ABOUT MERCEDES

SUMMARY OF MERCEDES' MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Mercedes has achieved "Legendary" HALL OF FAME STATUS.
Mercedes has now placed in over 190 places in Professional Hunting trials.
She has now taken a top 3 finish in over 130 different events.
She has finished 1st or 2nd in more than 100 events.
Mercedes now holds over 75 Titles or 75 First Place Awards (not including her 4 Dog of the Year Awards nor her Grand Championship Award in the 2004/2005 Illinois Upland Series.
This includes her NUCS National Championship in Singles & her Super Major win at the 2006 Western Open in Doubles held in CO.
This also includes her Super Major victory at the 1st Annual THCC Invitational in 2007. (see details below)
Mercedes just shy of her 7th birthday wins the 2008 UFTA National Championship in Alabama in February of 2008.
She has now won titles / events in 12 different states; MO,IL, IA, IN, MI, OH, WI, MN,TN, PA,CO, & AL.
Including a 1st Place at her first Major at the NBDCA Plantation Championship in Dec. of 2003 in TN and a 1st Place Finish at the 2005 IL. State Championships.
She has won FOUR "Dog of The Year" titles in two seasons (2002/2003) and (2003/2004) in the WCHS Wisconsin Championship Hunting Series.
1. 2003 Puppy Flusher Division 3rdPlace Dog of the Year
2. 2003 Amateur Flusher Division 4th Place Dog of the Year
3. 2004 Amateur Flusher Division 2nd Place Dog of the Year
4. 2004 Open Flushing Division - 1st Place Dog of the Year

In the 2003 NBDCA season - Mercedes earned more Champion Points then any other dog in the entire country with 46.

Mercedes qualified for the 2003 NBDCA Nationals as the number 1 dog in her Region in both Singles & Doubles. Only two other dogs in the entire country accomplished a number 1 seed in both divisions.
Mercedes won the 2003 NBDCA TOP POINT DOG in the country in the Singles & Doubles Divisions. (No Dog to date in history of the NBDCA has ever won both titles in a single season)
Mercedes at the 2003 NBDCA NATIONALS takes 4th place in the OPEN DIVISION.
Mercedes is the 2004 NBDCA Top Point Dog in the Country (Sngles/Dbls) for the 2nd Year in-a-row. NO DOG to date had ever won both Singles High Point Dog and Doubles high Point Dog in a single season, much less to accomplish it two years in a row.
IN THE 2004 NBDCA SEASON ACHIEVED MORE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS WITH 91, MORE THAN ANY OTHER DOG IN THE COUNTRY. 91 CHAMPION POINTS SETS AN ALL TIME NBDCA RECORD to date FOR THE MOST CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS IN A SINGLE SEASON.
Mercedes qualifies for the TOP 10 run off in the 2004 Menz tournament at Flying B, qualifying 2nd. She then finishes 4th in the TOP TEN run off in Doubles.
MERCEDES TAKES A TOP 10 FINISH IN THE TOP GUN DIVISION AT THE US OPEN ON 4/10/05 finishing 7th.

Talk about a dream season for my 3 labs and I. Just in the Super Major events this 2005/2006 season we took:

1st Place Awards = 6 (3 National titles, 1 runner up at the Worlds, and 2 Super Majors) Not counting a 2nd place in the Menz with Ice. Riggs at the Top Gun Championships takes 3rd (Thanks M. Sweeney), a 2nd Place in Doubles at the NUCS Nationals with Mercedes behind Ice who took 1st Place.

2005/2006 TOP 5 Finishes in Majors = 16

2005/2006 TOP 10 Finishes in Majors = 26

Mercedes in March of 2006 takes 1st Place in the NUCS Nationals in Singles and takes 2nd Place in Doubles loosing only to her Kennel mate GMPR HR Reno's Black Ice.

Mercedes takes 1st in Doubles at the First Western Super Major Championships with Mark Sweeney & Dan Sojka.

2007 THCC Invitational - Mercedes takes 1st Place in Singles. . This event was 3 runs added together in 3 separate fields, using a different species of birds in each. Her times in order were; 2:40 in the pheasant field, a 2:26 in the chakar field, and a 1:55 in the quail field. (all were three bird plants)

2007 THCC Top Gun Championships she takes 3rd place

MERCEDES IN HER FIRST UFTA SEASON WINS THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN FEBRUARY OF 2008.

Mercedes is now 8 years old but no where near ready to be retired. After not being on birds since the UFTA Nationals in February of 2009, I decided to take Mercedes and Riggs to a National Qualifier at the AHHC (American Heritage Hunt Club) in May of 2009. What the event lacked in numbers of dogs it certainly made up in talent. This event featured 5 BDC National Champions and thus some of the top flushing dogs in the country. Scenting conditions for May were better than I expected and three bird runs were ranging from 2 minutes and 55 seconds up to roughly the 7 minute mark.

I wasn't sure how my dogs would run after taking three months off, but for them it's like riding a bike. Take them to the line and let their naturally abilities / love for the game take over. On Saturday Mercedes proved once again that even at 8 years of age, she is still one of the World's top contenders running a 2 minute and 2 second run to take 1st Place in the Top Gun Division.

Later that same afternoon with temperatures now well above 75, she also took 1st Place in the Doubles competition running a 2 minute 40 second run on a 4 bird plant. The next closets dog was her playmate, our Riggs who finished 2nd with a 3:49. (3 minutes and 49 seconds. In Sunday's Top Gun event Mercedes finished in 2nd Place. What a fun time we had. It sure makes those 8 hour drives home go by much faster when you know you did well against a very tough field of entries.