My introduction to field dogs came when I was just a little girl. My grandpa worked for Mr. John Olin who owned Nilo Farms, a private hunting preserve. Grandpa would take my sisters and me out to the kennels to see the dogs. Watching the dogs work was truly amazing to me. I loved the way they responded to the whistles, going right or left, knowing just what the handler wanted them to do.
There was a special black Labrador that lived at the kennels. King Buck was his name. Maybe some of you have heard of him. King is the only retriever to be on a duck stamp, usually depicting water fowl. King is also the only Labrador to achieve, to this date, the National Retriever Championship twice, in 1951 and 1953.
On one of my visits King was laying in his kennel and he looked so sad that I opened the gate and went in and lay down with him, trying to comfort him. Little did I know King was nearing the end of his life. I was not suppose to go into the kennel with the dogs and got in big trouble. I didn’t care, he needed the support and love in those final days. King died shortly after my visit. NFC FC King Buck (1948-1962) began my love of sporting dogs.
So you can see why I was thrilled when Kate Romanski called to ask me if I would like to attend the ceremony for 2014 English Cocker Inductees to the Field Trial Hall of Fame at the National Bird Dog Museum in Grand Junction, Tennessee.
The evening before the Saturday ceremony, my husband, Mike, and I met Hobson Brown for dinner. What a delightful man and so knowledable about our breed. Mr. Brown would be presenting the new inductees for English Cocker Spaniels.
Saturday morning we all woke up to snow, not something we are used to around here! The trip to the museum was slow and many people could not make the ceremony. In fact, no one who had planned to accept for English Cockers, dogs or people, could make the trip. Mike and I showed Hob the English Cocker section before the ceremony began as it was Hob’s first visit to the museum. He was in awe of the great dogs and people whose pictures graced the walls.
Hob is a great speaker and did a wonderful job representing our breed. Trainers Keith Erlandson and Lawrence (Larry) MacQueen were the distinguished individuals inducted. The deserving dogs were FC Parkbreck Elm of Bishwell, “Mave” and NFC FC EFC Shawfield Glenfire “Simon.” It was truly amazing for us to listen to the speakers talk about the field dogs and their accomplishments. The morning presentation was followed by a luncheon courtesy of Nestle Purina. After lunch we all returned to the English Cocker Spaniel section and discussed a new display case, better lighting for the area and the hanging of new plaques. The Cockers are new to the museum, but well deserved, in no time at all visitors will be in awe of our amazing cockers.
The day was very special to me; I was that little girl with King Buck once again. As Mike, Hob, and I looked at King Buck’s picture on the wall our thoughts were of the wonderful dogs, working hard during the day and laying by our side in the evening.
“Simon” NFC FC EFC Shawfield Glenfire
Winner of British Cocker Spaniel Championship and American National Cocker Championship | Owners: Imported by Andrew W. Porter of Oxford, Maryland and later owned by Mr. & Mrs. Dean Bedford of Fallston, Maryland | English Cocker Spaniel. Blue Roan Dog. Breeder: J. Scott (Scotland) | Whelped: April 14, 1950 | By Blanco of Mansergh x EFC Desire Me
Imported to America from Scotland in the spring of 1953, following the winning of the British Cocker Spaniel Championship at the age of two the preceding fall, “Simon” quickly became known as “the dog to beat.” In fact, with professional Larry MacQueen as the dog’s handler, the dog had eight wins out of ten starts in the fall of 1953, completing his USA field trial championship in his first two trials! “Simon” won the national competition in the America the following year, 1954, and for several years was listed at the top of the high point rankings. He always displayed terrific drive and action and was a superb marker.
“Mave” FC Parkbreck Elm of Bishwell
Owner: Thomas P. Ness of Oahe Kennels, Menoken, North Dakota | English Cocker Spaniel. Liver Roan Bitch | Breeder: Carl R. Colclough (England) | Whelped: July 28, 1990; Deceased in 2014 | By Simon OF Kenstaff x EFC Zelda Of Cadboll
During the rebirth of cocker field trials in the 1990s, “Mave” was one of the most successful dogs, at one point setting a high bar for excellence by winning four trials in a row. Remembered fondly as a true competitor who was a pleasure to watch, she is credited with helping reenergize the sport of cocker field trials which had gone dormant in the 1960s. Initially trained by Stuart Morgan of Bishwell Kennels near Swansea, Wales, “Mave”was imported to America by Tom Ness in the spring of 1993 when was she was just under three years old. A calm, gentle house dog, she always displayed tremendous drive and stamina in the field. “Mave” was also a stellar brood bitch who passed along her best traits to her offspring and is the foundation bitch of Oahe Kennels.
KEITH ERLANDSON
1931-2004
Keith Erlandson, who resided in Wales, was a leading force in the structuring of a breeding program to address the deterioration in quality of the working English Cocker in Britain in the late 1950s through the 1960s. The deterioration is attributed to myxomatosis, or the rabbit plague, which had killed 95% of the rabbit population by 1955. Rabbits were pests to farmers and cockers were used to hunt them. As farmers no longer needed cockers, fewer cockers were bred, the quality of the working cocker suffered and the importing of English Cockers to America slowed. At the same time, in America, the gene pool of the field-bred American Cocker was shrinking. This confluence of events brought on the end of cocker trials in the 1960s. Keith’s breeding program raised the quality of the working English Cocker in the United Kingdom and it is the export of the progeny from his dogs that helped bring about about the revival in 1993 of cocker field trials. Keith had an impressive field trial career and is the only trainer who has won Open Stakes with Cockers, Springers, Pointers and Labradors. He is pictured with FTCh. Speckle of Ardoon, winner of the British Cocker Spaniel Championship in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
LAWRENCE R. MACQUEEN
1903-1979
In 1954, Larry MacQueen, a professional trainer and handler, accomplished an almost impossible feat — he won the English Springer Spaniel National Field Trial Championship with Joseph’s Quirk’s Ludlovian Bruce of Greenfair, a dog inducted into the English Springer Spaniel Hall of Fame in 2001, and then, two days later at the same trial grounds in Herrin, Illinois, won the Cocker National Field Trial Championship with British Cocker Spaniel Championship winner Shawfield Glenfire, a dog imported from Scotland by Andrew Porter and later owned by Dean Bedford that was inducted into the English Cocker Field Trial Hall of Fame in 2014. The photograph features Larry with both of these dogs. Larry operated Ramornie Kennels in Pottersville, New Jersey and was known as one of the most successful handlers of spaniels for many years. His talents were recognized by the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Hall of Fame in 2001, more than a decade before the English Cocker Spaniel Field Trial Hall of Fame was established. Induction into the English Cocker Field Trial Hall of Fame in 2014 can now be added to his list of accomplishments.
