MHR WR Pioneer's Princess Perdition
"Ruffian"
(FC/AFC/CFC/CAFC Ironwood "Tarnation x Pioneer Pipers Rags
To Riches)
September 18, 1984 - May 29, 1998
"When thinking of him, what a crowd of memories come back, bringing
with them the perfume of fallen days! What delights and glamour, what
long hours of effort, discouragement, and secret fears did he not watch
over, how many thousand walks did we not go on together, so that I still
turn to see if he is following at his paddling gait, attentive to the
invisible trails. Not the lest hard thing to bear when they go from us,
these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of
our own lives. Yet, if they find warmth therein, who would grudge them
those years that they have so guarded? Nothing else of us can they take
to lie upon with outstretched paws and chin stretched to the ground; and,
whatever they take, be sure they have deserved.
John Galsworthy,
"Memories"
Ruffian was the first dog I trained for hunting and field trial competition. She was a dazzling competitor-what experienced trainers told me was "a great natural marker" and a joy to watch run. When Ruff was not yet past Derby age, I was approached by some friends who were Alaska duck hunters like me, and asked if I would help establish a group in Alaska that could conduct hunt tests under the auspices of the newly-formed North American Hunting Retriever Association. The Midnight Sun Dog Association was born, and so was my enthusiasm for NAHRA hunt tests. Ruffian was one of the first dogs in Alaska to earn her Working Retriever title. I got help in training and campaigning her to her Master Hunting Retriever title from a talented young trainer just starting her professional career by the name of Trish Jagoda. Trish ran Ruff in tests on the East Coast during our long Alaska winter. Appropriately enough, Ruff finished her MHR at a hunt test sponsored by the Midnight Sun Gun Dog Association.
Ruffian produced two litters of pups, most of whom became tremendous hunting
dogs, and many whom earned their WR and MHR titles, as well as a few who
completed the NAHRA Invitational, and one, AFC Mr. Tanner's Pioneer Preacher,
who qualified for two National Amateur Stakes.
Ruff enjoyed upland hunting almost as much, if not more than, waterfowl hunting, and she delivered hundreds of birds to hand in her career, including pheasants and gray partridge retrieved off the prairies of North Dakota, willow ptarmigan snatched up beneath the grandeur of the Alaska range, and sea ducks ferried in from the icy waters off Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska. She was a great dog, a great friend and a fine hunting companion. Her only failing was she didn't live long enough.
Ann L. Rothe
Eagle River, Alaska
Silverbrook Kennels
50 Red Fox Lane
Fredericksburg, VA 22406
Phone 540-720-3661
FAX 540-720-3631
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