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<channel><generator>iloblog 1.0</generator><title>Andy Platt´s Blog Feed</title><link>http://blog.nithvalley.co.uk/</link><description></description><item><title>Cocker Pups</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=152</link><description><![CDATA[  Cocker pups, two dogs one bitch. Black with White markings, K/C Registered, both parents can be seen, £450 bitches £400 dogs Sire excellent working dog from Larford Lines. Dam from maesyyderwen lines, should make good working, trialling or pets. Well socialised and ready for new homes Ring Callum on 07855485433 ( Forfar)  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2012 20:03:17 +0100</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>Ess pups for sale</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=151</link><description><![CDATA[  English Springer Spaniel Pups for sale,  K.C. reg, excellent pedigree,docked &amp; dew clawed,  out of a daughter of F.T.W. Tygore Asp,  Tygore Jenny x F.T.W Sauchope Dancer of Tascroft  Ring Paul on 07855785880 
 ]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 07:35:43 +0100</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>The Isle of Man Gundog Championships</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=150</link><description><![CDATA[  Saturday the 24th of March was the day of the 2012 Championships at Ballagarraghyn, St Johns by kind permission of Lord &amp; Lady Boot &amp; Roger Chadwick. 
 The weather was kind to us although I'm sure that the dogs would have prefered it to be cooler. The commitee and competitors were very welcoming and friendly and the organisation was to be admired. 
 The Labradors were judged by John and Nina Halstead and I judged the spaniels. 
 The championships were ran as a working test and I believe that John and Nina set a pretty challenging course to fully explore the competing dogs abilities. 
 The facilities were excellent and we had enough ground to set up seperate tests for the retrievers and spaniels.  
 With the aid of some willing helpers, the spaniel test was set up as near to a natural shootday or trial as possible with a walking gun/s firing a blank shot in the direction of the retrieve to assess a dogs gun sense and the use of a live pigeon released from a cage in the open event as a distraction to a blind retrieve. All dogs in the open and novice event had to demonstrate their ability to retrieve from water. The overall general standard of the dogs was very good and most displayed evidence of a high level of training. 
 The novice dogs were asked to hunt the rushy ground then remain steady to a thrown retrieve which they were given the opportunity to mark, they then hunted on to a thrown dummy into the pond which they were asked to retrieve then send back for the first marked retrieve. They then hunted the rushes around the pond until a clear patch of ground were a simulated bolting rabbit was thrown and a shot fired. Then they were hunted on and a shot fired and a marked retrieve was thrown out into the rough cover in front. 
 The dogs were marked out of 100 with 40 points awarded for the hunting ability in both the novice and open tests. 
 After the novice event, as a seperate test we had a 4 dog run off to find the best hunting spaniel which unfortunately was not awarded in the main prize giving. 
 In the open test we had the live pigeon flush instead of the bolting rabbit. This didn't cause too much of a problem for most of the dogs and I was impressed by many of the handlers ability in picking the blind retrieve after such a distraction. It was the retrieve in the pond which caused the most problems for all but a few of the dogs and unfortunately one or two of the better dogs lost most, if not all of the points on the water test which they had gained for hunting ability. 
 Both the novice and open spaniel events were won by the same handler, a relatively new competitor I am led to believe, Mr Michael Shipsides with different dogs. With the usual top competitors also being placed but hopefully now enjoying the rivalry of a new challenger.  
 The 21st Anniversary prize giving dinner at the Palace Hotel and Casino in Douglas was superb and a start to a very enjoyable evening. I realise as with all these events that the secretary and committee's jobs are already stretched but I think that the club competitors would have benefited from a top hunting spaniel award, guns choice award and best young or first time handler. I feel that we need to encourage new, up and coming handlers and it would be nice to recognise their efforts in some way. 
 All in all a great event once again sponsored by Skinners and a very enjoyable weekend spent with some great people. The bed and breakfast at Ballacowell  www.ballacowell.co.uk  was absoloutly second to none and of course the constant good banter and entertainement with Kenny Hiley, a fellow Wiganer, topped it all off.  
 A big thankyou to all at the Isle of Man Gundog Society for inviting us over, it was the first time that I have been to the island and I hope that it won't be the last. 
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:55:29 +0100</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>cocker pups for sale</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=149</link><description><![CDATA[  3 beautiful working Cocker Spaniel pups, 2 black girls with white bibs and 1 liver girl with a white bib. They are KC registered, legally docked and dew clawed, micro-chipped, have their first vaccination, wormed, frontlined and will leave with a puppy pack. Sire is Martin Smee’s FTCH Cheweky Bovril and Dam is Faradorn Sweet Brodie of Keredean who is a hard working biddable bitch who has worked approximately 65 day’s this year in the beating line between grouse, partridge and pheasant. Pups will be ready to go from the 24th April. Pups are priced at £550. Please contact Derek on 07970 988603 
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:25:55 +0100</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>for sale/ wanted/ at stud ad&#039;s</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=148</link><description><![CDATA[  If anyone would like a free ad or notice to be placed on this blog please email me at    andyplatt@btinternet.com    with the ad text and I will paste it to this page. All we ask is that a small donation at your discretion is made directly to the NSPCC.   
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:53:41 +0000</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>cocker pup for sale</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=147</link><description><![CDATA[   Sire Roanlodge blizzard out of FTCH Whaupley Riever &amp; Ftw Roanlodge Cameron  
  Train  
  Dam Evie Field of the Heath out of Ftw Fernmoss Freddie &amp; Contrail Caitlan  
  one Black Bitch left, Legally docked and Chipped Ready to go 2nd April.  
  £550  
  Contact Andrew Meredith  andrewmeredith@btinternet.com  Tel 07841 995166  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:46:07 +0000</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>FTCH MINSCAFELL BLOSSOM</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=146</link><description><![CDATA[    Many thanks to John Carroll for once again breeding another Field Trial Champion. He also bred FTCH Clover Amethyst the 2008 championship winner. A personal thankyou to all the gamekeepers, farmers and landowners for allowing me to use their land to train my dogs and to Robert and Sharon Marshall at Trans K9 for their continued support. Minscafell Blossom, 'Bee' won her 2nd open qualifier at Cleobury Mortimer with the west midland field trail society by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Galliers-Pratt. The judges were Roy Ellershaw and Keith Carter. From what I saw, the standard of the dogs was very high with all the remaining dogs in the trial receiving a c.o.m. A run off was called between John Bailey, ian openshaw and myself. First of all we ran off against John with Churchview Abs and then we were kept in to run off against ian openshaw with mr J Clarke's Beggarbush Boris of Filching. It was quite a nerve racking moment to run off against 2 of the country's top handlers but luckily 'Bee' just did her thing and the judges seemed to think that it was enough. It was a real honour to win a trial of such good quality with almost a full card of some of the best handlers including the legendary Ian Bateson to which I believe one or 2 of the more successful handlers owe a debt of gratitude to his knowledge and wisdom.   1st Minscafell Blossom breeder J Carroll. sire del pierros dodge of nithvalley dam rossburn rosie owner/handler A. Platt  2nd Beggarush Boris of Filching breeder Ben Randall sire FTCH Cheweky Wolf dam Steadroc Setlands of Beggarbush owner J. Clarke handler i. openshaw  3rd Churchview Abs breeder J Bailey sire Maesyronen Market Trader dam Broomfield Sascha handler J Bailey  4th Buccleuch Ivy of Whitehope breeder the late duke of Buccleuch sire FTCH Craighaar Boris dam FTCH Annickview Anna handler Ian Flint  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:54:57 +0000</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>2012 springer championships</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=145</link><description><![CDATA[ This years English Springer Spaniel Championships held at Wormegay in
Kings Lynn, Norfolk was without a doubt the very best championship that
I have been to in terms of game supply, (with some dogs having 7 or 8
retrieves), organisation and all dogs having the same ground apart from
the early dogs on the first day. Davy Lisett took full advantage of
this with FTCH Buccleuch Jazz which absolutely trashed the cover with
speed and power, showing no respect to the thick punishing briars. The
rest of the 3 day event was held mainly in poplar woods with white
grass and brashings providing plenty of hiding places for the pheasants
and partridges. This enabled the Judges to fully assess ground
treatment, game finding and marking ability of all the dogs. The guns
shot brilliantly, all being keen spaniel men themselves with Bob
Wilkinson winning the championship with FTCH Moonreed Amy a few years
ago which incidentally was also the grand dam on the sires side of this
years winner Doncaster star.  Richard Claydon shot a right and left
and Ray Casey was very switched on to the dogs and missed very little,
both of whom are very successful spaniel men. Good guns at a trial are
very important and it is a huge help to the handler if they know what
they are doing.  Many dogs went out for passing game on the first
day. You could tell that the birds had never been shot with how tight
they were sitting and it made a nice change from having to push on to
catch up with them. Sam Fulwood's first run with her Skronedale dog
was impressive but on the 3rd day in her 2nd run she failed to pick a
cock bird which Dave Raynor's dog picked. Andy Whitehouse had a good
clean run with 2 faultless retrieves on the first day and the rumor was
that he's was the dog to beat. I was happy with the way that
Minscafell Blossom (Bee) hunted in her first run under the 2 Ian's and
she held it all together under a lot of pressure. Bob Wilkinson shot a
loose bird out in front which she did not mark. I handled her out to
the area and then another bird flew past her which I had to handle her
away from. The next 3 finds on pheasants came in quick succession which
she marked and retrieved with no handling. I was pleased to get the
lead back on! John Edwards, Edwardiana Blossom hunted the ground
well in her first run on the 2nd day, covering the guns with a nice
wide beat as an open spaniel should do. Some judges seem to favour a
dog that hunts a beat as if it is tied to your shoe laces, but in my
opinion to find game on a shooting day I would prefer a dog to cover
the 2 guns you are trying to find birds for, within reason. Blossom
found 3 birds together in a patch of cover that looked hardly big
enough for a field mouse. Ray Casey shot a cock bird which (Ruby)
marked and John Heeley shot a hen which hit the ground then gathered
itself up and ran. The Judge John Bailey, quite rightly, asked me to
pick the hen so with one handle Ruby hit the line of the hen bird and
took it maybe a hundred yards or so. In training she has picked 2 or 3
good runners so she definitely seems to have a nack of picking them.
The retrieve of the cock bird concluded her run. It was a big relief
for me not to let John Edwards down who trained Ruby and it was a good
opportunity to show her true ability.  Bee's second run on the 3rd
day was in white grass were she could open up her hunting pattern, a
little too much handling on a bird shot on the right hand side and even
with a technical eye wipe meant that justifiably she was awarded a 
diploma although the guns thought that she deserved the John Lukies
perpetual memorial trophy. Ruby was the last dog of the event to run
and all eyes were on her. I felt the pressure that I put on myself but
Ruby just did her thing. Mr Openshaw was again hiring and firing and
pretty soon a bird was shot out of the wood in the open which Ruby had
marked and brought back with no fuss. We were hunting to the corner of
the wood and then headed back up on the opposite side that we had
hunted down. I heard one of the judges ask the guns not to shoot
anything that wasn't off the dog, however almost straight after a hen
bird rose out to the right and at the 3rd shot came down and looked
like it was going to run. Ruby spun round and marked the bird even
though it was a good way out. She took a good line out to the bird but
then over shot the fall so I pipped her back into the area were she
flushed an unshot hen, she sat down and watched it away then I told her
to leave that and she put her head down and found the shot bird. On her
way back she flushed a cock pheasant and watched it away then delivered
the shot bird to hand. She had kept her cool in a very testing
situation and once again I was glad to get through a clean run. The
judges must have seen something that I didn't because she didn't appear
in the placings which surprised me and quite a few other people.  All in all it was a great Championship and thanks must go to
the hard working secretary Liz Russell and the rest of the committee
for faultless organistation. The keeper Richard and his family who
couldn't of done it any better. I just hope we get invited back some
time soon. It was great to see old friends and new and the Wigan Crew
were out in force to support Martin Hook who qualified his dog for the
first time. Terry Frost and his magic tricks along with the comedian
made an enjoyable evening dinner and along with the warm Norfolk
weather, it made the whole 3 days very enjoyable. Well done to Andy Whitehouse for winning with FTCH Doncaster Star. 2nd went to Eddie Scott with his 7 and a half year old bitch FTCH Broomfield Rosie 3rd
and top dog went to Dave Templar's FTCH Clearmeadow Lash of Countryways
and 4th went to the Duke of Buccleuch's FTCH Buccleuch Jazz  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:51:30 +0000</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>irish av championships 2011 at Baronscourt</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=141</link><description><![CDATA[  WINNER - Mr J Bailey's FTCh Countryways Judy of Sliabh 2nd place - Mr B McGraham's Wyndhill Shona of Sliabh  3rd place - Mr D Kelly's Clodahill Ian 4th place - Mr G Veasay's Badger of the Valley  Diploma of Merit Mr S Morgan's Maesydderwen Saucey Mr Wm Edgar's McGwyn Deallus Mr A Symth's Glennsekin Dusty Mr B McCartan's Int FTCh Clodahill Demi Mr A Cunningham's Buccleuch Heaven Mr T McCann's Salamere Finn Mr P J Davitt's Whitehope Euro Mr S Moriarty's Tearsol Flash 
 Well done to John Bailey, he is up and down the country during the year, running and training dogs and has been knocking on the door many times, it is good that all the hard work and effort has paid off. Judy is a real class animal and caught my eye when she was hunting at a trial in Scotland when John first got her. She is a genuine hunting dog always looking for game and no doubt keeps John on his toes, just as a good dog should do. 
 The ground at Baronscourt was top class and definately has potential for a future British Championship. We were finished at 11am on the second day, such was the game supply and shooting ability of the four guns. Spectator viewing was excellent at most times with competitors hunting at the side of the estate road. But most importantly the ground was true spaniel country with no one escaping the tight brambles. Dogs that would not face cover had no where to hide. Stuart Morgan's cocker bitch was one of the most impressive with three finds and one retrieve along the lake edge, hunting the punishing cover the way it should be done, from underneath not over the top. Also Dessy Donnellys Skronedale Romulus had bad luck but looked to have the fire in his belly. 
 The judges were able to give every competitor a good chance to display their dogs ability in the first round, with the testing cover naturally sorting the workers from the shirkers. The pencils were sharpened a little for the second round and my own dog Minscafell Blossom failed on a running cock bird that was not picked by the second dog or the judges. The lady picker up and the keeper did seem to think that the bird had took refuge under the roots of a tree on the edge of the loch, which would explain why 'Bee' returned without the bird covered in black mud, head to tail like she had 'been to ground'. The second dog, John Baileys Judy seemed to stick in the same area but then also made nothing of it. 
 The second day started in bracken and light bramble beneath a woodland canopy, a spaniels dream, with pheasants in every piece of cover. The heavy rain and wind the previous night made the birds reluctant to fly and as predicted the majority of the early dogs were eliminated for pegging unshot game. A nice going, stylish dog that did not shy away from cover was Mr Moriarty's Tearsol Flash. Countryways Judy of Sliabh showed her pace and style in the laid bracken making a lovely retrieve of a hen bird in the water. A short run off for 4th and a c.o.m concluded the championship with most people talking about the eventual winner. 
 The host welcomed us back in the final speech and I'm sure that all of the competitors would welcome the opportunity to return to such a well run and organised estate with everyone enjoying the friendly and welcoming atmosphere typical of the Irish people. 
  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:40:31 +0000</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item><item><title>congratulations</title><link>http://iloapp.nithvalley.co.uk/blog/blog?Home&amp;post=140</link><description><![CDATA[ Well done to Martin Ashman for making up the first Nithvalley Field Trial Champion, Nithvalley Haywire (Indy) by FTCH Measyyronen Market Trader x FTW Wheatmill Tilly at the Western counties and South Wales spaniel club.  
 ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:38:58 +0000</pubDate><category>Andy Platts blog</category></item></channel>
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