2015 American Brittany Club Central Futurity 2015 | Page 36

make some positive progress in training and the results were equally as positive in the field. We
paid our final forfeiture to the Central Futurity and chose to run Dubb as a walking gun dog and
showcase him in the show.

The 2002 Futurity started on Sunday March 24th with the show first. Dubb would go on
to win the Junior Dog Class. Senior Dogs would take 1st and 3rd Money Males and the Intermediate
Dog took 2nd Money Male. We knew our line of dogs matured more slowly than others and being a
younger entrant against more mature males, we were happy just to win our class. Monday the 25th
was reserved for the 20 All Age competitors and Tuesday the 26th was when we would get our
chance in the field of 17 Gun Dog competitors. However, the weather in Illinois did not cooperate
and Tuesday morning we woke up to 9 inches of wet, heavy snow. The event for the day would be
changed to “digging out” and the 2002 ABC Gun Dog Futurity would be postponed for a day.
Waking Wednesday to clear roads clear roads, but the fields were under a heavy blanket of snow.
Knowing that the conditions would be challenging we had flashbacks to the 1996 ABC Futurity with
Dubb’s father. There was comfort in the fact that the forum had changed and that the judges would
be looking for Gun Dog potential. 9” of snow was a hardship for the handlers, most of the dogs
seemed to enjoy the challenge. We drew third brace with a fine young dog from Ohio. This brace
proved to be a good one with a couple of divided finds and multiple bird contacts. Both dogs
demonstrating very good derby manners. At the end of the day our brace mate would take home
third place and second place would be reserved for Dubb. This combined with his effort in the show
ring made Dubb the ABC 2002 Central Futurity Dual Dog, maybe we should keep this dog after all.
Fortunately for us, during this time of ABC history, all of the Futurity placing dogs, from
all three Futurity Regions would be rewarded with a final Run-Off. The 2002 ABC National Gun
Dog Futurity Run-Off in Ionia, MI was in conjunction with Gun Dog Nationals. That year at Gun
Dog Nationals would be important for many reasons. First, this would be the first year that Open
Gun Dog Championship would be on horseback. Second this would be the inaugural running of the
Amateur Gun Dog Championship, which would remain a walking stake. Finally, and sadly, 2002
would be the last year for the National Gun Dog Futurity Run-Off.
With Dubb getting stronger every time he
ran and with our renewed faith in the ABC Futurity,
we decided to pay the entry and have a final run as a
derby. We loaded the van and headed to MI with our
young prospect and his father. This would prove to be
a very good week for us. The Futurity Run-Off would
run on Sunday April 28th, that day showed up with
drizzle and heavy overcast skies. We were pleased to
be in the third brace with another fine dog, a dog that
we were familiar with since both of us handlers had the
pleasure of hunting over both animals together the year
before. Denny Sullivan scouted for “Dubb” later at the

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