HRCH UH CH Hardscrabble Feathr Fetchr MH WCX CGC  (Jamie)   < Jamie Pedigree > Adobe Acrobat Reader Required

CH Windfall’s Morning Star CDX MH *** x Hardscrabble’s Thornfield MH WCX***

DOB 3-2-1997 - 6-4-2008

Jamie was completely owner handled and trained and was our main hunting dog, spending many hours in the field and duck blind over his lifespan.  He was a joy to have in the duck blind, being well mannered until sent, yet explosive when his name is called.  He runs and swims hard in tough situations such as icy water, stick ponds, or heavy brush.  Jamie has tremendous desire and aptitude in the field.  He is fun to train, and fun to run.  He has a beautiful profile when stacked, and is clean, both coming and going.  Consequently, he finished his show championship prior to the age of one year.  What makes him special is his happy go lucky attitude about everything, yet his ability to get serious when necessary.  We can let Jamie out to exercise with all of our males and/or females without worrying about any disagreements.  Jamie has produced several litters, being bred to some extremely talented bitches, and his kids are doing well, both in the show ring, and in the field.  Jamie does throw liver.  One of his traits that consistently shows up in his kids is lying on his back in the crate; another, is the ability to stand flatfooted and then leap straight up, kissing you on the nose.  His funniest trait is that he always howls when the answering machine at home starts to answer a call.

When we look at the pedigree that Jamie comes from, it is awesome that so many great dogs stare back.  Soba (Jamie’s mother) and Promise (Jamie’s father) were both close to ten when the breeding took place and every one of Jamie’s littermates has excelled in whatever they were asked to do.  We thank Margot Brown for breeding Jamie and sharing him with us.  He takes with him, a large piece of our hearts.

 

   

 

       

       

  

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

Meadowpond Hi-Flite Destiny UDT JH CGC  (Puffer)

CH Meadowpond Sugarbear Hondo CDX x CH Jagersbo Meadowpond Melody CD

DOB 8-6-1983 – 10-13-1993

Puff was my second golden.  I got her from Cherie Berger of Meadowpond Golden Retrievers.  She was the first dog that I trained to any kind of advanced level.  With her, I learned about conformation, obedience, tracking, and field.  She was very forgiving of all of my mistakes.  We earned our first CD, CDX, UD, TD, JH, WC, and CGC together.  We got our first points in the show ring together.  To this day, I would have to say that she is my all time favorite, primarily because she was my first dog to have trained and spent so much time with.  When I attended the air traffic academy for four months in Oklahoma City, she came with me and kept me company.  She was my Frisbee dog.  We spent lots of weekends on the road together at shows, along with our traveling buddies, Debbie Weigle and her show golden, Chance (CH Pekay’s One Hell of a Chance CD).  When Sherie and I  married, Puffer was the “flower dog”, and my daughter, Kristin (who was the “flower girl”), walked puffer down the aisle.  Puff was extremely trainable, and, as an actor, was hired for many ads and trade commercials.  It is unfortunate that we were unable to get any offspring from Puffer as she was dysplastic.  We lost her to the big C approaching the age of 12, but will remember her always.

 

 

 

 

 

CH Sandpiper's Lickerish Stix CDX JH CGC (Rodney) Co-owned with Patty Pace

CH Hillbrook’s Royal Athercroft x CH Wildwood Sandpiper Destiny CD JH WCX

DOB 4-3-1986 – 2-1-1994

Rodney was bred by Patty Pace and Nancy Maggiacomo Schenck.  He was Sherie’s first Flat-coat and was a handsome puppy.  It was evident early on, that Rodney was very special, and we hoped that he would follow in the footsteps of his parents.  His father, Brooks, was BOB at the national specialty, a multiple group winner and placer, and number one ranked conformation dog for flat-coated retrievers.  His mother, Piper, was a BOS winner at the national specialty, and was also a multiple group placer.  Rodney finished his show championship at only eight months of age, with a BOB and Sporting Group 4th, shown by Sherie as owner/handler.  Rodney turned out to be a wonderful introduction to the flat-coat breed, and we can only hope for another that can equal him in the show ring.  He had an exciting water entry, and loved his field work.  He was campaigned in Utility obedience, and while he had yet to pass, after his first three or four attempts, he was extremely close to putting it all together.  Rodney was lost to cancer at the young age of eight. 

As written by Sherie for the 2005 Flat-coated Retriever directory: 

…Rodney…was a multiple group placer in the United States and Canada.  He was an avid, trainable, retriever and was trained through Utility.  His outstanding movement, showmanship, and exceptional temperament were some of the qualities that made us fall in love with the breed.  Rodney and his mother, Piper, were our introduction to Flat-coats, and we are fortunate to have collected him before he passed so that we may continue his legacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CH Wildwood's Sandpiper Destiny CD JH WCX (Piper) Co-owned with Patty Pace

CH Athercroft’s Deacon Blues x CH Athercroft’s Autumn Chemar CD TD

DOB 4-7-1984 – 6-28-94

Similar to the situation that happened between us and Eleanor Trew with Fever, Patty Pace offered Piper to us at the age of six, on a co-ownership.  The idea was that we could put some performance titles on her and get a litter from her.  At the same time, Patty could reduce her numbers by one, as she now had Piper’s son Rodney with her, full time, on the show circuit.  We were never able to get Piper bred.  However, we did manage to add a WCX (our first ever), JH, and CD to her name. Although our golden retriever, Puffer, was the first dog that could work with very basic hand signals during blind retrieves at short distances, Piper was one of two of the first dogs that we actually put through a regimented handling program (now considered to be standard protocol) for the field.  She was working on pattern blinds at the time she came down with cancer.  It is estimated that she would have been running in Senior Hunt Tests within a few months at the time her training had to cease.  Piper had beautiful side movement, and won BOS and the flat-coat national specialty.  She was a barn burner in the field with amazing speed and aptitude.  It was an honor to train and love her, and we thank Patty for sharing her with us.  Piper passed at the age of 10 years.

 

 

 

 

Tanbark Bear Country Mavrick SH CD WC (Ricky)

OTCH Locknor B Fifty-Two Bomber UD x OTCH Duster’s Amber Starburst UD

DOB 10-16-1989 – 3-28-2001

We acquired Ricky from Yvonne Tobey of Tanbark Retrievers in late 1989.  He stepped off of the airplane like he owned the place.  We had wanted a serious obedience dog at the time, as we were interested in training and campaigning a golden to the OTCH level.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, we had also been playing with field work for about three years and were bitten by the field bug much more seriously at about the time we got Ricky.  Consequently, Ricky received more field training than obedience training.   He was our son’s baseball dog and played outfield during batting practice, retrieving all of the balls, and bringing them back to the pitcher, dear old dad.  He was the first dog we ever sent to a field pro, Barbara Guenther of Tealbrook Kennels in Monticello, Fl.  He was only there for about four months before we took over his training (little did we know that we were only handicapping the dog at the time, but this is how we all initially learn).  Ricky did persevere and managed to get his senior title (our first ever completely owner trained) in spite of all of our many mistakes.  Like Piper, Ricky was the second of the two dogs that we actually trained through a regimented field training program.  Ricky’s love of the retrieving game usually did not involve live ducks and/or gunfire.  That being said, he did retrieve the first wild duck that our son, Billy, ever shot.  He was neutered at a young age, and never produced a litter.  Ricky was over 11 years of age at the time of his passing, and he is buried on our hillside along with Fever and Ethel.

 

   

 

 

Bear Country Turbo Diesel (Diesel) 

HRCH UH CH Hardscrabble Feathr Fetchr MH WCX x CH Twin Oak’s Spring Fever MH WCX***

DOB 5-26-2001 – 3-17-2004

Diesel was an impressive and handsome boy that we had high hopes for.  He needed only one major to finish his show championship, and was working in the field on the double T.  He loved birds, and really enjoyed the retrieve.  He was a sweet dog that got along great with everyone, dogs and people alike.  He passed during a freak incident where he got ethylene glycol poisoning while accidentally being fed from a bowl that unknowingly had been used to bleed brakes and still contained some brake fluid residue.  His loss was senseless, and devastating to all that knew him.  It is most certain, that he would have achieved greatness, and most importantly, we simply loved him and miss him.

 

 

 

CH Twin Oaks Spring Fever MH WCX *** (Fever) Co-owned with Eleanor Trew

CH Spring Valley Moonstone UD MH x CH Spring Hollow’s Place A Bet

DOB 11-6-1991 – 4-12-2001

Fever was bred by Joan Sharpe and Patricia Sutton.  Eleanor Trew was crazy about Fever as a puppy, and talked Joanie into letting Fever come to live with her.  The rest is history, as through Eleanor’s tutelage, Fever became an outstanding field dog, achieving Qualified All Age status along the way.  Fever came to live with us as a six year old, as Eleanor needed to assist her mother due to illness, and consequently, didn’t have the time available to give to Fever’s training.  At the time, Eleanor told us that Fever was at the top of her game, and would probably not make any further progression in field trials.  We ran her in hunt tests for her master title, got her WCX, and campaigned her to her show championship.  She had two litters with us, before her untimely passing.  One of Fever’s claim to fame was how she always knew when she was within a couple of miles from home or when she was entering the grounds for training or trialing.  She would always begin barking when she knew.   One other claim to fame, was her insistence on carrying birds by the neck.  She went to great efforts to see that she only handled birds in this manner.  We are lucky to have two of her children living with us, Patty and Whatzit. 

As written by Sherie, and published in the 2005 Flat-coated Retriever Directory: 

…Fever…was my soul mate.  I was honored when Eleanor entrusted her into my care, and I was devastated at losing her before I could say goodbye.  Her children have the same sparkle in their eyes and the willingness to teach me the way.  Fever gave me the courage to come to the line and face the challenges of both hunt tests and field trials.  She had many fans and also friends she never met.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meadowpond Bear Country Trbl CDX CGC (Ethel)

CH Starring Lightning Force x CH Thornfield Lark O’Meadowpond

DOB 4-19-1989 – 10-7-2001

If there are indeed times when God sends you blessings from heaven, then Ethel was, in fact, our blessing.  One weekend in June of 1989, we received a phone call from breeder friend, Cherie Berger of Meadowpond Golden Retrievers, citing that she had sold a puppy to someone in our neck of the woods (South Florida, at the time), who was very unhappy with their puppy.  Seems their puppy was supposedly very aggressive, and Cherie was out of town at shows and on business, and was in a poor position to resolve the issue at the moment.  Cherie asked us to call the folks and find out what the problem was, and if necessary take the puppy from them so that we could ship the puppy back and Cherie would refund their money.  We agreed to help Cherie, and the rest is history.  Bottom line is that the couple’s five-year-old kid was a total brat, and the puppy did not have an aggressive bone in her body.  They were calling her Ginger at the time.  The kid would hit the puppy in the mouth and yell, “see, she is biting me”.  She would then pick the puppy up by the front paws to dance, and when the puppy licked at her, she would again cry that the puppy was biting her.  While we were talking with the parents, this kid let all of our dogs loose.  Sherie was upset when they left that evening with the puppy.  Both of us thought she was very cute, and liked her personality.  Luckily, they called the following week and wanted to drop the puppy back off with us.  We arranged with Cherie to monitor the puppy for a few days to see if she had any real aggressive tendencies.  It took no more than a couple of days to decide that we loved her.  Consequently, we bought her from Cherie for the pet price of $400, and changed her name immediately to Ethel (in order to go with golden retriever, Ricky, and another golden we had named, Lucy).  She was the fourth pick female of five.  Ethel got pointed, but never finished her championship.  She was awesome in novice obedience but never went further.  She never really liked birds and was mediocre at best, while retrieving.  But, she had one of the sweetest temperaments you would ever care to know and was extremely smart.  Over the years, we had four golden litters from her, and she produced beautiful puppies.  Unfortunately, almost every puppy ended up in a pet only home.  Consequently we will never know well they would have performed in competition.  She was and will always be our gentle lady.  As a note of interest, although we have had a Lucy, Ricky, and Ethel, we have not yet had a “Fred”.

 

 

 

Possumplaces Pearl Garlands (Pearlie)

CAN CH Montecho’s Rumplestiltskin x CAN CH Montecho’s Ready Willing N Able

DOB 11-29-1994 - 9-1-2006

Possumplace’s Pearl Garlands (Pearlie) was bred in Canada by Wasyl Markush.  She was out of some of  Diana Sever’s gorgeous Canadian dogs, CH Montecho’s Rumplestiltskin CD and CH Montecho’s Ready Willing N Able.  Clint and I fell in love with Diana’s dogs when she would winter in South Florida and we got to visit.  They all had the classic “Charlie” look that we both loved so much. 

As a puppy, Pearlie appeared in a commercial photo shoot for Purina Friskies puppy food.  One of the photos taken during that shoot is shown here with her in the basket.  Pearlie loved to show and was extremely elegant in the ring.  She acquired 12 points including one 4-point major.  We never managed to get her finished, as we grew tired of the political aspects of showing Golden Retrievers.  She did, however, attain all her clearances, and was a favorite housedog for our son, Billy.  Even though she was in her senior years, she still accompanied us on our daily romps on the property, and would swim out to retrieve bumpers as far as you could throw them.  It is a shame that she got left out during serious field training in lieu of the flats and labs, as she actually loved to retrieve bumpers and birds, and would swim all day if we would allow it.  There had even been talk between the two of us, about possibly entering her in a local junior test or started test for fun and to see what the old girl could do.

 

Here is the e-mail that was sent out to Pearlie's friends by Sherie the morning that Pearlie passed:

Subject:        And then there were none............

The last Golden Retriever to grace the Catledge household crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this morning.  Pearlie was almost 12 and up until about two weeks ago was a spry old lady.

She had a super golden temperament and lacked one major to finish her breed Championship.  She was a hell of a retriever (as long as it was NOT a duck) and was our son Billy's favorite team player for a good game of catch.

She was elegant and dignified to the end, never had an accident in the house as a puppy and didn't in her golden years either. 

We were blessed to meet Diana Severs when she would winter in Florida from chilly Ontario and thank her for sending Pearlie to us all those years ago. 

Even though Clint and I are immersed in Flat Coated Retriever these days, we have always said we would never be without a golden which is how we both got into the dog world and met all our many friends.  So, I am sure there will come a time down the road where we will "hug a rug" once again.

               Sherie