“Dixie”

Owned By: Shannon & Harvey Franco

Shannon and Harvey Franco are happy to announce the Region 4 All Age Champion Tonellie’s Little Stinker Dixie. “Dixie” is a female and will be 3 on July 9, 2008. Dixie has demonstrated early maturity in her young Field Trial career.  We had the feeling she was on the brink of winning a big trial soon because she was putting things together very nicely, so we decided to extend her season by sending her up north to Hi-Point Kennels (Chris Goegan). I was fortunate to experience this Championship run in Ionia, Michigan on May 7, 2008. Here is a glimpse of my recollection.

Dixie ran a huge race, attacking lines and finishing them strong. Her breakaway was picture perfect, a bold burst forward over the hill with her handler pointing her out to the judges and off she was.  Exhibiting strong, animated characteristics with a nice flow in her gate so she was pleasant to the eye.  Consistently attacking line after line with strong bold finishes at the end of each line and off to the next line in sight. As we flowed forward on the course Dixie exhibited intelligence by selecting the next target up ahead of the course, attacking the objective directly and hunting it.  At the 45 minute mark a single was all that was needed, all manners in place, with a forward strong bold finish, with another line to attack and finish whole. Dixie was always found to the front when maneuvering thru the terrain and thickets. This is beautiful country and it’ll challenge a Field Trial Dog’s stamina, desire to hunt, and flow on course and most important handle and still make All Age moves to prove itself worthy of a placement. Some of the the best dogs in the country were at this trial. A total of 12 dogs started and first and second were awarded. Those were some of the best judges I have run under. They were looking for the dog, knew where the dog needed to be and allowed the dog to show itself, without assistance most importantly making a distinction between All Age and Shooting Dog. Overall a memorable experience running under Joe Luisi / Paul Pollock. Handling Dixie was Chris Goegan, scouted by Jimmy Wallace. Dixie was bred by James & Sarah Messer out of NAFC “Chloe” Annie’s Little Stinker and “Sonny” NFC Tonelli’s Rising Son. Dixie is owned by Shannon & Harvey Franco.