Smoke Rise Kennel continues to produce Champion bird dogs. The dogs shown below were trained and handled to their titles. Hearty congratulations to these great dogs and their owners.

Drifter is a home-grown champion. The son of Sandra’s best Gordon buddy, Smokey, Drifter has never known a trainer other than Jesse. Working with this innately talented dog has been both a blessing and a challenge. In spite of having more “bird dog” than he knows what to do with, Drifter can be soft and had to be brought along with a patient and loving hand. Drifter repaid that consideration by capturing all but one point of his field title by the time he was two and a half years old. In the Spring of 2007, running only occasionally, Drifter completed his title by winning a 21-dog Open Gun Dog stake at an all-breed trial in Ohio. Drifter had turned 3 years old five days before that competition.

A California import owned by Carolyn Gold, Flyer became a member of the Smoke Rise team in 2005. Having spent over a year with another trainer with nothing to show for it, Flyer arrived at Smoke Rise too old to run in Derby. He came out as a Gun Dog in Fall of 2005, scoring placements behind older, more mature dogs. The following season (Spring and Fall 2006), Flyer racked up numerous placements in Open Gun Dog and Open Limited Gun Dog, including a 5-point major and a 4-point major. Impressively, Flyer completed the Fall season in 2006 with 9 of the 10 points needed for his field championship, all earned out of the broke-dog stakes. In the Spring of 2007, with a bit more experience under his belt, Flyer came out with a can-do attitude. He scored multiple placements in the early part of the season, but could never quite break through to that blue ribbon position. Finally, in May of 2007, at the last all-breed trial of the season, Flyer secured the elusive final point needed for his Field Championship by winning a 15-dog Gun Dog stake in Michigan. This win made Flyer a Dual Champion at two months shy of his fourth birthday.

After finishing his Open Field Championship, Flyer returned home to California to compete in dog shows and to work with his mom on earning his amateur title.

Dottie entered formal bird dog training in the summer of 2007 when owner Regis Cantini sent her to Smoke Rise Kennel at four years of age. Dottie never competed in field trials as either a Puppy or Derby dog, and Jesse was her first professional trainer. In the Fall of 2007, Dottie scored her first points by taking an all-breed 4 pt major in an Open Gun Dog stake in Connecticut.

Jesse and Dottie resumed their campaign in the Spring of 2008. Dottie got off to a fast start by placing 3rd in an all breed Open Walking Gun Dog stake at the GSCA trial in Cedartown, Georgia the first weekend of March. A month later, Dottie took another 4 pt major in an all breed Open Gun Dog stake at the GSCA trial at Killdeer Plains, Ohio. That same weekend, she took a 2nd place in the all breed Open Limited Gun Dog stake, placing one position behind her litter brother, Ace.

Though she only needed two more points to complete her field championship, Dottie finished it off in a big way by taking a 5 pt major in all breed Open Gun Dog stake at the North Country Gordon Setter Club of Minnesota Club trial in Forest City, Iowa, 4/11 – 4/13. Dottie completed a strong season by also taking placements in the Open Limited Gun Dog stake at North Country and at the season’s final trial in Delaware. It’s impressive to note that Dottie earned all her points out of “broke dog” stakes and completed her championship in less than 12 months.

Ace is another of Smoke Rise Kennel’s home-grown talents. Selected as a 7-week old puppy from a friend’s backyard breeding, Ace was raised in the Chapman’s living room along side the Yellow Lab and Gordon Setters who make up the rest of the house contingent.

Ace scored his Puppy and Derby points early but ran rarely after the age of two. Finally deciding that this fine, natural bird dog deserved the chance to complete his field championship, Jesse entered him in a couple of Open Limited Gun Dog stakes in the Fall of 2007 and a couple during spring season 2008. Ace took a 3rd place in an all breed OLGD stake at the ISCO trial at Killdeer Plains, Ohio, March 22 and 23. That stake had 18 starters. He completed his field championship with a 4 pt major in an all breed OLGD stake at the GSCA trial at Killdeer Plains, Ohio, April 5 and 6. Ace collected the last six points needed for his title in less than 12 months. During that time, he competed in less than a half dozen trials and always in the Open Limited stakes. Ace’s litter sister, Dottie, also completed her field championship during the 2008 spring season.

Solo came to Smoke Rise Kennel searching for direction. Though her owner, Patricia Sanborn, had handled her to a 4-point major in an Open Gun Dog stake in Connecticut in 2007, Solo had matured into a strong willed female with a very independent spirit. Getting her to complete the course with her handler and while staying out of trouble had become a significant problem. Jesse worked hard and long to convince Solo that it was fun to be a team player and that good things could happen if she would stay with her handler.

Solo had several placements and “near misses” in the 2007 field trial season. She captured 2 points in an Open Gun Dog stake in Delaware that fall. Things were definitely turning around.

In the spring of 2008, Solo finished her field champion title with a 4 point major earned in an all breed Open Limited Gun Dog stake at the Irish Setter Club of Ohio club trial run at Killdeer Plains, Ohio, March 22 and 23. Solo was approximately three weeks pregnant at the time of this win. She finished off the spring by scoring her first two amateur points in the Amateur Gun Dog stake at the GSCA filed trial at Killdeer Plains, Ohio, April 5 and 6.