Charles' Rufus Tiberius

"Ty"

"Goofus Rufus"

For a dog that has only been with me a short time, this one already has a couple of nicknames.  I have had the pleasure of running Ty in a few events.  First trial was an all breed puppy stake at Santa Nella, CA where he took a third of twelve.  Then we did a double double hunt test and he earned his JH easily in a single weekend.  The culmination to this point is that his owner believed in his dog and allowed me to bring him to run in the National Puppy in Calhan, CO.

The "un-official" scribe report of Ty's run, Ty's bracemate was "Boomer" a grandson of our female "Nellie".

"This was in some ways a brace of trading places.  Boomer’s first cast from the breakaway was enormous, cresting the dam wall, hitting the creek bed on the right, before running the fence line and dropping into the midway field.  As the handlers approached the midway field, Boomer could be seen climbing the far hill.  Ty was, nevertheless, gaining stride and establishing a bold pattern of his own, dropping into the midway field and exploring the far edges of the corn strips.  Boomer got himself a little disconnected from his handler and the subsequent return cast left him winded, losing his stride for several minutes while catching his breath.  In the meantime, Ty had crested the side hill and established himself well forward on the final straightaway climb.  As time was called, Boomer had regained his stride and both dogs were going away strong and to the front."

My view of Tiberius was that he took a good initial cast, likely overshadowed by the extreme cast made by Boomer, as it was indeed spectacular.  Ty checked back in and as we crested the dam he was close, trying to get the lay of the land.   One trait I am learning about Ty, is he is a very quick study when it comes to learning and running new grounds.  Every different ground he has run he has inherently found the lines, objectives and reads the terrain.  He is also a dog that is not afraid to reach out, but still maintains a relatively easy handle and stays in contact.
Ty then began to reach across the flat working a line to the opposite side and stayed forward.  He worked distant objectives and his range built through the run.   I did notice when Boomer who is two months junior to Ty at only 8 months old was going through a lull Ty was building stride and running strong.  The highlight for me was about 2/3 the way through the run he was running to the front on a ridge from right to left, silhoutted by the skyline.   I was praying for a find, as I know he has high style and pointed against that skyline would have been a very memorable moment in any Judge's eye. Unfortunately, it seemed the bird planting for the puppy did not take into consideration Puppies that run to distant objectives as most witnessed bird contacts were within 50 yards of the course track.  Had Ty and others with larger runs had been rewarded for their reaching run, the lesser placements might likely been different, though Fig was the definitive winner in my opinion. 

It was wonderful consolation that many unsolicited, unknown participants approached us after the placements and said the really enjoyed seeing Tiberius and thought he should have been "in the money" as they say.  Regardless of the official placements, I could not have been happier with Ty's run.  He is a dog to watch in future competition. 

Charles - be very proud of your boy.  I am!