In the next few weeks, we will be celebrating some of the special dogs and people who have motivated the creation and growth of Paradigm Sporting Dog. We are starting this series with my 4-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer, Sally, and our special journey in achieving her Versatile Champion title in NAVHDA. Because of her and our NAVHDA journey, I have made so many priceless connections that have led me to chase birds in many states. 

Sally came from a client’s family whose daughter was a kennel tech working at the vet clinic in 2020. The daughter had brought the litter to the clinic to have their tails docked and dewclaws removed. In a pile of solid black puppies, I grabbed the squirmy, flashy black and roan one. While suturing up her new tail, I asked the kennel tech if she was spoken for. Surprisingly, her answer was no. That’s when the wheels started turning in my head. I knew the next dog I had would be a shorthair, and I especially wanted to pursue hunt testing or field trials. I waffled about the decision for a week. At the time, I lived in an apartment and was already at max pet capacity, but decided I wanted her anyway. Forgiveness over permission, right? Fully prepared to purchase Sally, the kennel tech’s family ended up gifting her to me for my birthday in October. She came complete with a bow stuck to her head and delivered in a gift bag.

Years prior, I was in a breeder’s whelping room and saw the NAVHDA plaques his dogs had earned on the wall. As someone who had never had a dog win or earn anything, I decided I wanted my dog to earn plaques like that. Thus began our NAVHDA journey. Though AKC registered, she was not yet NAVHDA registered. Sally has no tested parents on either side of her papers. Once the paperwork was done, I signed her up for an NA test in Stephenville, TX, and took off with no clue what to expect at a hunt test. She passed with a high Prize 2, and I continued on to test UPT and UT. At her second UT test (she failed the first–another story), she qualified for the 2023 Invitational to be held in Ohio.

As soon as bird season ended the following year, we started training. There were days that I got up at 5 am to do field work at my friend Michael’s house, drove to the vet clinic to see cases by 9 am, and then spent another hour or two after work training blinds and double marks. Some evenings, I drove an hour one way just to do one 100-yard blind. Training for the invitational consumed my time from March to September in 2023. The commitment of my NAVHDA friends to helping Sally and me obtain her versatile champion title will make you emotional. At one point, I was down at my friend Jason’s place in Como, TX driving in a convoy of five trucks loaded down with over half a dozen people to run blinds for just three invitational dogs. That memory reminds me of how much manpower goes into passing an invitational dog. The birds, time, and miles seem infinite leading up to the test.

Finally, Ohio was just a week away. The weekend before leaving, I ran through every sequence with my two friends, Michael and Jason, who were also running their dogs at the invitational. Sally was flawless in every sequence, so I decided I was done training. At one point during some field work that last weekend, Michael said, “Pretty good for a free dog.”

I was more nervous to handle my dog for the invitational than I was to take my veterinary board exams. I had a lot to prove by taking this little free black dog to such a prestigious hunt test. She did great all day, and was one of the last dogs to run the field sequence. While walking out of the field, the judges were grinning and asked how she had done earlier in the day. I was a ticking bomb of emotions and managed to choke out that she had done well before turning away to wipe a tear. I leashed her up and made my way back to the truck where I was greeted by my friends. We drove back to the clubhouse where scores were read to learn I was leaving Ohio with VC Sally. 

Sally is now my best dog and is jokingly known as the “Quail Queen” amongst my buddies. As a veterinarian, I can’t help but think about her time with me dwindling slowly. I hope at the end of her life, she feels like she has lived many lives and not just one. My time with her is highly treasured.