Sporting Spaniel Association of NSW Inc - Field Trial Notification

Open Stake Field Trial & Novice Stake Field Trial (to be run concurrently)
Date: Saturday 14th August 2010
Judges: Steve Sapseed (2nd judge to be announced shortly)
Entry fee: $25.00 per dog. Entries must be received by 6th August.
All entrants must have their dogs registered with WGAA and must also be members of either WGAA or a SSAA gundog affiliated club.
The trial will be conducted in accordance with WGAA Spaniel Field Trial rules.
For more details email: warren.hardman@bigpond.com

WGAA Vic July training day 2010.

The WGAA (Vic) monthly training day certainly is an institution. For 12 years, rain, hail or shine, the training day has continued on – and believe me, there have been many days of climatic extremes.
On an area of land that will probably be coved by an industrial estate one day, literally hundreds (probably thousands by now) of gundogs have turned up to be trained in the various aspects of gundog work. Through it all the patient trainers have encouraged, instructed, prompted and guided the handlers. The WGAA training day is a unique canine event.
The following slideshow shows a typical training day in action. Anyone wanting to come along to Melton on the third day of each month should contact the training officer, Graham Hayes, 97437402. Email - jeddah@alphalink.com.au

For more photos please click HERE and wait for the slideshow to load.

NEW SOUTH WALES WGAA POINTER & SETTER CLOSED SEASON TRIALS.

The WGAA NSW Closed Season Pointer & Setter trials kicked off on the weekend of the 11th and 12th July in ideal conditions. Great grass paddocks, plenty of game, nice overcast conditions and a good breeze were all available. To the Victorians who attended it was almost unbelievable to see so much game – a real return to the good old days prior to the setting in of the drought. (One of the handlers gave a young pup a run after the Saturday trial and in the space of half an hour put up nearly 60 birds with the pup tallying 30 finds!) Button quail, brown quail and stubble quail were all seen over the two days, along with some spectacular peregrine falcons.
Saturday’s trial saw all of the 7 competing dogs (all pointers) have multiple finds in what was a high quality affair. Finds on running birds, finds on birds that were sitting tight, backs, good productions, some great ground coverage were all on display. The judge, Vince Guastella, called on his many years of experience to select beats that gave all dogs the opportunity to showcase what they could do.
At the end of the event the three dogs that were placed on the podium were: in first place the experienced F CH and F CH (CS) Koram Kris at Innistona (imp Ire) handled by Henry Foster, runner up was Andrew Melisi’s Similax Conte and in third place was the stylish Walteela Blitz handled by John Arsenis.
Sunday’s trial started off in similar fashion to the day before with more high quality work on display. However, as the event proceeded some errors crept in, especially during a warm spell when the clouds cleared and dogs began to put themselves out. Two dogs were left to vie for trial honours, Michael Zandona’s Addum Domino (imp NZ) and Andrew Melisi’s Similax Conte. These two had certainly given an exhibition in round one, but as sometimes happen in trials, especially when tired at the end of two days of competition, they also began to falter and Vince, mindful of the importance of keeping a high standard , called it quits with a‘no result’. The award of Best Novice dog went to Michael’s pointer dog.
Well done to the NSW WGAA group for putting in the effort to make this a very successful weekend. These were both hard fought events that featured some well bred trial dogs and some very experienced handlers – and a judge who has seen it all. We look forward to returning for the August trials on the weekend of 28th and 29th August 2010. For enquiries contact Andrew Melisi on 0419 166 965.



To view photos please click HERE and wait for the slideshow to load.

WGAA WA Pointer & Setter Trials 2010

The Western Australian Closed Season (CS) field trial circuit kicked off on Friday 4th June and continued until Monday 7th June – 4 trials in 4 days, a trialler’s nirvana. Once again those in charge had done a great job providing excellent paddocks in the WA grain belt, vast paddocks that seemed to stretch on forever. The infrastructure for the event all worked smoothly with competitors coming from SA, Vic & WA.
The opening event was the Bob Dean Memorial and was well won by Henry Foster’s Major. A hiccup with the retrieve saw Ferrante Alvarez de Toledo’s young (10 mths) English Setter bitch, Tina, unable to be awarded second, a placing she was certainly worthy of. However she did take the Best Novice dog award. The following day saw the Closed Season National conducted. This was the main event of the weekend but unfortunately very touchy game confounded the best efforts of the dogs and handlers. The award of Best Pointer and Best Novice went to Barry Oliver’s Veeda (PB). Best setter on the day went to John Kersley’s Chili (ESB). The WA State Championship was the third event to be run and the worthy winner was the local dog, Alan Willey’s Abbey (PB). The final event was the Jack Pontin Memorial, won convincingly by Major once again but this time with Tina performing well enough to be awarded a meritorious second place.
This is the third year that the West Australians have presented this event, and they are to be congratulated, especially Alan Willey. Getting things right for one trial can be a challenge, 4 in 4 days is something else again. All this, plus ample training opportunities are made available for the competitors, certainly a unique event.

For slideshow of pictures please click HERE

Next Training Day

The next training day will be held on Sunday 20th June at Tullidge Reserve, Melton, Melways Ref 337 D 10. Training commences at 9am and finishes with a BBQ lunch at around 12pm. Anyone with a gundog is welcome. Please contact the Training Officer, Graham Hayes on 9743 7402.

Next Training Day

The next training day will be held on Sunday 16th May at Tullidge Reserve, Melton, Melways Ref 337 D 10. Training commences at 9am and finishes with a BBQ lunch at around 12pm. Anyone with a gundog is welcome. Please contact the Training Officer, Graham Hayes on 9743 7402.
Posted by WGAA Working Gundog Association of Australia (SSAA) at 15:49 0 comments

WGAA (Vic) Retrieving Challenge - Feb 28th 2010

Click here to see photos.

WGAA Retrieving Discipline held its second Retrieving Challenge Event on Sunday 28th February 2010 near Bacchus Marsh. This event was open to all WGAA members and to gundogs of all abilities.
The Challenge is designed to replicate quail, duck and rabbit shooting scenarios. The event as the name suggests is a challenge to all dogs, with 12 of the most recognised retrieves set, covering quail, rabbit and duck retrieves for handlers and dogs to negotiate.
Teams of three complete the series of retrieves. The retrieves are set at different levels of difficulty, with experienced dogs completing the more advanced retrieves and less experienced dogs completing the easier runs.
The event saw a variety of gundogs competing - English Pointers, German Shorthaired Pointers, L’epagneul Breton, Hungarian Vizsla, and Labrador Retrievers, it was great to witness what a great job these dogs do in retrieving.
The winning team with a great score of 260 points:
Alex Jevric with Elle – L’epagneul Breton (Open)
Barry Oliver with Veeda – English Pointer (Advanced)
George Loucas with Nugget – Hungarian Vizsla (Intermediate)
Great individual achievements went to Alex Jevric, who has now succeeded twice in the Open section and to Bill Allen in the Intermediate Section.
The Retrieving Committee is very grateful to Kevin Phelps who organised the magnificent property, and many thanks to the property owners.
The club would like to thank Dianna and Kevin Phelps, who put on a magnificent lunch, certainly one of the highlights of the day, and also Dean Watts, who spent the day showing new handlers and young dogs the ropes for the Retrieving Challenge.
This all goes well for the future of the Retrieving Discipline in the club. More information about the Challenge concept can be obtained from Graham Hayes – Ph 9743 7403 email: Jeddah@alphalink.com.au
This Certainly was a Great Club Event