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Gordon SettersShelley bought her first Gordon Setter in 1982 and hunted him exclusively on grouse until his untimely death at 5 years of age. There were many things she learned from her first Gordon and she desired to improve on the quality of her next Gordon Setter. She waited 3 years for her foundation bitch, bought from Linda Sanders of Chaparral Gordons in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was important to have a foundation bitch with a very strong conformation, field and obedience background, which Abbey did. This started Shelley's first kennel, Clearcut Kennels. It was worth the wait.
"Abbey" became Ch. Chaparral Rad Aclee Clearcut CD, SH (DC Chaparral Instant Pride CD, MH x Ch. Chaparral Goodness Nose CD, MH). She won the Gordon Setter Club of America National Specialty in Los Angeles, CA, in 1992 on her way to her championship. Very few Gordon Setters have ever won a national specialty with an advanced hunting title behind their name. Abbey had her Senior Hunter title at that time. Not only did she take Winners Bitch that day, she also qualified for one leg toward her CD obedience title! More importantly, Abbey was an excellent bird hunter and "mommy" and proved her natural instincts up until the day she died. She was crazy for anything regarding birds. Her "show off" personality had us laughing a lot in the field. When she'd retrieve a bird, she HAD to make sure everyone knew she had the bird, and would proceed to "throw" it up in the air and catch it - continuing the retrieve. She also loved the bird launcher. If that was sitting on the kitchen table, she'd point it for hours - waiting for someone to take her out and work with birds!! Her biggest love (besides her puppies) was ruffed grouse hunting - and she did a lot of that in her lifetime. She would usually bump the first grouse to "test the waters" and then proceed to point 'em the rest of the day.
Abbey went out a winner, also. She won her Veteran Sweeps class at the 2000 Gordon Setter National Specialty right here in Minnesota. She died two weeks later, laying next to another dog's litter of pups (she loved being a mommy). Her looks, temperament, instincts, health and hunting abilities were everything Shelley had ever dreamed of. Abbey produced three dogs who achieved their Master Hunter Titles. They are: Ch. Clearcut Dividend O'Chaparral MH "Cash" Other Master Hunters we've bred or owned: Ch. Clearcut Birddog Buck MH "Buck" Abbey also produced one Dual Champion: DC/AFC Rice Creek's B'Zuka Wyndancer "Zuke" (Zuke also went Winner's Dog at the 1998 North Country Winter Specialty) And Senior Hunters: Ch. Rice Creek Cumulo Nimbus SH "Storm" (Storm was a major
specialty winner, winning the Michigan Specialty over 41 bitches.) In 1993, Shelley changed her kennel name to Rice Creek Kennels, after the hunting preserve she and Joe co-own with two other families, Rice Creek Hunting and Recreation. Raising a family, running a hunting preserve and boarding kennel have taken Shelley and Joe away from the competitive arena. However, Shelley and Joe are still producing excellent Gordon Setters who can be competitive in field, show, obedience or as couch potatoes! Our Gordons' temperaments are excellent - all LOVE people and children - and their pointing and retrieving instincts are very strong. NATURAL retrieving instincts are high on Joe and Shelley's priority list for breeding. All of our gordons are used as guide dogs here on the preserve. They MUST retrieve - quickly and efficiently. Joe has trained over 15 Master Hunters in his lifetime and a dog who has NATURAL retrieving instincts is a lot easier to train for Master - as opposed to a dog with no retrieving instincts. Shelley will be working on her 5th generation of dogs next year. Both Shelley and Joe look forward to producing great hunting gordons with great looks. Abbey's pedigree: Ch. Chaparral Rad Aclee Clearcut CD, SH
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Rice Creek Kennels is owned and
operated by Joe & Shelley LeBlanc |
