Working Gundog Association of Australia WGAA

Monday 25 November 2019

Dogs of the Year

Sam Heyes & Nick Guida

2019 RETRIEVING DOG OF THE YEAR

Dual National Retrieving Champion Bambillay River Sands (Russ) trophy donated by Byron Kendall

CONINGSBURGH TASHA GIRL ARD (Nellie) – owned by Sam Heyes

Nellie had an outstanding win in the Open Stake on 22 September.

It was fitting that Byron Kendall judged this trial as he also donated the shield for Retrieving Dog of the Year.

This is Nellie’s third Retrieving Dog of the Year. Well done Nellie

2019 FIELD TRIAL DOG OF THE YEAR

Trophy donated by Annette & Nick Guida

RIPRAP ROXY NRD IRD (Marley) is owned by Nick & Annette Guida

Marley had an outstanding win on 26 May with 5 finds, 2 retrieves and 2 backs.

Marley only needs 2 more points to become a Field Trial Champion.

Marley has previously won Retrieving Dog of the Year – this is an outstanding double to win both Field Trial Dog of the Year as well as Retrieving Dog of the Year in 2017.

Christmas Breakup 17 Nov 19

Sunday 17^th of November saw the finish of what has been a very busy second half of the year for Working Gundogs with a training day and Christmas breakup. Since late June two retrieving trials, a field trial, the inaugural Non-Indigenous Game Bird trials, the AGM, training days and of course the Shot Expo (4 shows put on over two days) have been held. All of these events have meant planning, meetings, unpacking and then re-packing equipment, endless phone calling, texting and meetings. A big thankyou to everyone who was in some way involved in any or all of this programme.

Sunday’s event saw some 50 plus members turn up for a relaxing training day and pre-Christmas lunch in a picture-perfect venue at Riddells Creek. Training took something of a back seat to sitting around after morning tea and cake. Chatting and relaxing were the order of the day while being entertained by the dogs retrieving off the jetty! The free lunch was in itself a triumph, with head cook Jamie Stellini pulling out all stops with a splendid BBQ, along with many and varied salads topped off by a delicious dessert. The monster raffle was generously supported by members and the money raised will go towards more training equipment.

To all our members, have a safe and happy Christmas.

Scout makes a daring leap

Paul and his German Wirehaired Pointer

Angie & Ishtar

Jason & Andrew

Some of the many members who attended the breakup.

Andrew's Golden Retriever, Bass

10 year member David & his chocolate lab.

Kevin's lab Aussie

Darren and his GSP

Darren, Gary (20 year member), Kevin, Alex & Ray

WGAA Training Officer, Kevin & Hoolie

Thursday 24 October 2019

SSAA Shot Expo - Melbourne 19 & 20 October 2019

The WGAA demo team did the club proud at the SSAA Shot Expo over the weekend. Breeds represented were Labs, L’Epagneul Bretons, Weimaraners, GSP’s, Golden Retrievers and Pointers. Well done to Shane Emond for his work on the PA and his inclusive work with Senator Bridget McKenzie (Deputy Leader of the National & Minister for Agriculture) and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party leader, Jeff Bourman (MLC for Eastern Victoria). Both politicians mingled with spectators and handlers and were very appreciative of the quality of work.

Spectator numbers were again huge and they were appreciative as the dogs put on brilliant displays of gundog work expertly organised by our WGAA Training Officer, Kevin Phelps. Star of the shows was probably Steve Luck’s GSP Meg who featured in several hunting scenarios. Great work Meg. The gundog demo wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Sam Heyes’ chocolate lab, Nellie and her magnificent retrieve of a giant Canada goose dummy and her ever popular finale retrieving tinnies from an esky! Well done also to newcomers Sam and Nigel.

WGAA recognises the support and encouragement of Geoff Jones, SSAA National President, Denis Moroney, SSAA Vic State President, Jim Jeffrey, WGAA National Discipline Chairman and Sam Talbot, Australian Shooter Communications Officer, all of whom took the time to attend the display. Lots of thanks also to all at the Vic State office for the smooth running of everything including permits, passes, stand decoration, printing of brochures and general good spirits.

Thanks also to the handlers and backstage crew - Steve, Kevin, Sam, Jason, Angie, Alex, Andrew Y, Richard, Andrew K, Barry, Kathy, Nigel, Sam and Grace for the bbq.

Angie & Ishtar

PA/multi tasker Shane & Slim in full flight

Billie in her first demo.

The pros in action - Angie & Ishtar with Sam, Nellie & Scout

Andrew & Bass

Demo head honcho, Kevin & Aussie

Meg showing her new found crawling ability

High fives all round. Well done Nellie.

Richard & his young GSP

Alex & Buddy

Andrew's Golden Retriever, Bass

Barry's young pointer, Blaze

WGAA National Chairman, Jim Jeffrey (Qld) shooting for Shane & Slim

Sam's young lab, Scout

Steve & Meg

Barry with Kio pointing.

Senator Bridget McKenzie shooting for Shane & Slim

Senator Bridget McKenzie & the WGAA team celebrating another successful demo.

MLC Jeff Bourman, Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Party shooting for Shane & Slim

Sam & his young lab Cooper

Retrieving Trial - Retrieving Trial - 22 September 2019

WGAA struck the jackpot with a beautiful day and a perfect property for a retrieving trial. Sunshine all day long and a mild temperature set the scene for a very successful Intermediate and Open stake at Nagambie. Judges Bill Allen (birthday boy) and Byron Kendall (recently returned from a 3 day judging stint in Queensland) did a sterling job setting testing runs and WGAA is extremely appreciative of their efforts. As usual WGAA went above and beyond and the lunch put on by Kevin was one to remember.

Results

Intermediate – Judge Bill Allen

1^st Brian Williamson & Millie (Lab) – 162 points

2^nd Shane Emond & Slim (Lab) – 156 points

3^rd Phillip Coish & Bella (Lab) – 140 points

4^th Kevin Phelps & Hoolie (GSP) – 136 points

Open – Judge Byron Kendall

1^st Sam Heyes & Nellie (Lab) – 106.5 points

2^nd Steve Luck & Meg (GSP) – 103 points

3^rd Phillip Coish & Bella (Lab) – 80.5 points

The start of another great WGAA day.

Joseph Camilleri & Ollie

1st Intermediate - Brian Williamson & Millie

2nd Open - Steve Luck & Meg and judge, Byron Kendall

1st Open - Sam Heyes & Nellie

Wayne Phelps & Boss

4th Intermediate - Wayne Phelps handling Kevin's dog Hoolie

3rd Intermediate & Open - Phil Coish & Bella

All paying attention!

2nd Intermediate - Shane Emond & Slim

Intermediate judge, Bill Allen & Open judge, Byron Kendall

Monday 2 September 2019

Training day - Sunday 15th September 2019

Our next training day is Sunday the 15th of September.
Training will start at 9.00am with a bbq lunch and soft drinks at 12.00.

For more information contact our Training Officer, Kevin Phelps 0407 091 221
Directions:
Meet at the Emu Creek Bridge on Konagaderra Rd, Clarkfield.
To get to the Emu Creek bridge head North West on the C743 through Bulla. Turn North onto the Melbourne-Lancefield Rd. Travel 13km then turn right onto Konagaderra Rd and it's about 1km along that road to the bridge.
Anyone with a gundog is welcome. We cater for beginners, puppies and experienced handlers.

Non-Indigenous Game Bird (NIGB) Trial - 1 September 2019

Clashing with Father’s Day whittled down our numbers somewhat but the stalwarts that turned up did WGAA proud. The usual protagonists that competed certainly had their work cut out for them – the weather conditions were a tad difficult – a freezing wind that was unrelenting all day.

The competitors were Joe and Steve with their GSPs, Barry and his 2 pointers, Wayne and Eric with their Brittanys and Richard with his Wei cross.

The judges were Kathy Oliver & Kevin Phelps, Sam put the birds out on his ATV and Shane took the pics.

It was great to see such a large turnout of supporters including the Beesley’s who were up for the day from deep in deer country at Jamieson.

We are still fine tuning this new trial format but we are improving with each trial. The standout dogs on the day were Steve’s GSP Meg, Barry’s pointer Kio and Wayne’s Brittany Boss. However, the poor shooting became too much for the judge and after a long (really long) heat between Meg and Kio a ‘no result’ was declared.