with him. Be assured that he will always have a good home with us, and he will be campaigned as far as his talents and mine will take us.
I like to keep in touch with the breeders of the dogs that I have. I'll send some pictures as he progresses and will keep you abreast of all the milestones. Have a great Holiday season!
Curtis P. Fry
NAVHDA Senior Judge
AKC Hunt Test/Field Trial Judge
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Good evening Eric and Mardelle,
I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know how the new puppy was doing. It took us a couple of weeks but we have named him "Trex."
He is doing great...has only had one accident in the house. He is already starting to go to the door to go outside to do his business. He sleeps through the night in his crate with no problems.
In my 26 years with setters, he is probably the boldest puppy I have ever owned. He has fit in well with our three other males and is quite at home here in Pennsylvania.
Today I had a trailer full of dogs and was heading out to do some training. I decided to take Trex along for the ride and let him run off some energy by exploring the field. I had about 30 very good flying quail and decided to keep three for Trex. This was his first time in the field...and before today he has only seen my homing pigeons in the loft...but today (at nine weeks old) he scent pointed a quail and let me walk past him and flush the bird.
This is the youngest pup I have ever owned that has scent pointed a bird! It was a very classy point as well. 12 o'clock tail with a high head. I think this is just the beginning of some very good things to come.
I will send some photos for your website. I am very pleased with Trex. Thanks for the great potential in this puppy.
Curtis Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
Trex is a great puppy. He is very bold and independent...not afraid of anything.
He scent pointed his first quail at 9 weeks. He held point long enough for me to take about four photos with my cell phone...and never broke until I flushed the bird. I have never owned a puppy that pointed this well at such a young age. This shows the importance of good genetics.
You did a wonderful job with his early socialization. He has been very easy to house train.
Thanks.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
I just returned home from a weekend quail hunting trip to Kentucky. We shot about 20 birds off of Trex. He is pointing very staunchly and is learning to use his legs to cover the ground. What a great puppy.
The second day of the hunt I put him down with one of my older dogs and after a couple of bird contacts, he started to back the older dog. He is also very happy to retrieve shot birds.
I did not want to shoot too many birds over him at such a young age, so the last day I hunted him by himself and let him find three or four coveys before I put him up (we did not shoot any of these birds).
I have decided to run him in a few FDSB derby trials this spring. I'll keep you posted on his progress. Thanks.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
I am giving a dog training seminar to a dog club out east this weekend. I will have Trex with me and will take some good photos of him on birds.
On another note...since I talked with you last, I had Trex on a couple of birds a few weeks ago. He may have "all-age" potential. He is starting to understand how to use his legs. On the break away he cast out to about 3/10 of a mile until he hit an objective. He ran the fence line and checked back at about 300 yards. He crossed a tree line about 400 yards away and had his first find. He held point until I flushed the bird. His second find was about 5 minutes later. He was quartering heavy cover at about 150 yards and crossed a tractor road and pointed a bird at the base of a hawthorn bush. He again held point until I flushed the bird. He naturally looks for me and hunts out front...never out of control.
I have decided to pretty much field trail him exclusively. I will be working him off of horseback later this spring. After he titles and becomes a champion, I can reel him in a little for hunting and running the AKC and NAVHDA hunt test games. I love this pup. He is a real fireball...nothing but muscle and brains. He is probably one of the smartest animals I have ever worked with. He has the right combination of independence and cooperation. We just started to do some Whoa training and getting him up off the ground on the training table. He adapts very well and seems to take everything in stride.
Keep in touch and be looking for some pictures next week.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
This is just a follow up to our phone call last night.
This past weekend Trex (Patriot X Sunrays - Pup #5 - Spot on the butt dog) passed the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) Natural Ability Test with a 110 points Prize I (The highest NAVHDA Prize Classification). The Natural Ability Test is reserved as a puppy test for dogs up to 16 months of age. It is designed to measure the Natural Instinctive ability of the dog. During all test phases (Field, Tracking, and Water) cooperation, nose, desire, along with pointing, search, tracking, and water are evaluated on a scale of 0 to 4. The maximum score is 112 points and the dog must get a score of 4 in nose, desire, and search and nothing less than a 3 in all remaining categories to get a prize I. Trex had all 4's in all categories except in tracking where he received a 3 because he lost the track and went on a short search before ultimately producing the bird.
Trex ran the field portion of the test in 90 degree weather. He posted 7 finds in 20 minutes and was steady to flush on all his birds (beautiful points with 12 o'clock tail). His first find was on the break away when he cast about 500 yards and turned into the wind and slammed on point. He held point for about 2 1/2 minutes until we were able to walk up to flush the bird. All of this took place right in front of the gallery (you could hear the ooh's and aah's).
During the water portion of the test he made two really ambitious retrieves of hand thrown bumpers, bringing both back to hand.
Lastly he had to track a wing clipped pheasant in 95 degrees with hot sun and high humidity. He tracked the bird for about 30 yards then lost the track and made one cast to the left. He worked back into the wind and found the track again after about a 2 minute search. He tracked the pheasant into heavy cover and went on point. We could not find the bird so I relocated him and he continued to track for another 20 yards through multiflora rose (Pennsylvania's version of a cactus) and produced the bird.
I am so impressed with this dog. He is very bold, and self confident. He is not soft and stands up well to training. I can see great things to come. I have already started to push his range off of an ATV and he has learned to run off the whistle. I plan on running some derby stakes in the fall. Stay tuned for some news on derby wins. I'll keep you updated and will send a couple of pictures.
P.S.
Trex is about 40 pounds (7 months) and loves my two boys (3 and 5 years old). He also gets along well with my other two setters. He has an internal switch and is very calm in the house...however, in the field he can really turn it on!
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
Trex (Patriot X Sunrays) - West coast dog meets east coast birds!
Good morning, I hope all is well with you and your family. I just returned from a bird hunting trip in Northern Michigan (grouse and woodcock). Trex was incredible! We shot both grouse and woodcock over his very staunch points. He is a hard charging, never stop dog with impeccable bird manners. He has learned to check his range depending on cover and will adjust if I am on foot or horseback. In the grouse woods he runs at the edge of beeper range and holds his birds extremely well. In the field on horseback he will range out to about 3/10 of a mile. He never bolts and runs off, he just maintains his range and always knows where I am.
Trex has exceeded my early expectations of a puppy. He is very comfortable in our house and has wonderful house manners as well. I plan on doing his OFA preliminary X-Rays after hunting season. I'll let you know the results.
He is entered in a walking field trial in early November...hopefully we get a blue ribbon. Thanks for this wonderful dog. Keep in touch.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
I am dropping you a note to give you an update on Trex. He competed at the Oak Ridge Pointing Dog Club here in Pennsylvania this past weekend. He placed 2nd in Open Derby and 1st in Open Puppy - These were the only two stakes I had him entered in - not bad for his first trial.
He ran the derby stake first and had a tough brace mate that kept tagging him and it kind of threw him off his game a little. He still managed to have a good run with three finds (all covey finds). It took him a little while to really open up as I have been running him with some older dogs or by himself and he was not used to being tagged so much. In the puppy stake, he looked awesome. He had a good brace mate and he pretty much ignored her and just hunted. This trail was the first time for him on these particular grounds, and during his second run he had already figured out the lay of the land. He looked like an all age dog. He took beautiful lines and had three beautiful finds that he held for minutes until I got to him and flushed the bird. The judge of the puppy stake said there was not another dog even close and he was the decisive winner. Each stake had ten dogs entered.
I judged three of the adult stakes and he ran as good, or better than the adult dogs that I looked at (and he is only 13 months old)!
Thanks for this awesome pup. He and I are really starting to bond...and there are a lot of good things ahead of him. Take care and keep in touch.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
I just returned from Kentucky where Trex and I spent two days quail hunting. If I had to come up with one word to describe how Trex performed it would be a tie between unbelievable and incredible!
You have to understand that just four days prior to leaving for Kentucky, I had finished force breaking Trex to retrieve. I had him on the ground retrieving bumpers three times before leaving for the hunt. I usually like to shoot several birds (under controlled circumstances) over dogs after getting them off the table, but due to time constraints and bad weather I was unable to shoot any birds over Trex before leaving for the hunt. Trex was going to get baptism by fire (gun fire)!
Trex ran great and ended up pointing twelve coveys, two pheasants, and one woodcock. His range was great, and he is starting to learn where to find wild birds. It was kind of comical to watch my hunting partner try to flush quail ten or fifteen yards in front of Trex’s nose. He quickly realized when Trex pointed a covey, it was usually thirty or more yards out in front (he definitely has a long nose).
The highlight of my trip was the fact that Trex retrieved every shot bird back to hand…including the brace of cock pheasants we shot at the end of the last day (he had marked both birds and had to cross a creek twice to retrieve them). He brought both back alive to hand!
What a great puppy. I cannot say enough about this dog. I am very critical about the qualities and capabilities of dogs, and I am not saying this just because I own him, but I think he is that once in a lifetime dog.
I will be working on steadiness this spring and plan on running adult stakes this fall. We should also be able to finish Derby points this spring. I’ll keep you posted. Attached is a picture of Trex pointing a covey this past weekend. Stay in touch.
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P.S.
I know you are very particular about breeding the best dogs to the best dogs (as I am), but I think Trex will meet your criteria. If you ever want to use him in the future for stud, please let me know. I would not expect anything in return…you have a great line going.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
I hope all is well with you and your family.
I just returned from a three day horse back field trial. I had entered Trex in Open Derby hoping to finish out his derby points.
Trex was in the last brace and was paired with a huge running dog. On the break away, Trex cast out about 400 yards while his brace mate broke off the line and cut across the field and was out of sight for about 5 minutes. Trex kept his line to the end and made a hard right and started up another tree row. He crossed through a break in the cover and took a line about 200 yards long before casting right to check me. I gave him a wave and a short whistle and off he went again.
At this point his brace mate showed up and they really started to compete with each other. Before they made the final turn and started back toward the club house they were running neck and neck trying to one-up each other. At this point we broke into an open field and through another tree row and started down another line. His brace mate was about 50 yards ahead of him with Trex working the same line. Trex spun around and pointed staunchly, pinning the bird that his brace mate ran past. I flushed the bird and Trex remained steady. The guy who was scouting for me kept telling me to collar him and get him away from the bird which had landed about 60 yards away. I just laughed and mounted up and heeled Trex down the line about 30 yards and cut him loose again with a whistle.
Trex cast about 150 yards and made a hard left and started working another line when we caught up to his brace mate. Again he was working the same line as his brace mate when he slammed into another beautiful point along the back edge of a field, again pointing a bird that his brace mate ran past. I flushed the bird and he again was steady. I heeled him away and cut him loose again. We made the final left and started to head back to the club house. Trex peeled away from his brace mate and took a line on the opposite side of the field. He finished strong with two finds.
I had not had the opportunity to see any of the other Derby braces so I had no idea if we were in contention. I knew he looked good, but ultimately my opinion doesn’t count. In the end he place second. I was a little disappointed until I found out that the dog that had won the Derby Stake had also won the Open Gundog Stake and had bested 38 dogs in doing so. This trial was a big one and there were a lot of very nice dogs with a lot of big name trainers/handlers running. When Trex ran there were about a dozen horses in the gallery. I received a lot of good comments and praises about his performance. Trex held his own and did great. One thing I forgot to mention was that this was Trex’s first horseback trial. His previous wins were on foot. But he proved to me today that he can run with any dog and will usually find more birds!
I can’t tell you how pleased I am. We are entered in another trail at the end of the month. Stay tuned for updates. I’ll send some pictures with Trex and his ribbons.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric & Mardelle,
I just wanted to give you another update on “spot on the butt dog”. Trex won the Open Derby stake this past weekend at the Niagara Frontier Spring Field Trial. He posted 6 finds during his run. Actually, he found so many birds that his race didn’t look that great because he was constantly standing on point and never had the chance to really open up.
His brace mate roaded in on him on point twice and pushed the bird Trex was pointing, but Trex remained steady through the whole mess. Actually, he was steady to wing and shot on all 6 birds. He had great stamina as the temperature was 86 degrees when he ran. His points were very staunch with a beautiful tail set.
We have one more derby stake at the end of May and then it is on to Gun Dog Stakes. I love this dog. He is really something to see. It is kind of funny, but he is getting a reputation. After his latest win, three people asked me where Trex was running next so they didn’t waste their money by entering the same stake. I love it.
I will send some pictures with Trex and his ribbons. Stay tuned for more great things to come.
Curtis P. Fry
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Trex wins open derby (major) in Pennsylvania 05-30-09
This is starting to sound like a broken record, but Trex won the Open Derby stake
at the Oak Ridge Pointing Dog Club Spring Field Trial held last weekend.
He had a great run with two solid finds. He took a huge cast off of the break-away.
He went through two cuts and took a line to the right along a tree row and pointed his first bird.
I was about 300 yards away when I saw him freeze.
He held his point, but I could not find the bird.
I relocated him and he crept about 40 yards before locking up again.
This time I found the bird and he was steady to wing and shot.
About five minutes later as he was taking a line along a fence row, he spun around
and pointed again. I produced the bird and on the shot he took a couple of steps
but stopped when I whoaed him.
He finished strong with two finds. There were 12 dogs in the stake,
including two very nice pointers.
This brings his five-trial spring record for this year to three (3) first place wins,
and two (2) second place placements. What a great dog.
We will be spending the summer working
steadiness and keeping him in shape in preparation for the fall trial season.
Now that the spring season has concluded, I will send you a picture of Trex with his ribbons.
Keep in touch over the summer and hopefully we have some more wins to report in the fall.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric and Mardelle,
It has been a while since I sent you anything on Trex. He is doing great. We just returned from four days of hunting grouse in Northern Michigan. Trex produced many pointed birds for the gun. He is a tough little dog with huge desire and drive.
With all of his training centered around field trialing, he runs a little big for the grouse woods, but I can always reel him in later. When I first cut him loose he ran down a logging road for about ½ mile before he realized I was not on a horse and that we were actually bird hunting. He checked back after about 3 minutes and started to hunt in front of me when he slammed on point. We shot his first pointed bird a mere 5 minutes after turning him out of the truck.
I am just about finished breaking him to wing, shot and fall. He is pretty steady under controlled conditions. I want to make sure he is 100% reliable before we start running adult stakes. I will be doing his final OFA submission later this month. His preliminary evaluation was GOOD so I don’t expect anything negative.
He is a handsome intelligent dog. He has finished out at about 50 pounds of pure muscle and bone. Keep in touch and we will be sending you updates as we get into the next phase of his field trial career.
Curtis P. Fry
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Good afternoon Eric and Mardelle,
I have been following Jett’s accomplishments. I have a vested interest since I own his brother. Congratulations on the 2010 and 2011 qualifications to run in Grand Junction.
I wanted to give you an update on Trex. He is running great and is steady to wing, shot and fall. I will be showing him on horseback at the Beaver Valley Pointer Setter Club grounds on May 1, 2010. Stay tuned for some good news and hopefully a win.
Our winter was very rough…we had 3 feet of snow cover from early December through late February. We were not able to run dogs practically all winter. Since the weather has cleared, Trex has been roaded off an ATV about four times a week and he is near ready to compete. I have also been running him on horseback.
He is a great pup and I can’t wait to compete with him this spring and fall. I will keep in touch.
Curtis P. Fry
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Trex Takes Second Place in his first adult gundog stake!
Eric and Mardelle,
Trex competed this past weekend in his first adult gundog stake (14 dogs competed). He had a great run and posted 5 finds during the half hour run. He had his first find at the breakaway about 10 second into the run. I watched every brace run right past that bird on the breakaway and Trex was the only one that found it.
There were a lot of very nice dogs competing and Trex only made one small error that cost him first place...and it was probably more my fault than his. Bird #4 was in a fence row and Trex had him pinned from about 15 yards. I tried to flush the bird away from Trex, but didn’t notice the wind blowing straight toward the dog. The bird took off low and flew right at Trex. I could see his eyes getting bigger and bigger as it started to bare down on him. It nearly smacked him in the forehead and when I shot the blank gun he spun and took one hop but stopped himself. I asked the judge if he wanted him picked up and he said keep him down so we kept going. He had one more nice find after that. After placements were read, I asked the judge about Trex’s run and he said the only thing that kept them from placing Trex first was the little hop on bird #4.
Overall I was pleased and know the wins are just a matter of time. He is running two stakes at the end of the month. I'll let you know how he does.
P.S. The judges and gallery could not believe that this was Trex's first adult stake. They thought he was a seasoned veteran. Thanks again for producing this great dog. He is something special!
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric & Mardelle,
It has been a while since my last update. Trex is doing great. He is now a very confident three year old. Since his last update he has placed three times ( 2 seconds and 1 third) in open gundog stakes. Our filed trail season starts in about a month and I am busy getting Trex in shape to run. I think this year will be his shining year. He has matured a lot over the last year and has developed a bold, forward moving pattern and is absolutely beautiful on point. His bird manners are terrific.
I was able to do some wild bird hunting with him this past fall and winter. Of the birds we harvested, Trex was the first one to find them. The other dogs did a lot of backing! Keep in touch and God bless.
Curtis P. Fry
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Eric & Mardelle,
I wanted to drop you a note and give you an update on Trex. He ran yesterday at the PA Field Trail Club Grounds in the Open Stake. There were 20 dogs in the stake and Trex placed third. The judges said before the placements were read that they had to split hairs to pick the top four dogs and then had to split hairs again to come up with the actual order of the placements. In the end the difference between the top three dogs was that Trex had 1 non-productive and the 2nd and 1st place dogs did not. He ran in the seventh brace and he was the dog to beat. The first and second place dogs ran last.
It was about 57 degrees and raining heavy when he broke away. He hit the far edge and was out of sight for about 10 minutes. I found him at the back of the course standing his first bird. After that he ran great and produced another bird at about the 20 minute mark. I am sure that there was a bird present where he had his non-productive, but I just could not find it. I moved him up and he started to ground track like it was running in front of him, so I thought since it was raining so hard, there was a good chance he would catch up to it. I elected to call him ahead and take the hit versus having it flush in his face and risk him grabbing it.
Overall, I was very happy with his run. He is very consistent and is always in the mix and hopefully soon the wins will start coming. Looking back, it is pretty impressive that he has either won or placed in the top three dogs in every stake he has ever competed in.
Trex is a great dog and I am very happy with him. He has a great nose and is absolutely beautiful on point. I always make it a habit to look at the judges when he is standing a bird…they are always smiling! We have a few more chances this spring. I’ll keep you posted. Keep in touch.
Curtis P. Fry, P.E., M.S.
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Eric & Mardelle,
All I can say is Mission accomplished! Trex won the open gundog and open limited gundog stakes this past weekend to earn his Field Champion Title. The trial was held at the Beaver Valley Pointer and Setter Club. Trex had two great runs, and I never saw him establish point…we would just round a bend and there he would be 200 yards away standing a bird! He looked like a million bucks. He has so much style and drive. The judges loved him and a lot of the gallery gave him great compliments.
What’s next? I am still contemplating, but he is not done yet. Maybe some cover dog and definitely NAVHDA. I’ll let you know where we go from here and how Trex does along the way. I have really enjoyed the ride so far. Thanks for producing this great dog. He brings a lot of joy to my life. Attached are two pictures from this past weekend. As you can see, I have two young boys (Aidan and Logan) that have been part of Trex’s training program since he was 7 weeks old. I think they are hooked and they love to run Trex on the ATV and planting birds for him.
Thanks again for this great dog.
Curtis P. Fry, P.E., M.S.
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Eric & Mardelle,
Just a quick update. Trex placed fourth at a horseback trial held this past weekend. At the breakaway he was gone for about 10 minutes when I saw him pointing about 300 yards away along an edge. His brace mate ripped the bird from in front of him and chased it down over the hill…Trex never moved! Neither of the judges saw what happened so when they arrived they expected me to produce a bird. Since I could not find a bird, it was scored a non-productive point.
I cut him loose and he made a big cast along the back course. I lost him again when he cut through a line and started up the other side. My scout found him pointing a bird about 200 yards away. We were able to produce this bird and he stood steady.
I cut him loose and he took a long cast to the left. Just as they called time, he had another find but they determined it was after the half hour so they did not count it. In the end the judges told me his non productive hurt him and kept him out of the top two placements. I know what really happened so I can’t fault him for that…just a bad break. He did prove he can run and compete off of horseback, so I’m happy.
It was a large stake (24 dogs) so he was definitely one of the best on that day! It is pretty remarkable that Trex has either won or placed in every trial he has competed in. I’m spoiled!
Curtis P. Fry, P.E., M.S.
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4X CH Tekoa Mountain Jettsun - " Jett "
