This fall, Casper completed a blitz of events that no other Kooikerhondje has ever achieved: first, he earned his Iron Dog award at CanAm in Indianapolis in October. This award recognizes Flyball dogs who have competed continuously for ten years, and has long been our final Flyball goal: recognition of his longevity, health, athleticism and unwavering love for this sport.
Then in the following three weeks, Casper became the first Kooikerhondje to ever compete in any hunt test. We entered AKC Spaniel Hunt Tests 3 weekends in a row, in Tignall and Greensboro GA and Yemassee, SC. See 3 of his hunts here.
As hunt tests were brand new for us, we learned a lot. Casper passed the land series six times in a row: finding all his birds, flushing them appropriately, and bringing them back to me with soft mouth. Unfortunately a land series pass results in an invite to water series in the spaniel tests, and Casper has always refused to swim, so he did not Q or title. Regardless, we had a great time playing the bird game with an audience this time and trying something new for the breed!
