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Hunting News Latest Hunting News Passing the Grand
Hunting News Latest Hunting News Passing the Grand 
| Passing the Grand |
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| Written by Craig Nyhus | |
| Monday, 23 June 2008 | |
 Watchful eye: Chelsi Patton’s dog Maggie flushes and retrieves a chukar in the upland portion of the HRC International Grand Hunt. Photos by Mark Atwater. Patton and her “sister,” a black lab named Maggie, successfully completed the five-day event competing among 330 other handlers and dogs, including pros and veteran amateurs, and was one of 86 teams to pass the 5-day event. “Chelsi is definitely the youngest female to pass the grand,” said HRC Administrative Secretary Claudine Christopher. “In the mid-’90s, two twin boys of our former president passed that were about the same age.” HRC was created in 1984, Christopher said, and has 133 clubs in the U.S. and Canada. The owner/dog team competes against a standard instead of against other dogs. “The Grand is the dog’s Super Bowl,” Christopher said. “It includes five tests — on land, water, and an upland test — and the team much pass each one.”  “The judges didn’t cut her any slack because she was 12, either,” said Mark Atwater, a former field trial competitor from Georgia, who watched the events. The toughest rule of the Grand allows the handler to handle the dog with whistle or hand signals just one time over the entire 5-day event to stay eligible to pass the Grand, making the emphasis on the dog’s marking and following abilities. And the Chelsi/Maggie team was up to the task, after completing three different tests to earn the HR Champion designation required to become eligible to run in the Grand. But it didn’t start easily. “The first day, on the very first bird, I had to handle her,” Chelsi said. Her mother, Stacy, was distraught. “But a pro, Denise Johnson, came up to Chelsi and told her, ‘Chelsi, you’re bleeding, take this Band-Aid and it’ll stop.’ Chelsi went through the entire series with that Band-Aid in her pocket.” As the days went on, Chelsi seemed to take the competition in stride. “I was nervous heading up to the start,” she said. “But so many people were helping me, and once I got up there I knew Maggie would take care of me.” And as each day passed, word got around of the youngster’s success. “We had more than 100 people in the gallery cheering for her on the last day,” Stacy Patton said. “I don’t think she really was understanding what she was accomplishing. She took a 4-hour nap after one of the series while some of the other guys were off throwing up. I was a basket case, though.” But when the final retrieve was made, Chelsi let loose. “I went crazy,” she said, and performed one of her cheerleading moves. “I did a back handspring.”  And the accomplishment is now starting to settle in. “We’ve received calls from all over the world,” her mother said.Chelsi was quick to give the credit to her partner, though, the 7-year-old lab the family bought in Montana. “Chelsi has run Maggie the entire time since we got her,” her mother said. “They’re like sisters.” “Maggie sleeps with me every night,” Chelsi said. “With her head right on the pillow. And we go duck and dove hunting together.” Chelsi, who works with Maggie while her father, Jay, works with other dogs, said she plans to compete in the Grands next year hoping to pass again and gain enough points to claim the title of Grand HR Champion. “Then, I would like Maggie to make Team Water Dog.” |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 June 2008 ) |
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