National Amateur Woodcock Champion CH Long Gone Porky

Dick Wyatt called from his Heartland Kennels, when he was in Illinois(now in Michigan ) to breed one of his good females (a daughter of 2x CH Terhars Elvis, winner of both the Grand National and The Invitational and a son of our 2x CH & 3x RU CH Long Gone George) to our multiple Champion, Long Gone Boston ( 6x CH Cracklin Tail Speed ex 8x CH 4 x RU CH Long Gone Agnes). We (Kelly Shephard and I) kept a male pup we named “Porky”. Although he was a late season whelp (mid-April) we fussed around with him on pigeons and quail in late September, and put him right on the truck to start hunting wild birds Oct. 1st, 2016. We had a blast shooting woodcock, and some grouse over his points, as he showed a real talent and breathtaking style in his hunting approach. I took him on training trips to Cape Cod, PA. and Ohio over the winter and Pork’s development continued.

In the spring of 2017 Mark and Dave Hughes took him to PA. to run in The Prestigious Gene Ulman Open Puppy Classic at Oak Ridge, PA. I indicated to them I didn’t think Porky would look good at that venue as I had worked him in the woods primarily and Oak Ridge is very open, requiring a wide running dog to look good there. Long story short, Dave called to tell me Porky had won the Classic with Mark Hughes handling and he said, “Porky ran all over PA’! Porky placed in several other puppy stakes, both open and amateur that spring. I entered Pork in the amateur derby stake at The Northern NH Bird Dog Clubs spring trial at Phillips Brook, where he scored 3 broke finds on quail plus backed his brace mate twice in winning first, which qualified him for all amateur championships. I worked Pork all summer on wild birds and he really blossomed on these. Porky is a very strong bird finder, a trait I admire and look for in all our dogs (They don’t last with us if they are not 1.) Smart 2.) Strong bird finders)

I asked Dave Hughes to handle Porky in The Bill Kearns Memorial Open Derby Classic for me, (at the conclusion of The New England Open Grouse Championship) as I had to work. Porky got second with good work on woodcock. I took Pork to Canada in Oct. to run in “The Miss Leslie” open derby woodcock classic. Porky again placed second for his considerable efforts on this day. I had entered him in The International Amateur Woodcock Championship, run in Debec, New Brunswick mostly for the experience for him, not expecting a fall derby to win…. but an extremally stylish find on a pair of grouse and a back of his brace mate coupled with a strong hunting hour earned him The Title, of International Amateur Woodcock Champion. I am not sure, but as far as I know Long Gone Porky is the youngest dog in history to win a wild bird championship. At any rate, we really enjoyed Porky this fall, hunting, shooting a lot of birds over his points. We will begin breeding Porky this winter.