Flat-Coated Retrievers - Echo
Our current dog is Echo (because he is a little echo of his dad, our previous flat-coat Trip). He was born May 18, 2020 and he came home with us July 20. His mom is Eve, a Master Hunter owned by Candy and Ed Ferner. After she failed her first Master test, she passed the next 5 in a row to earn her title; a really impressive record. (Only around 25-30% of dogs typically pass any given 2-day test.)
Echo's official name is
GCH CH RACH Sanderling Eagles Wings UD RM4 RAE2 SH FDC CGC TKN WCX
[Sire: GCHB CH Kistryl Clocks Fall Back CDX BN GO RM2 RAE SH CGC TKA WCX (Int CH)]
[Dam: CH Moonstone Eve at Sanderling CDX MH12 WCX]
Echo is a busy guy and definitely his father's son. He earned his Working Certificate (WC) from the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America on May 23, 2021, just after his first birthday, at the Great Western Flat-Coated Retriever Club test. After acting like a goofball and refusing to get his feet wet at a couple of AKC hunting tests (rules and regulations here) later in the year, he finally finished his AKC Junior Hunter title at the Inland Valley Retriever Club test on March 19, 2022. He followed that with his WCX at the next GWFCRC test on October 8, 2022. He seems to have fully engaged his two or three functioning brain cells now that he's a bit older, so his Senior Hunter title is now in hand. He passed his first senior test at the GWFCRC test on June 8, 2024 and his second at the Mesa Grande Retriever Club test on October 20; passes three and four came with two very solid performances at the Labrador Retriever Club of Southern California tests on November 9 and 10. Onward to Master Hunter!
On the obedience front, he picked up the three legs needed in two weekends for his Companion Dog (CD) title after passing three consecutive Novice tests. The first was at the Pasanita Obedience Club trials on October 30, 2022, then at the San Gabriel Valley Kennel Club trials on November 5, and at the Obedience Club of San Diego County trials on the 6th. He picked up his first leg toward his CDX at the Bakersfield show on March 30, 2023, and then his final two at the Apple Valley show on April 8 and 9, again three in a row. He finally finished his Utility title (aka “Futility”) after a long run of training and way too many failures. He passed the first test at the Kern County Kennel Club show on March 31, 2024, then picked up his second on September 27 at the Santa Ana Valley Kennel Club trials. (Did I mention that this obedience class is nicknamed “Futility”?) Well, lightning struck on October 27 at the Pasanita Obedience Club trials (our home show), where after several very near misses the previous couple of days, he squeaked by for his third pass and his UD title. Huge sigh of relief, and smiles all around.
He has also excelled at his Rally training (and other related obedience activities). He earned his Rally Novice (RN) title on January 8, 2022 at the Palm Springs show. He followed that with his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Trick Dog Novice (TKN) titles on February 26 and his Rally Advanced title on February 27, 2022 at the Silver Bay Kennel Club show in San Diego. His Rally Excellent title followed not long after at the Del Sur Rally Trials on April 30, 2022. Rally Master followed in due course by his getting his 10th pass at the Channel City show on June 4th, 2023, and the RAE came after finishing his 10th double-qualifier (passing Advanced and Excellent in the same day) at the Bahia Sur show two weeks later (June 18).
He has now completed his Rally Champion (RACH) title; it was a long and difficult road and it seemed like the last few points would never come, but on May 23, 2024, he did it! To earn the title, he needed to pass the Rally Master, Rally Excellent, and Rally Advanced classes all in the same day, and had to do that 20 times. He also needed to have earned 150 Master points (accrued when the score in the Rally Master test exceeds 90; details are in the rules and regulations, Chapter 4) as well as 150 points at the Excellent and/or Advanced levels. Definitely a serious accomplishment!
Echo earned his first points toward his Champion conformation title by going Best of Breed at the Malibu Kennel Club show on March 3, 2022. This was a 3-point major. After picking up another point on Saturday, he went Best of Breed again on Sunday the 6th at the Beverly Hills Kennel Club for his second major and even managed to place second in the Owner-Handled Sporting Group. In the space of four days he went from no points to more than halfway to his Champion label.
After picking up a few more single points over subsequent weeks, Echo went Best of Breed for the third time at the Rio Hondo Kennel Club show on May 7, 2022. Since it was a 4-pointer, Echo finished his title and thus earned his Champion title in just a little over two months. He then continued to work toward the Grand Champion title; he got all the required majors fairly quickly and picked up the final needed point at the Orange Empire show on May 20, 2023, just over a year after completing his Champion title. Julie will continue to show him occasionally at special events, but with the Grand Champion and Rally Champion titles in hand, emphasis now is on hunting and obedience.
Some pictures of Echo are located in the photo gallery and more pictures of him and his littermates can be found at the Sanderling website.
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