Wow what a year Sand Spring Chesapeakes has had. We said goodbye to the Gloryious One and hello to Cooter and Snapper. We are up to the most Chessies in a house than we ever had. Just like tater chips, can’t have just one so let’s go for 6. This year I think we set a record for the most titles we got on three dogs with the all-time high number of 19. Without further ado this is how our year went down.

We hit the ground running in competitions with entering Slammer in the new AKC Fetch event that opened in February. He received his Fetch Novice title. I became a Fetch judge as well and got to judge some events this year. What fun I had doing that. In March Slammer received his AKC Rally Excellent title, that will be the last title we go for in Rally.

April had its highs and its lows. Slammer received two more Fetch titles, Intermediate and Advanced. The high was after 24 years Sand Spring finally bought a puppy from another breeder. Snow Prairie Retrievers had a litter of 12. When I looked at the breeding, I saw that Gamber was the litters grandpa. I didn’t even know where all Gamblers offspring had gone so it was a surprise to see this breeding. Of course, I had to have one of these pups as we need to get our breeding program up and running again with some breeding females. I put a deposit down and on April 17^th I flew to Texas and picked up baby Cooter. The low part of April was two days after I brought Cooter home, we said goodbye to Sand Spring No Gut’s No Glory – AKA Glory – Gloryious One. She was the best Gma and puppy helper that anyone could have asked for. She raised her puppies then she raised her grandpuppies. They could crawl all over her and she didn’t bat an eye. We could trust her with anything or anyone. She is deeply missed.

In May I got the biggest surprise ever, I had been showing Slammer in AKC conformation, he needed one more point for his championship. On May 5^th he got one more point and Sand Spring Chesapeakes got their first AKC Show Championship. To say I was over the moon happy is an understatement. Cooter went to her first puppy UKC show with her boyfriend, good practice and getting her used to the show ring. The end of May at only three months old Cooter received her AKC Canine Good Citizen title. She was such a good puppy.  In June Slammer leaped into another title, this time it was in UKC dock jumping. He received his United Master Jumper title, his personal best was jumping 22 ft.

July was another high for us, Slammer received his AKC Master Hunter title, this makes the third male at Sand Spring to get their Master title. Slammers brother Gambler has his and their dad Norman has his as well, runs in the family! Slammer also received his Champion Shed Dog title at our WACKO event we host each year. Gertie received three qualifying champion passes with two fourth place placements at our shed dog event.

August we were still dock jumping so Slammer received his United Senior Jumper Champion title. We started a new event by exercising so he also received his Fit Dog Bronze title. I did the fit dog series with Gertie as well, so she received her Fit Dog Bronze title too. The end of August Cooter and I took a little trip with her boyfriend Ronan and his mom Dana. We went to Ohio to attend the ACC National Show Specialty. We had a great time getting practice in the show ring and hanging out with all our Chessie friends from across the US and across the pond. September was another high with multiple titles and a welcoming of baby Snapper into the world. Cooter received her Fetch Novice title, one Fetch Intermediate pass and her Trick Dog Novice title. Slammer received the highest Fetch title, so he is now a Fetch Retriever. He went on to receive his Fit Dog Silver title as well. September 28 I was invited to ride along with the Crawfish gang to Carmelita’s c-sec. The baby daddy is Slammer so of course I welcomed that invitation with open arms. Early that Saturday morning we all hopped into the creeper van and off we went to Veterinary Village. Carmelita was definitely uncomfortable. By the time we got there, opened the door of the van and let her hop down I told Irene to grab a towel as she was having a puppy. So, there we were delivering the first puppy in the vet clinic parking lot. We got her and the puppy in the building where she continued to deliver the puppies, Irene and I helped deliver them then passed them off to the veterinary staff to put in the incubator to keep them warm. We delivered 8 then she shut down, so a c-sec was done at that time to get the last three out. One pup died and she ended up with 10 healthy pups. Snapper was green number 4 girl that I got to deliver so it was a very special moment. The pups went home with momma and the Crawfish gang to grow until 7 weeks of age when I got to bring Snapper home.

October we were still achieving titles as Gertie received her Fit Dog Senior title. Slammer and Gertie got to go on vacation to Saskatchewan where they hunted for a week. I haven’t been to Canada since before Covid so it was nice to go back up to hunt and visit all our friends there. The highlight of the hunting trip was me hunting for the Northern Lights in which I was successful and saw so many pretty lights and got a thousand photos of them. At the end of October John and I started guiding pheasant hunts. Slammer and Gertie were the main ones guiding, Cooter was started on pheasants.

On November 17, I brought baby Snapper home to stay. It was one of the best Birthday presents ever. We now hopefully will have two breeding females when the time comes.

We are nearing the end of 2024, and the Sand Spring gang is still racking up the titles. Slammer received his Fit Dog Gold title and his Therapy Dog Advanced title for having 50 therapy dog visits. Slammer, Gertie and Gambler have all done therapy work this year. We visit two facilities each week. We enjoy our therapy time and love to bring smiles to the residents. I even started taking Cooter so she could get used to the environment. When she turns one, I will have her tested and start her in therapy work. Gertie got two more champion shed dog passes, a couple more and she will receive her title. Cooter was entered in her first official UKC conformation show. She attended 6 shows, she received three competition wins and 75 points towards her title.

In December we got some sad news that Gertie’s sister Nina passed away from liver failure. She is with momma Guilty now and we are very sorry for Nina’s family and thank them for the great life they gave her.

For Gamblers Christmas present we took him on a pheasant hunt. He is now 13.75 years old, and he is doing pretty well for an old guy. He was in all his glory out hunting, you could see the shine in his eyes and the smile on his face flushing and retrieving the pheasants. He retrieved 9 pheasants, and he wanted to do more. There were times I couldn’t keep up with him. He was an excellent hunter in his younger years and he, despite being old, is still an excellent hunter. Can’t keep a good hunting dog down.

Shank and Bake didn’t get to do anything special this year but became the best snuggler ever. She had her yearly eye exam and her cataracts are stable. The right one is still small and the left one that is huge isn’t getting bigger or causing any problems. She gets to hang out, eat, play and babysit the pups another year.

Bones is still going strong too, his mega esophagus is stable as well and he keeps trucking on too.

Cree and Pee  are well Cree and Pee, John and I are both doing well and are looking forward to another fun filled year ahead with so many events to enter and so much training to do.

I want to take a moment to say thanks to my training group as without you all we wouldn’t be where we are today, looking forward to another training session with you all too!

Happy New Year everyone!