Category Archives: Gertie

Sand Spring Chesapeakes Year In Review 2025

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Sand Spring Chesapeakes Year In Review 2025

Slammer started out the year by turning 6. He is getting older and wiser. He’s such an easy keeper.

Cooter  turned one on Feb 21. She is such a ray of sunshine and has the quirks of her Grandpa Gambler, each day more and more of him come out.

After our birthday celebrations the sadness came in like a tidal wave. We didn’t lose one of our family pets, we lost two in three days. On March 7th, Gertie passed away from a neurological condition. She was shy of 6 years old to say we were saddened was an understatement. Then three days later March 10th Gambler passed away from an abdominal tumor. He was shy of 14 years old. We went from a household of 6 chessies to 4 in a very short period of time. We were knocked down by that wave but we shook ourselves off and started out with a new normal. That new normal included training the three dogs we have at home that we are working on achieving titles with. Slammer, Cooter and Snapper. Shank is still our pet and mascot for the others.

Shank turned three on April 25, she had her yearly eye exam in December and her cataracts haven’t changed. I put eye drops in each eye once a day and she hasn’t had any further eye problems. She is healthy and gives me so much joy and love.

Our achievements during the year – Slammer started off the titles by receiving his UKC Hunting retriever title on June 1st. He needed two more passes for his title in which he got that weekend at the River Valley Retriever club, judges on both days were Mike Botts and Rich Lemmer. Cooter was also at that hunt test running started both days. She picked up two started passes which is 10 points that she can carry over toward her seasoned title in the UKC HRC.

Cooter became a UKC Show Champion on June 7th, then on June 21st, she received her AKC Fetch Intermediate title and her AKC Farm Dog Certified title. On July 3rd, she passed her AKC Canine Good Citizen Advanced (community canine) and her Canine Good Citizen Urban titles. Snapper followed along with getting her Canine Good Citizen title the same day.  The end of July on the 27th Cooter finished up her AKC Junior Hunter title. She got four passes in 9 days. Then at the end of August on the 25th Cooter received her AKC Therapy Dog Novice title for completing 10 visits. She was raking in the titles in 2025.

Snapper picked up her UKC Show Champion on October 25th. She is our seventh Sand Spring dog to receive a UKC Show Champion. On October 31 she was certified as our 7th pet therapy dog with Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She made a couple of visits before the end of the year.

Snapper received two HRC Started passes the beginning of August at the Muddy Waters hunt test and then she passed two AKC Junior Hunter tests as well.

Slammer was the Golden Child once again; October 10th he was awarded the American Chesapeake Club Dual Award. This was awarded because he received his AKC Show Champion and his AKC Master Hunter titles. He was the 181 Chessie out of 220 titled to earn this award. He then went on to be the first Chessie to be the First Chessie in the UKC to receive a champion title in these four venues: United Senior Jumper Champion, Hunting Retriever Champion, Champion Shed Dog and Show Champion. He was awarded this recognition on October 17th. He was busy training so he could run a AKC Spaniel Hunt Test which he didn’t do so hot in as they need to sit to flush in the master level and he decided he couldn’t steady to flush and just ran like hell to get the bird. Hard to teach a old dog new tricks when we have been letting him get away with running to retrieve after the shot and not teaching him steady to flush as a pup. He ran a couple of shed dog events this past year as well earning more points towards his UKC Grand Champion Shed Dog title. He needs 30 more points to achieve that title which we will work on next year.

All three dogs were busy hunting this fall and winter. Slammer went with me to Saskatchewan to snow goose hunt with our buddies. While there I got to see so many Northern Lights each night and morning. One day I was able to shoot the ashes of all our dogs gone before us off into the barley field one morning when the lights were shining bright. The three hunters are all guiding at the pheasant farm as well.

September 28th Snapper turned one year old. She is coming along quite nicely and is a big part of Sand Spring Chesapeakes.

Slammer had another litter with his girly friend. They had 4 pups on December 15 so that makes him up to 48 pups. That is a lot of little Slammers out there.

Now for JoAnn’s exciting 2025. I was fortunate to be able to go on vacation with my girlfriends to Florida in March. It was a nice warm, much needed vacation after the losses of Gambler and Gertie. Then in June I took a family vacation with my brother’s family to induct my dad into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. It was such an emotional vacation, and I was truly blessed to have been able to do it with my brother and his family. We took on so many sites. We were able to be there for the Army’s 250 Birthday parade and what a site that was. Once in a lifetime vacation for sure.

John is still John and not much changed with him, but the creeps got to go deer hunting.

Thanks to everyone who was there to help us achieve our accomplishments and those who were there for all the memories of 2025.

Gertie UKC Elite Shed Dog Champion Title

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RACEN USJ RO1 CHSD INT-CH U-CH Sand Spring Strong Spear JH RA CGCA CGCU TKA THD FDC DS ATT BCAT FITS SPOT-ON “Gertie” earned her UKC Elite Shed Dog Championship title on December 6th, 2024. The host club was the Fox Valley Retriever Club with Brian Schlomann as the judge. I didn’t think she had enough points to receive her title so when the official title certificate came in the mail it was a pleasant surprise. Gertie is my second Sand Spring dog to receive the UKC Champion Shed Dog title. This title is bittersweet as it was the last title Gertie would receive before she passed. B/O/H/T by John & JoAnn Stancer of Sand Spring Chesapeakes, Cambria, WI.

Gertie’s ACC Bulletin Tribute

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RACEN USJ RO1 CHSD INT-CH U-CH Sand Spring Strong Spear JH RA CGCA CGCU TKA THD FDC DS ATT BCAT FITS SPOT-ON “Gertie” was born on 11/6/19 she was one of four pups born from the breeding of (UNJ U-CH Sand Spring Guilt By Association SH THDN CGCA CGCU TT SPOT-ON        x        GRHRCH3 Great Lakes The Deliverer HRC500 MH). She was the pick female to stay at Sand Spring to be our next breeder. When she was a year-old things went south with her health, she had a few seizures so we knew we couldn’t breed her. She then developed DCM and was spayed. She stayed at Sand Spring to be our companion and hunting dog. Since I was doing events with Slammer, I took Gertie along, we did conformation and performance events titling her in those events, along with all the fun froufrou thing we did she got more titles and ribbons. She was the “test dog” at our Cur-San training group, she will be missed by her training buddies. Her last title was in December of 2024 when she became a Champion Shed Dog. She was a meat hunter, she made trips to Saskatchewan, she was John’s pick for guiding at the pheasant farm and hunting in WI. She was our 4th certified therapy and R.E.A.D. dog. She made 80 visits in her short career of 4 years. She had such a fun personality, she was happy all the time rooing and dancing around the house, she could be serious too when the fun police came out of her, and she would tell the youngsters they were being a bit too crazy. Her life was cut way too short; we miss her dearly. Run free Dirty Gertie may the wind always be at your back and a bird in your mouth. 11/6/19 – 03/07/2025 B/O/H/T by John & JoAnn Stancer of Sand Spring Chesapeakes, Cambria, WI.

Gertie’s Obituary 11/6/2019 – 3/7/2025

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RACEN USJ RO1 CHSD INT-CH U-CH Sand Spring Strong Spear JH RA CGCA CGCU TKA THD FDC DS ATT BCAT FITS SPOT-ON “Gertie” was born on 11/6/19 she was one of four pups born from the breeding of (UNJ U-CH Sand Spring Guilt By Association SH THDN CGCA CGCU TT SPOT-ON        x        GRHRCH3 Great Lakes The Deliverer HRC500 MH). She was the pick female to stay at Sand Spring to be our next breeder. When she was a year-old things went south with her health, she had a few seizures so we knew we couldn’t breed her. She then developed DCM and was spayed. She stayed at Sand Spring to be our companion and hunting dog. Since I was doing events with Slammer, I took Gertie along, we did conformation and performance events titling her in those events, along with all the fun froufrou thing we did she got more titles and ribbons.

She was UKC and AKC registered. She was registered with Alliance of Therapy Dogs for 4 years of her life she visited schools, nursing homes and did home visits totally 80 visits. She was also R.E.A.D. certified where kids read to her at Fall River Elementary School. She was our 4th certified therapy dog. She even competed in events that none of our other dogs have competed in which were Fast Cat and Precision Lure Coursing.

In Gerties shorten life she was still able to live life to its fullest in the events category.

Here accomplishments are below:

6/12/20 She received her UKC SPOT-ON title

6/12/20 AKC Canine Good Citizen, Community Canine and Urban titles

6/22/20 AKC Trick Dog Novice title

7/11/20 AKC Trick Dog Intermediate title

7/12/20 AKC Trick Dog Advanced title

1/14/21 Alliance of Therapy Dog Certified

1/24/21 AKC Dock Senior Title

2/17/21 AKC Temperament Test title

2/20/21 UKC Rally Obedience 1 title

2/22/21 R.E.A.D. Certified

4/24/21 AKC Farm Dog Certified title

5/14/21 AKC Junior Hunter title

7/12/21 Therapy Dog Novice title with 10 visits

6/18/21 UKC Show Champion

6/18/21 Novice Precision Coursing

6/19/21 UKC United Senior Jumper title

7/23/21 AKC Rally Novice Title

8/21/21 International Show Championship

10/8/21 AKC Rally Intermediate title

5/24/22 Therapy Dog title with 50 visits

8/21/22 AKC BCAT title

9/11/22 UKC Working Shed Dog title

2021 she placed 3rd in the UKC Top Ten Standings being invited to the UKC Premier Top Ten Invitational

1/6/23 AKC Rally Advanced title

8/8/24 AKC Fit Dog Bronze title

10/15/24 AKC Fit Dog Silver title

12/6/24 UKC Champion Shed Dog title

Besides competing in UKC and AKC conformation and performance events she was an avid hunter. She made trips to Saskatchewan to hunt snow geese, Canada geese, Cranes, ducks and grouse. She hunted waterfowl, pheasants, woodcocks, turkeys and morning doves in WI. She was one of our guide dogs when we worked at Lone Oak Shooting Preserve, many pheasants were flushed and retrieved by Gertie. Her heart condition didn’t slow her down at all. I figured get her out hunting doing the thing she loves the best and if she goes at least she died happy but that never happened she kept hunting up until the end where a neurological condition ended her life too soon.

She had such a fun personality, she was happy all the time rooing and dancing around the house, she could be serious too when the fun police came out of her, and she would tell the youngsters they were being a bit too crazy. Her life was cut way too short; we miss her dearly. Run free Dirty Gertie may the wind always be at your back and a bird in your mouth. 11/6/19 – 03/07/2025 B/O/H/T by John & JoAnn Stancer of Sand Spring Chesapeakes, Cambria, WI.

Good Bye Dirty Gertie

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A star will shine bright tonight over Stancerville as Sand Spring Chesapeakes said goodbye to Gertie this morning at 1:04. In her short life of 5 years, 4 months and 1 day she was full of life until this Wednesday when she went to the vet for back pain and then Thursday she went downhill fast with showing neurological signs leading to not being able to walk and cluster seizures. No more wood hauling, no more rooing, no more therapy visits, no more Canada trips, no more pheasant hunting, no more hunting of any kind, no more being the fun police, no more high rise kennel, no more ribbons, no more titles, no more Dirty Gertie.

Sand Spring Year In Review 2023

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As we end 2023 I want to reflect back on the year and share with you what we have been up too.

Starting off in January Gertie received her AKC Rally Advanced title. We did virtual videos, we needed to pass three courses.

In February Slammer and I completed his UKC Conformation Grand Show Champion with a Total dog to boot! This makes his 6th Total dog pass.

In April Slammer became a dad again to a lovely litter of pups born to Ruby. 7 more kids out there.

April 22nd was the ACC WI Chessie Fun day held at our home (Stancerville). People and their chessies came from all over the US again. It was a fun filled day. We are always thankful for the beautiful day we are given with so many wonderful friends. This couldn’t happen without everyone chipping in.

In May Slammer and John passed their first AKC Master Hunter test.

While JoAnn got to take a trip to Vegas with her friend Jodie. We had a wonderful trip, we saw so many things and places. We put on 90,000 steps while there, we got around! A special moment during the trip was when I brought my friend Susie back to Vegas to be laid to rest. She passed away 9 years ago and her last wish was for me to take her ashes to Vegas and spread them at the place where Susie took me to Vegas for my first time. It was so bitter sweet. I miss her dearly and she is pulling the one arm bandit all day long.

Another very special memory from my time in Vegas will stay with me forever as it is permanently on my arm for me to each each day. I designed a tattoo and had an artist at H & H tattoo company apply it.

The paw print is Guilty’s, the heartbeat is her actual heartbeat, the outline is her and the cattails are actual cattails that I got when I put her great grandfather Norman to sleep. Her memory lives on.

The end of June W.A.C.K.O. club hosted a Elite Shed Dog event at Stancerville. It was a three day event. Slammer and Gertie passed each day. On the second day Slammer received a 3rd place. Slammer has 65/100 and Gertie 30/100 points needed for their champion titles.

In July Slammer and John passed their second AKC Master Hunter test.

Slammer also became a dad for the fourth time. Dicca and him had a litter of 11 pups which kept Dicca’s owners on their toes.

August was a productive month. Slammer and John passed their 3rd AKC Master Hunter test.

September started out the busy month by JoAnn going Bear hunting with a friends brother and his bear hound dogs. I was successful the first morning I went out.

My friend Kim S talked me into showing Slammer in AKC conformation. I couldn’t show the first day so Kim showed Slammer, I then received a text stating that Slammer went WD/BOB for a 3 point major. To say I was surprised was an understatement. Host clubs were the Greater Racine Kennel Club and the Cudahy Kennel Club.

The second day of the show I showed Slammer and we received WD/BOB for another 3pt major. This guy was on a roll.

September was the month I had been working all year for. The ACC National Field Trial Specialty was being held in Stoughton, WI. I was one of the committee members to make this happen. It was such a great 4 days. The chair-cochair, committee members, volunteers all did an amazing job. I was happy to be apart of this event.

Right after the NFT John and Gertie headed to Saskatchewan for a week of snow goose hunting. They had a great time with their friends. Hoping this next year I can get back into going.

While John was in Canada I went to another dog show with Slammer. This show was hosted by the Sheboygan Kennel Club. He received a second and a RW.

The end of September I entered another dog show this time with Riggs. Host club was Rockford-Freeport Kennel Club. Riggs was 1st and then WD for his first 3pt major. On the second day he was 2nd/RW.

The end of October I hit a three day dog show with Slammer again. Host clubs were the Kenosha Kennel Club and Skokie Valley Kennel Club. The first day Slammer went 1st/wd/boboh for his 3rd 3pt major. The second day he went 1st/RW. The third day he went 1st/WD for his 4th 3pt major. He’s on fire!

We ended the show season of 2023 with 4 majors, 12 points and NOHS Bronze with 10 points. Unbelievable!!

October we started guiding at Lone Oak Shooting preserve again along with regular hunting. The dogs are having fun picking up birds. Gambler at 12.5 years and Glory at 12 years are still hunting and doing a great job at it. I have to scream a little louder as they are deaf but they get the job done.

Through out the year Gambler, Glory, Slammer and Gertie visited Clearview Health Campus once a week doing pet therapy. Bringing smiles to the residents.

The middle of December Slammer and I went to another Elite Shed Dog event. He timed out the first day, passed the second day and had to scratch the third day as I was called to go bobcat hunting. He now has 75/100 points to earn his champion shed dog title.

John and I both had bobcat tags, John drove me up to Sheldon, WI to hunt with the same peeps who took me bear hunting. John happened to be near the cat before I got there so he tagged it. There wasn’t another chance for me to hunt as it hadn’t snowed again before the season closed. We hunted with hound dogs and what a trip it is to witness another breed hunting.

Gambler got the privilege to hunt with his Boykin buddy Ted one last time. Gambler is 12.5 years and Ted is going on 14 years with walking disabilities. They have been hunting together a couple times during the pheasant season for the past 10 years. Gambler doesn’t play well with others but he respects Ted and it’s amazing to watch these two dogs work together to get the job done. I always have fun watching the Boykins hunt and hunting under them. Thank you Ted for many hunts with Gambler.

Bruce was able to snap this photo of Gambler and I walking side by side hunting. When Gambler’s dad Norman was 12 years old John snapped a photo of Norman and I walking side by side at Lone Oak Shooting Preserve. I now have to favorite photos of me and my pals.

Shank is Shank and has been visiting the Vet School every 3-4 months to have her cataracts evaluated. She is on daily medication and her eyes are stable. She is a fun loving little gal that doesn’t know she has a problem. Bones is her buddy as she is always stalking him and trying to play with him. He is still going strong with his megaesophagus with not having any health issues from it.

We had a uneventful Christmas and New Year.

This brings Sand Spring Chesapeakes 2023 to a close. We had a fun filled year with hoping more fun and accomplishments in 2024. We hope you all had the year you wanted and hope you have a happy, healthy and safe 2024. We will be seeing you!

Year In Review 2022 Sand Spring Chesapeakes

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As we close out 2022 and bring upon 2023 I would like to take a moment to reflect on 2022 the good the bad and the ugly. I do this so I can have a record of what the year has brought when I look back and to share the year with others.

Our 2022 was started out with the good and the bad that was carried over from December of 2021. It was on Christmas day 2021 that we welcomed 2 precious Norman and Guilty pups into this world. This was Guilty’s last breeding and when we found out the bad that Guilty had something going on with her liver.

Guilty was such a great mom during this time, her liver was failing and she marched on and took care of her pups. It’s amazing what mothers will do for their young. For the next six months Guilty would be on medications for her liver and bloodwork to monitor her values. During this time she didn’t act like anything was wrong, she was still a happy go lucky dog that would do anything to please us.

The middle of February Jake and Kola went to their forever homes. I accompanied Kola on his flight to Alabama to live with our best friends Alan and Nichole whom also have another Sand Spring pup Hector. The night in the hotel and flight went so well with Kola, he adapted to everything without skipping a beat. I had a great time visiting Alabama, I got to see and do so much in the short time I was there.

Gertie and Slammer were invited to the UKC Premier. Both of them were in the 2021 Top Ten for conformation which meant they were invited to the 2022 Premier, we didn’t make it to the Premier but it was a honor to be invited.

Gertie received her AKC Therapy Dog title, she made 50 therapy visits to earn this title. Mostly she visited John’s dad who was homebound then in the nursing home. It made Gertie’s day and Howards day to do the visits. It’s always nice to make visits and put smiles on peoples faces.

Slammer and John competed in two UKC HRC Seasoned tests, passing both of them to earn Slammer’s Hunting Retriever title. During the summer he continued to train towards his UKC finished and AKC Master Hunter title. He ran two master tests in which he failed both. We learned that more training is needed to accomplish this task.

Slammer and JoAnn received their AKC Rally Advanced title. The rally events were all done virtually. He passed three rally courses.

April 25, a litter of 9 was born to Belle, Slammer was the sire. Since we were not breeding Guilty anymore and Gertie was spayed due to health reasons we took a puppy in lieu of a stud fee. We picked out this little beauty and named her Shank.

At six months of age we got some bad news on Shank. It turns out she has pretty bad cataracts so we won’t be able to breed her either. This was some pretty sad news to us as it pauses our breeding plans for a few more years. Shank is currently being treated by the UW Madison Veterinary School. So far we are managing her cataracts with medications. Surgery to replace her lens will probably be in her future but for now we are going to hope her eyes stay quite and she keeps her vision for a long time.

The ugliest thing that happened this year is that we lost Guilty to liver cancer. She was doing great on her medications until she wasn’t. Her liver was one of the worst that the pathologist has seen, we can’t believe she did as well as she did. Guilty never woke up from an exploratory surgery and after assisting in surgery and seeing how bad the liver was we chose to let her go peacefully. Guilty was 6 years young. One shouldn’t have to loose a dog that young. We will remember the great times we had with her and are blessed to have 2 of her children to keep her memory alive.

This summer I tried something new with Gertie we entered some AKC Fast Cat events. Gertie received her BCAT title. It took a little bit to get her to chase the bag as I think she thought that was dumb but she caught on or she just wanted to run to momma, which ever she got it done.

The most amazing thing of 2022 was that my friend Nichole invited me along with her on a trip the Europe. Thank you husband Alan for not wanting to go so I could go. What a trip of a life time, I can’t thank her enough for that opportunity. I also need to thank her niece Casey for being an excellent tour guide and hanging with us. Casey picked us up at the airport with her two young children, drove us to their lovely home in Bury St. Edmund, showed us their town and then it was off to Guernsey Island then Normandy then back to England then Nichole and I were off for a layover in Paris which was spent in the very boring airport. Can’t complain the rest of the trip was to die for!

We went to Normandy did all the Dday history stuff. One cannot even imagine the feeling one gets to visit that part of our history. It had so much meaning. I can’t thank those soldiers enough for their service and braveness. I will never forget what they did for our freedom.

Another favorite part of the trip for me was that I got to meet Karen from Jersey on Guernsey Island. She took a short 12 minute flight over to the Island to hang with me. What a wonderful day it was, can’t believe we’ve been facebook friends forever and we finally got to meet in person.

I didn’t get to meet just one facebook friend I got to meet three. While in Normandy my blogging friends Mark and Katty drove 3 hours one way to meet up with me, how great is that? We’ve been blogging friends back with Norman and their Easy was alive, we shared their lives and then we grieved their losses. We exchange doggie bday and xmas gifts. They are such lovely people I am so blessed to have gotten to meet them and their new doggies Phenny and Nelson. I will never forget meeting my facebook friends.

When I got back home it was time to run another UKC Elite Shed Dog event to try and get Slammer and Gertie their Working Shed Dog titles. They both passed all three days giving them their titles. Off to Champion level for us now.

Another sad time for our family was John’s dad Howard passing away. He live a good long live until Alzheimer’s took over and ended his life. We will remember him for always hunting and fishing in his spare time. He loved all our dogs and helped us out by letting them out while we were at work. He loved Gerties therapy visits when he couldn’t get out of the house.

Another good time in 2022 was when Slammer became a dad for the second time. This time he was bred to Dicca and they had 5 beautiful boys. I’m blessed to have had a part in this and to now follow along in the adventures of some of the puppies.

During 2022 Slammer and I attended a few UKC conformation shows. We have one more champion leg we need to earn to grant him his UKC Grand Champion title. We already have dates in 2023 where we could possibly get this done.

Before the dog show we ran a shed dog event in the champion division. It was snowing hard that morning so the antlers were hard to find. Gertie timed out without finding all her antlers, Slammer on the other hand was a rock star and found his 5 antlers in 4 minutes and some seconds. He ended up in fourth place for the day. We were super happy. When we were at the dog show I entered Slammer in Rally Obedience for a chance to receive Total Dog. Slammer received third place in rally with getting reserve in the show ring gave him Total Dog for the day, so all in all it was a great weekend.

This fall we didn’t go to Saskatchewan since when they decided to lift the bird ban there wasn’t enough time for John to get off work to go so we had to decline the offer to go. We did do a little bird hunting here in Wisconsin. The most fun is guiding at Lone Oak Shooting Preserve, all the dogs get a turn at guiding. What’s not to love about picking up birds, they don’t care who shoots them and I don’t care that I’m not shooting them. All I care about is my dogs getting birds in the mouth. Gambler and Glory both turned 11 this year and they still have it.

To close out 2022 there was Christmas and now Sunday 2023 starts.

All in all through the hard times 2022 was special and very memorable. Every year there are going to be good times and bad times along with some devastating times. All I can say is that these times make us stronger for the next phase in life. With family, friends and our dogs by our sides we can get through anything.

Peace and love to all!