Don't say things. What you are stands oueryou the while, and thunders so that I cannothear what you say to the contrary.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

April, the PROMISE. My wife Cynthia andI met Bruce and Jennifer Shaffer of AlmostHeaven German Shorthaired Pointers at adog show. They were new to the conforma-tion show ring, and some friends broughtthem over to see our show dogs. Brucementioned that the dogs appeared to havebird potential. He volunteered to work withthem, saying they should have no troublefinishing their Junior Hunter titles. We wereshow people - you know, coats, ties,skirts, shoes to run in, makeup, bait in thepockets. This would be a new experience.

On May 31, our four dogs were intro-duced to birds - Ch. Bleugras Treffen vMiCyn, Ch. SleepyCrk NikidaBleu v MiCyn,

Field trainer Bruce Shaffer, pictured with'Elle,'toldCynthia and Michael Mc0racken that all four of theirShorthairs could earn Hunt titles. His love of the dogscombined with his talent as a trainer no doubt helpedhim keep his promise.

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Fieldfine XcaliBard MiCyn andFieldfine's DotsGeall v MiCyn('Elle'). The only birds our dogsknew before this was thecooked chicken variety. All thedogs showed promise - theresult of good breeding andgood athletic ability.

The training progressed tothe first time off lead. Brucetook XcaliBard into the field,and was out about 400 yardswhen he dropped the lead. Bardwas freeeee! He worked fine andIistened to the whistle. Brucethen unhooked him. Theywalked for a while and thenheaded back toward Cvnthia.She was a wreck, with her babies runningloose in the field. As Bruce got closer, hesaw Cynthia looking at him through binocu-lars - caught in the act. When he got clos-er I asked, "You're not going to break her ineasy, are you?" Bruce just laughed.

Cynthia's special talent is connectingwith the dogs. But this mental connectionwas distracting them in the field. Bruce andI decided that the dogs did not need thedistraction; Cynthia had to be sent to the"penalty box." The penalty box was on topof the motorhome. So up she went. Sittingin her chair, umbrella keeping the sun off,drink at her side, she could have been anyfan at a NASCAR race. But she intently fol-lowed her dogs with her binoculars. By theway, the dogs worked fine.

Fast forward to the hunt tests. All fourdogs had a grand total of about 12 hours oftraining, but Bruce held firm to his promise- the dogs should have no trouble earningtheir Junior Hunter titles.

Seneca, Md. The inaugural Hunt Test,Day l. The first Junior brace was our 7-year-old'Treffen.' The Hunt gods frownedon him as he flushed a wild covey of quail.

'Bard,' nicknamed the "Birdinator," was the first to earn his Junior Huntertitle, in four straight tests.

With his brain overloaded, he didn't qualifythis day. 'Bard' and Elle passed their tests.The Hunt gods frowned again as'Niki'gother first sight and smell of a mule. Possiblyit was the smell of, well, something else,but we will blame it on the mules. Nikiwould not go around the mule. The score- Mule 1, Niki 0.

Bruce explained the Hunt gods and anumber of variables that can affect thetest; Cynthia started her slow slide intomadness.

Day 2. Everyone passed their tests. So,the first test weekend under her belt,Cynthia had six successful legs on thefour dogs.

Rimersburg, Pa. The second Hunt Testweekend. Seven successful legs, with Bardfinishing his Junior Hunter title in fourstraight tests. Bard is an awesome, big-run-ning dog, nicknamed the "Birdinator." I didsay seven successful legs - the Hunt godspuffed their cheeks and blew the sweetsmell of horse manure right up the nose ofElle. With a snoot full of manure. she could-n't smell a bird if it were perched on hermuzzle.

Cynthia's madness grew. After two HuntTest weekends, we had one Junior Hunterand three dogs with three legs each.

Bruce's promise was coming true - thedogs were all working great. Would we fin-ish the others this year? Before the weath-er turned cold? Before Hunt Tests conflict-ed with shows? Before Cvnthia went offthe deep end?

Hustle, Va. Day 1. Our third and hopefullylast Hunt Test weekend for a while. Thefirst day Niki and Elle fulfilled Bruce's prom-ise. Each successfully passed her fourthleg, earning Junior Hunter titles! The 7-year-old show champion, Treffen, Cynthia'sspecial dog - down in flames! The oldestand most mature of the dogs, Treffen decid-ed he was going to go for a run. He ranimmediately to the bird box and decided,"There are all the birds; I'm done. Catch meif you can!" He failed the test miserably.

Day 2. Three of the four dogs haveearned their Junior Hunter titles. Treffenhas to work one more time. Treffen wasexcited, Bruce was determined, I wasexpectant... Cynthia was going crazy.

Off they went. Cynthia and I were watch-ing intently when we saw the FieldMarshall's mule spirit off out of sight. Whatwe saw next was enough to have Cynthia'stoes gripping the brink. Treffen came trot-ting back toward us - alone! No trainer, nojudges, just Treffen. Is he so far off coursethat he's at the starting point again?ARGGGH. Then word came over the walkietalkies that the judge had been bucked off

her mule. Great. What next? What doesthis mean? Is she OK? Did Treffen pass?

The story unfolded later when everyonereturned to the group. The judge was life-flighted to the hospital fearing somethingserious. It was reported the next day thatshe had a couple of broken ribs. She is atrue dog person. While lying there in pain,she gasped and kept repeating, "Both dogs

passed." So Treffen fin-ished his Junior Hunterquest in the most tryingof circumstances.

Why did Treffen cometrotting back alone toCynthia? This is one ofthose amazing dog storiesthat dog people nod andsmile at, and non-dog peo-ple find hard to believe.When the judge felt theeffect of gravity and land-ed hard, Bruce rushed toher aid. Treffen wasspooked by a riderlessmule running past him,probably still bucking.Treffen was upset andconfused. What did hedo? He went to Bruce,trusting him for securityand direction. Bruce wasfocusing on the injuredjudge, and told Treffen,"Go home, go find yourMom." Since I wasn'tthere, I don't know how

long Treffen thought about the commandbut he came straight back to Cynthia. Hetrotted right to her and stopped.

Cynthia's madness has subsided. All fourdogs have their JH titles, proving showdogs can hunt, AND that 7-year-old showchampions can indeed hunt,

We still continue to show, but we nowown blaze orange vests, orange caps, whis-tles and training collars. You know - blazeorange looks good on me.

Bruce Shaffer - you kept your promise.You are a man of your word. Thanks.

We giue dogs time ue can spare, space wecan spare and loue ue can spare. And inreturn, dogs giue us their all. It's the best dealman has euer made. - M. Achlam. m

Michael McCracken andhis wife, Cynthia, have beenshowing dogs under theMiCyn kennel name since1977. Starting in Californiaand for the past l0 years inFennsylvania, they have fin-ished numerous champions intheir primary breed, German

Shorthaired Fointers. and Fetits Bassetts GriffonsVend6ens. The McCrackens are expanding intohunt and field trial performance events. WhenMichael is not working with dogs or being an ama-teur photojournalist,he is a management consult-ant.The author can be contacted through his web-site at wwwmicynvpack.com

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The lour Mi0yn winners proved that show dogs can be beautiful and also capable of performing the function for whichthey were originally bred. 'Niki,' 'Bard,' 'Tretfen'and'Elle'are pictured with Cynthia Mc0racken and Jennifer and BruceShaffer.

Ihe four Mi0yn lunior Hunters: Fieldfine Xcalibard Mi0yn lH (top left), Ch.Bleugras lretfen v Mi0yn lH (top right), Ch. Sleepy0rk l{ikidaBleu v Mi0yn JH (bot-tom left) and Fieldfine's DotsGeall v MiGyn (bottom right) with trainer BruceShatfer.