Events of the 2013
ESSFTA
National Specialty
Sunday, October 27th thru Saturday, November 2nd, 2013
Purina Farms Event Center
200 Checkerboard Loop
Gray Summit, MO 63039-1132
(with some events off-site, but close-by)
Agility
Deadline October 12th, 2013. All Breed Agility will be offered on Tuesday, October 29th. The ESS only trial will be offered on Wednesday, October 30th , at the Purina Event Center. Entries open on Monday, August 12th . Both trials will be indoors. The classes offered are Standard (Novice A, Novice B, Open, Excellent A and Excellent B), Jumpers with Weaves (Novice A, Novice B, Open, Excellent A and Excellent B), Preferred (Novice, Open, Excellent A and Excellent B), Preferred Jumpers with Weaves (Novice, Open, Excellent A and Excellent B), FAST, T2B, T2BP . On Wednesday, October 30th, the highest scoring ESS in each class will be recognized with a pewter plate. The Trial Chairperson is Tom Ford. He can be reached at 215-679-9677 or jcftpf@comcast.net
Conformation and Sweepstakes
Deadline October 9th, 2013. All Conformation and Sweepstakes classes will be held indoors at the Purina Event Center.
Conformation and Jr. Showmanship will be judged by Mary Ann Alston. Conformation classes will start on Thursday, October 31st, with Dogs, followed by Bitches on Friday, November 1st, and Best of Breed on Saturday,November 2nd.
Sweepstakes will be judged by Rebecca Gear. Puppy and Veteran Sweepstakes will be held on Wednesday October 30th.
The Premium List for the National Specialty Show, Sweepstakes, and Veteran Sweepstakes will be found at the Foy Trent Dog Shows website, but may not yet be available for download here:
Top Twenty
There will be a Top Twenty event at the ESSFTA National for Invited-Only Entries deadline September 15th, 2013.
The Second Top Twenty event will follow the Welcome Party on Tuedsday, October 29th. It will begin at 7:00 PM in the Founder's Room with dinner followed by recognition of the Top Twenty Performance Dogs and then a Top Twenty Breed Competition. The event is co-sponsored by the Springer Showcase and Lights, Camera, Canine. If you have not previously viewed the wonderful Springer Showcase magazine, you can access it at www.springershowcase.com. If you are not familiar with Joan Beck's work, check out her amazing photos at lights-camera-canine.smugmug.com. Tickets for this event are $40 per person. A reserved table of 8 is $400. Please make your reservations on the order form. The deadline for reservations is September 15, 2013. If you have questions regarding the Top Twenty event, please contact the Co-Chairpersons, April Leonetti at 760-451-3058 or aprilleo@springershowcase.com, or Liz Pike, at 763-559-4589 or liz.westring@genmills.com.
Obedience and Rally
Deadline October 9th, 2013. The first Obedience Trial will be held Wednesday, October 30th. The first
Rally Trial will be Thursday morning, October 31st.
The National Specialty Rally Trial will be held Thursday afternoon, October 31st.
The National Specialty Obedience Trial will be held Friday, November 1 st .
Team Obedience will be Thursday evening,
October 31st, Halloween!
Obedience and Rally will be held indoors at the Purina Event Center.
The ESSFTA Obedience/Rally Chair
is Jon Pidde.
He can be reached at 952-937-2931 or j5of12_pidde@visi.com
Tracking Test
Deadline October 9th, 2013. The Tracking Test will be Sunday, October 27, 2013. The 4 TD, 2 TDX and 2 VST tests will take place in Sullivan, Missouri, located only 28 miles west of Purina Farms on Interstate 44. The Judges are Connie Austin and Ulysses James. The tests will be open to all breeds, with preference given to English Springer Spaniels. If the land is available and judge restrictions are met, the number of tracks at each level will be altered to accommodate as many ESS entries as possible.
The Chairperson will be Jean Hilbig. She can be reached at Hilbigjrg@aol.com.
The Secretary is Sandi Thompson - gatewaytracking@yahoo.com
Hunting Test
Deadline October 9th, 2013. The ESSFTA club will be providing a Hunting Test in conjunction with the National Specialty. The test will be on Monday, October 28 th near Fletcher, MO at the Big River Hunting Club. The test will be open to all flushing breeds with preference for ESS, with a limit of 20 dogs. In addition, the club will be offering an ESS-only WD/WDX test at the completion of the hunting test on the same day, with a limit of 15 dogs. Premium lists will be supplied on request only. Questions can be directed to Randy Capsel at 515-971-2861 or trlwnd@netins.net
Sniff-N-Go
One of the newest canine performance sports that ESS love to do is Nosework. Come on over on Wednesday afternoon after Sweeps and watch ESS of all ages and ability find the scent. If you have a dog who has been started with boxes or is already on odor we can accommodate you for a container and an interior hide. A $5 donation to ESRA would be welcome. Depending on interest, we may set up an opportunity for new dogs to play the game. If you have interest, please email Ginger Huxley at vhhicloud@icloud.com as that will help with planning.
CGC Testing
Deadline October 9th, 2013. The AKC's Canine Good Citizen Program is designed to recognize dogs who have good manners at home and in the community. This nationally recognized program stresses responsible dog ownership for owners and basic training and good manners for dogs. A key component of the Canine Good Citizen Program is responsible dog ownership. At the CGC test, you'll be asked to sign the Responsible Dog Owner's Pledge before you and your dog go through the test. Once you and your springer pass the 10 step CGC test, the evaluator will provide the paperwork to send to AKC to request the CGC certificate. Should your dog pass this test, your dog will earn a new CGC title recognized by the AKC. The details of the exercises and the pledge can be found at http://www.akc.org/pdfs/cgc/GK9GC1.pdf Those who pass the CGC at the National will receive a ESS CGC key chain to commemorate your achievement provided by your evaluators.
The ESS may be of any age – for dogs under 6 months of age we can administer the S.T.A.R. Puppy evaluation if you wish to see where they are in their training (to obtain that certificate the puppies must have attended 6 weeks of classes under a CGC evaluator). The dogs should be on a flat or buckle collar with a leash that has a clasp (no pinch, prong, electric, head halter, harnesses, slip leads) and the owner would be best to provide a grooming tool (comb or brush) for one of the exercises. The cost of this test will be $10 per dog with pre-registration and $15 per dog for registration at the show. To pre-register, please forward your check to Virginia Huxley at 128 Lindell Drive, Columbia, MO 65203, together with your dog's call and registered name, date of birth, sex and AKC registration number or ILP number, if you have one. This will allow some of the basic paperwork to be filled out prior to the show. Please make your check payable to ESSFTA. For more information, please contact Ginger Huxley at vhhicloud@icloud.com , or JoAnn Hankemeyer at essinju@sbcglobal.net
Junior Showmanship Activities
Deadline October 9th, 2013. Every junior handler will receive a special gift in the ring after their competition. To ensure we have sufficient gifts and to ensure we know which handlers are juniors in events other than Jr. Handling, please contact Erin Kerfoot. There will be a grooming seminar on Thursday. A handling workshop and a group activity for Juniors will be planned for Friday afternoon and evening. If you have an interest in signing up for these events, please feel free to contact the Chairperson, Erin Kerfoot at eckerfoot@hotmail.com
Welcome Party
The kickoff to the National Specialty will begin on Tuesday evening with a Welcome Party at the Purina Event Center in the Gateway Hall. The party will start at 5:30 PM. The event is free. However, to insure that we have sufficient food, please note on the order form that you plan to attend and how many people will be with you. If you have any questions regarding the Welcome Party, please contact the Chairperson, Liz Pike, at 763-559-4589 or liz.westring@genmills.com
Welcome Bags
Welcome Bags, donated by Purina, and filled with items donated by generous Springer enthusiasts, club members, rescue groups, and vendors from different parts of the US, will be available for National Specialty attendees.
If you would like to have a Welcome Bag held for you, please reserve one on the order form. The bags can be picked up at the Purina booth in the Event Center.
Judges' Education
Judge Education seminar and ring-side mentoring is intended for individuals currently judging or applying to judge. However, all interested individuals are ENCOURAGED to attend the seminar.
The seminar will be held Tuesday afternoon, October 29, at the Purina Event Center. ing-side mentoring will be held during Top Twenty judging on Tuesday evening, and during Veteran and Puppy Sweepstakes on Wednesday, October 30th. We will attempt to have ringside mentoring available throughout the week. For more information contact Laurin Howard at keswickelh@aol.com.
Rescue Parade
Photo and Write-up Deadline October 9th. The Rescue Parade is a highlight of the National Specialty. The Rescue Parade will be held on Saturday, November 2 nd at the Purina Event Center. The Parade will be held in the conformation ring. A commemorative booklet featuring the resumes and pictures of entered dogs will be given to each entrant. The booklets will also be available to spectators. Entries will be limited to 20 dogs.
Mail the following to the Rescue Parade Chair: Suzanne Bell Esmay,
33291 Greenwood Drive, Lake Elsinore, CA 92530 petdetail@hotmail.com
Fax: 562-685-0335
• Name of the dog
• A photo of the dog
• Name of owner(s)
• Rescue Group
• A short history of the dog in 175 words or less. The chairperson reserves the right to edit material submitted.
Per the Rescue Parade guidelines for the National Specialty, the Rescue Parade is limited to dogs and bitches that have been placed through a rescue organization. All Rescue dogs shall be spayed or neutered. Dogs that have been directly “re-homed” by a breeder are not eligible for the Rescue Parade. There is no age limitation.
Foundation Seminar
The guest speaker for the ESSFTA Foundation Presentation will be Dr. Heidi Parker . Dr. Parker is a Research Fellow in the Cancer Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute of NIH.Dr. Parker received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where she studied the population to structure of the domestic dog. She continues her work on canine genetics at the National Institutes of Health by applying information gained from population studies to the mapping and identification of genes involved in complex traits and diseases. Dr. Parker is currently leading projects aimed at identifying genetic variants associated with cancer susceptibility, auto-immune disorders, and limb morphology, as she continues to study breed structure, development, and history through genetics.
If you intend to attend this evening event, please let us know by signing up HERE.
DNA Blood Draw
The ESSFTA Foundation is offering a DNA Blood draw for the ESSFTA DNA Bank at the University of Missouri. Please bring your dog's pedigree and the DNA Bank form with you to the National Specialty. You can find the form on the ESSFTA website www.essfta.org or the direct link is: http://essfta.org/Health_Research/DNA_PRA_Indiv_Dog_Info_Form.pdf
The Blood Draw will start one hour after judging. The location will be in the shower house near the RV parking. It is a red building next to the dog exercise yard. It is just across from the driveway from the grooming area.
For more information please contact:
Patti Meiser at esquireess@comcast.net or
Terry Patton at clickerfun@aol.com
ESSFTA Meetings
A General Membership Meeting of the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association is scheduled for Thursday, October 31st, 2013, at 6:30pm in the meeting room at the Purina Event Center.
A Board of Governors meeting will follow at 7:30pm, and all are invited to attend.
IronDog Award
The “IronDog” Award will recognize the English Springer Spaniel who exhibits and/or excels in at least three of the five categories being offered at the ESSFTA 2013 National Specialty - Conformation, Agility, Obedience, Tracking, Hunt Test. Exhibitors must apply for this award during the National. There is no additional fee to enter. Application forms will be available at the National at the Catalog Table. Points will be awarded for each class in which a dog is exhibited, with additional points being won for qualifying or placing. The dog with the highest point total will be the winner. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the Annual Awards Banquet.