CH. Tartana Ravenwatch Rachel MH, CGC, September 1, 1993 to April 12, 2004
Can CH Balnald’s By Dande Blackwatch x Am/Can. CH Tartana Madcap Hattie
Rachel was our first and foundation bitch from Holly and Phil Wachuta of Tartana Kennel in Stetsonville, WI. She initially came to us as a pet for Connie and hunting companion for Chris. At Holly’s encouragement, Connie entered her in the show ring and Chris started with Junior level hunt tests. Little did we know where Rachel would lead us.
She was a medium size dog (about 54 lbs) and was Chris’ gun dog in the fall pursuing Ruffed Grouse, Pheasant, and Woodcock 30 + days each fall in Northern Wisconsin. Rachel’s somewhat early end at the age of 10 came as the result of ingesting a rope style chew toy. Upon sharing her story with others we have since learned that this has happens much too often. Please learn from our experience.
Rachel taught us many things. Early on, she taught us that honoring was for dogs that enjoyed “watching” other dogs work birds, and she wasn’t one of those. Honoring another dog on point was of little interest to her.
Rachel finished her Junior Hunter in 1995, and continued training towards her Senior Hunter title. She then attained her Senior Hunter in the spring of ’98 and became a Bench Champion later that summer. Her field training continued as we worked towards Master Hunter taking each fall off to enjoy hunting of grouse and woodcock
Rachel finished her final leg of her Master Hunter title on March 2, 2002 in a real nail-biter. For two days forecasters had been predicting a final blast of the winter to arrive mid morning on the 2nd. For once the forecast was correct. We found ourselves wondering that morning if Rachel would honor, let alone see, a mostly white English Pointer in a snowstorm. When released for a call back, Rachel came around and took a look at the gunner and other handler, then slowed. Studying the situation another moment, she recognized the motionless pointer and immediately honored. The last leg of her MH was clinched.
We are truly very proud of her. We thank all of our Badgerland Gordon Setter club members for their support. Thanks to Phil and Holly for producing Rachel and getting us started. They’ve been so supportive and are just as thrilled as we are. Special thanks go to Don Krueger. Don has finished a couple of MH’s himself and never lost faith in our girl. He was a big help in helping us train Rachel. He provided quality brace mates for Rachel to run with, and was eternally patient with her owners to boot! Without Don’s guidance, Rachel probably would still be avoiding the honor.
Rachel pouted on days that didn’t involve a hunt or at least a good run. She lived for those days in the fall to run through the grouse and woodcock woods. As you can see, we’ve continued her legacy in her offspring.