Vitals

DOB:4/30/1993
Sex: Female
Sire: Maesydderwen Griffin
Dam: FC Nancarrow Rosy Mantle
Breeder: Arthur E. Person
Owner: Jack and Daphne Cheatham III

Championed: October 9, 1997 (Water test)
Retired: 2000
Number of Lifetime Points: 17

Placements & Awards

Date	Placement	Stake	Location	Handler
1998	Certificate of Completion		Cocker National Championship (5 Series + Water) 1st National Championship held since 1963
10/09/1997	4th Place		Michigan (1st Place was Rocky)	Paul McGagh
09/26/1997	3rd Place		Colorado (1st Place was Porter)	Paul McGagh
09/21/1997	4th Place		North Dakota Sporting Spaniel Club	Paul McGagh
04/04/1997	3rd Place		Ohio	Paul McGagh
10/19/1996	4th Place		Wisconsin	Paul McGagh
09/06/1996	4th Place		Maine	Paul McGagh
03/29/1996	3rd Place		Ohio	Paul McGagh
03/08/1996	1st Place		Idaho	Paul McGagh
09/03/1995	3rd Place		Wisconsin	Paul McGagh

Ruby was a favorite of everyone who knew her. She was one of three outstanding puppies in Brit’s first litter. The other two were NFC Freckles and FC Rocky. Ruby was the last of the three to finish due to her no frills running style and the fact that she needed difficult retrieves and mistakes by other competitors in order to show her best. Whether handled by Paul at trials or by her owner rough shooting, she was a dream come true and 150% consistent. Her forte was as a shooting dog par excellence. Ruby did, however, have eccentricities.

Jack and Daphne Cheatham from Middleburg, VA, her owners from the time she was 13 months bought her primarily for Jack to shoot over, but also to give her a chance with Paul at trialing. At that time, Paul was living in Virginia and did most of his training at Prospect Hall just over the border in West Virginia. Ruby showed her eccentricities early on when Jack brought a friend, Malcomb Wallop and a young dog Malcomb had gotten from England to Prospect Hall for Paul to look at. Paul put the young dog down with Ruby. After twenty minutes, Ruby repaired to the Cheatham’s car. Later Jack took her out by herself and she found birds, was perfectly steady and flawlessly retrieved. She showed this same eccentricity when Paul would take long walks with the youngsters at heel and send one dog out at a time to work the cover. Ruby would skip her turn and stay at heel. She wanted to be alone with her human friend.

Trialing was not Ruby’s forte. Usually in a trial she would find a bird within thirty yards of the gun and unless the gun shot poorly she made an ordinary retrieve which she performed in a businesslike way, but with no frills. She needed the flashy dogs to make a mistake and needed an exceptionally difficult retrieve in order to show her stuff. These were not frequent occurrences trialing, but when they occurred she made retrieves that were memorable.

In 1995 she was entered her in ten Field trials. She finished all ten trials, but only placed once: a 3rd in Wisconsin. In 1996 however, she had numerous placements and in Idaho was placed first over Lucy, Freckles and Brit. And though the field trial circuit was not her preference, she was totally biddable, totally consistent and finished all the series in each trial she competed in, including the National and brought home many Gunners’ Choice awards.

When Ruby finished trialing and came home to Virginia to be Jack’s shooting dog, Jack worked her alone, except when Zoe cam home between trials. Ruby tolerated Zoe, but would rather not have had her along. To express herself, Ruby developed a new heeling eccentricity. While Jack handled Zoe, Ruby would lie back and if she picked up a scent, she’d sneak over and flush the bird and then look smugly when Jack turned in surprise on the flush. It was Ruby’s way of saying, “See, you should have had me up front!”

She was not limited to upland birds. One year in Virginia, a friend of Jack’s called and asked him to come to a farm pond for some goose/duck shooting. Jack accepted and the friend who had labs asked if Jack could bring a dog as his two bitchs were laid up. This was a day for ruby. The other guns, all lab people, were astonished to see a little red cocker spaniel. Jack made one request, shoot birds over the water and be sure they were dead before the retrieve. Everyone agreed to the request, but there was some skepticism on some of their faces. Amazingly, eight geese and one pintail were retrieved from the pond by Ruby in the course of the morning. The last goose was not dead when she reached him and he reared up to strike her, but ruby grabbed him by the neck and swam to Jack. The goose expired en route. The skeptics were won over and the “little liver dog” received a lot of “atta girls” at the end of the morning!

On her last dove shoot in 2005 she was in a small field with three unruly labs. She and Jack were behind three round bales and Jack’s birds were falling in places where Ruby could retrieve unmolested by the labs. At the end of the day there were a lot of dead birds that the labs had not found. Jack stayed with a friend who hadn’t gotten his limit and Ruby not only retrieved the remainder of the friend’s birds, but after doing so picked up eight or nine birds the labs had left. She was a happy girl at the end of the day and enjoyed her privacy to the fullest extent.

There are many more Ruby stories, but they simply further emphasize her brilliance as an amateur’s gun dog and a loving friend in the field, in the house, or whenever she met new friends.

To be sure there were more stylish dogs during Ruby’s years of competition, and yes she was soft, but there never was a better shooting dog and no dog handled easier for her owner, found any more birds, or marked and retrieved better than she did. She was a joy to know and a joy to own. All shooting people should be so fortunate. Three hurrahs for soft, eccentric, easy to handle shooting dogs like FC Warrener’s Ruby Rubster!