Rye is a Sand Spring Puppy, he was born February 10, 2018. His parents are HR U-CH Sand Spring No Gut’s No Glory SH THDN CGCA CGCU TT “Glory” and Lzy Mtn Piper’s 3-D Brown Bear MH “Bear”. Rye is owned by my friend Rob.

I haven’t gotten to see Rye in person since he left Stancerville at 8 weeks of age. Rob is a hunter and runs AKC and UKC hunt tests. Last year he got a AKC Junior Hunter pass on Rye as well as 2 UKC HRC Started passes. This year he received another UKC HRC Started pass giving him 3 passes with 1 more needed for his Started title.

This past weekend Rob entered Rye in the Horicon Marsh HRC Started test on Sunday. We were going to be at the test as well as Slammer his nephew was entered in Started and his momma Glory was entered in Finished. We missed seeing Rye’s water series but we were able to see his land series.

For a HRC Started title you need to retrieve 2 single marks on water and 2 single marks on land. These are two separate series, the judges are grading your dog on it’s marking ability. They would like to see a nice return and deliver the duck to hand but it isn’t required at this level. If your dog brings the duck back to a area with in a couple steps of where you started you will pass.

When running HRC events you need to wear head to toe camo, this new rule will take effect Sept 1, 2019. Here are the new guidelines if your interested. “CLOTHING POLICY CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT The following policy was adopted by the HRC Board of Directors at their national meeting on June 8, 2019. “Clothing worn in retrieving hunt tests by judges, hunt marshals, gunners and handlers must be full camouflage, in colors suitable for waterfowl hunting, Including: Upper body: shirt, blouse, coat or jacket. Lower body: shorts, pants, skirt, or waders. Optional Head coverings: hat, visor, netting.” This policy replaces the previous policy on Clothing found in the current HRC Rulebook on page 7. The policy is effective immediately, however to allow handlers and others affected by this policy time to obtain the appropriate clothing, per the HRC Executive Committee, there will be a grace period lasting until September 1, 2019.” ~HRC

In order to receive an HRC Started Hunting Retriever title you need to receive 4 qualifying passes at started level. There are clubs that will host an event on the weekend so you are eligible to run and pass 2 tests if all goes in your favor. One test is held on a Saturday and one test is held on a Sunday. When you pass a Started test you also receive 5 points towards the 20 you need for your Started Hunting Retriever title. You can carry 10 of your Started Hunting Retriever points to your Hunting Retriever (Seasoned) points that are accumulated, that way you only need to compete and qualify in 3 Seasoned tests vs competing in 4 tests of you don’t have any Started passes.

Rob and Rye ran a great test. Rye was a hard charging guy on land when I watched him. He had a lot of drive and did what needed to be done without hesitation. He booked out there and back while delivering to hand. Congrats to Rob and Rye on a job well done. I’m so glad I was there to see it. They will now work on finishing up Rye’s AKC Junior Hunter title. He will be running some Junior tests in July in hopes to receive his title. He has one pass already so he will need 3 more passes for this title. Good luck to you both!

Since momma Glory was running at the same hunt test I got her out so we could get a picture of mother and son. They were happy to see each other but I don’t think they remembered each other. Glory is good with other dogs so they just played kissy face because the were around like kind.

It was so nice to see Rye, he is a handsome boy and I’m sure will get even more handsome as he grows and matures.

Rye’s new registered name is:

SHR Sand Spring’s Whiskey Bent And Hell-Bound